At a meeting in Cairo, US Secretary of State John Kerry has called on Egypt to take a key role in the fight against extremist group Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL).
Kerry has been visiting the Middle East to drum up backing for a broad coalition against ISIL.
Cairo gave assurances of its support, but offered little insight as to what concrete steps Egypt may take. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri outlined the country’s stance:
“I support the international efforts to fight terrorism and work on supporting these efforts and support the necessary measures to put an end to this phenomena whether in Iraq, Libya, any part of the Arab world or in Africa.”
Egypt is already signed up to the ten state coalition pledging to act against ISIL, who’s fighting strength is now estimated at 30,000.
euronews’ Mohammed Shaikhibrahim reported from Cairo on recent events saying:
“A tentative agreement on fighting ISIL with a US advanced coalition has been struck, but the role each country will play in this and the actual number of participating countries remains vague.”
