Sisi stresses understanding environment favorable for terrorism

CAIRO – 28 January 2018: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi presided the Peace and Security Council (PSC) session on Sunday during his participation at the 30th African Union (AU) Summit. The theme was “The Integrated Approach against Cross-border Terrorism in Africa.”

The PSC is chaired by Egypt for January. The session was attended by South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Chad, Niger, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Zambia, the AU chairperson, and the UN Secretary General.

In his speech, the president emphasized the international community’s increasing awareness of the importance of intensifying efforts to combat terrorism, as it is imposing a real threat on the international peace and security.

“In order to achieve that, we have to develop knowledge of the terrorism phenomenon which acquires new dimensions. It is no longer limited to a particular continent, region, or society with respect to its level of development,” the president added.

Setting plans to achieve security and prosperity for our people, in parallel with combating terrorism and its attempts to cripple development projects, would not be efficient without understanding the environment where terrorism thrives, President Sisi stated.

He displayed the various strategic challenges facing African countries that are ensued from widespread armed conflict granting terrorism and extremism a fertile environment to grow. Sisi highlighted that terrorist groups exploit the void created by the weakness of state institutions to strengthen their presence, recruit members, and collect money to commit their crimes.

The president asserted that a good reading of the history of different terrorist organizations shows that there are minor differences in the reasons such groups use to justify violence and terrorism.

“It is important to be strict when dealing with parties providing political, media, military, and financial support to terrorist entities on the international scale. These acts are a blatant breach to international law, UN Security Council and AU resolutions. Thus, we have to intensify cooperation and coordination to eliminate terrorism support,” President Sisi concluded.

The president prepared a summary of discussions and propositions by member states on cooperation to combat terrorism endorsing the final statement by the PSC session.