Egyptian, Mali FMs confer over cooperation on international scale, counterterrorism

CAIRO – 6 May 2021: Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shokry received on Wednesday Malian counterpart Zeini Moulaye in Cairo to discuss bolstering bilateral ties in different fields.

Minister Shokry highlighted the role of Egypt in combating terrorism and extremism by promoting correct notions of Islam through Al Azhar. He also underlined the unceasing Egyptian eagerness on backing Mali by different means as well as supporting its stability pointing out to Egypt's effective contribution in the UN peacekeeping mission in the country.

The mission is dubbed the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and was established in the capital, Bamako, on April 25, 2013 in the aftermath of a Tuareg rebellion in 2012. The insurgency was assumed by separatists in the northern region of Mali called Azawad.

The meeting tackled voting to each other in international assemblies, and the current outstanding coordination between both countries on that front.

In December, Egypt has a military transport jet loaded with medical and food supplies to Mali, to support the Malian people in the face of the pandemic. That is within an initiative by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi in September to send medical aid to 30 fellow African countries to help them contain the outbreak of COVID-19.

Earlier in December, The Egyptian Armed Forces organized a training course for its elements, who were heading to Mali to join the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces, in collaboration with Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding (CCCPA) affiliated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The training course included lectures on the role of Egypt in peacekeeping; principles of international human rights law; protection of civilians in armed conflict zones; conflict in Mali; rules peacekeeping elements must abide by; and risks of COVID-19 infection in the work environment.