Egypt worries about military escalation in Syria, calls for 'transparent probe'

CAIRO - 14 April 2018: Egypt voiced its concern about the latest military escalation in Syria as it would bring negative implications for the safety of Syrian people and threaten the understandings reached on de-escalation zones, stated Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on Saturday.

"Egypt totally rejects the use of any internationally prohibited weapons on Syrian territories, demanding a transparent international investigation," the statement read.

The international community has to push for a peaceful resolution of the Syrian crisis away from polarization, and to help ensure humanitarian access to those who trapped and affected by the ongoing armed conflict, the statement said.

U.S., British and French forces launched airstrikes on Syria early Saturday, in a coordinated intervention by Western powers against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in response to a suspected poison gas attack that killed dozens of people last week.

Egypt's Charge D'Affaires in Damascus, Mohamed Tharwat, arrived in Egypt on Friday, saying that he will return to Syria in a few days, al-Dostour reported.

Egypt’s diplomatic mission to Syria was not harmed by the U.S.-led military strikes on Syria.

The intervention was the biggest strike by Western powers against Assad in the country’s seven-year-old civil war and pitted the United States and its allies against Russia, which itself intervened in the war in 2015 to back Assad.

Recently, Egypt hosted a meeting between Russia and representatives of the Syrian opposition factions; Both sides reached a deal to de-escalate conflict in the Eastern Ghouta region in Damascus.