Sisi urges comprehensive approach in war against terrorism

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Saturday said terrorism represents a threat to the entire international community, urging a comprehensive international approach to confront it.

Chairing the AU Peace and Security Council meeting in Addis Ababa, Sisi called on all parties of the international community to come together to counter terrorism.

Sisi thanked the attendants for their support to the Egyptian presidency of the AU Peace and Security Council and for their partaking in the discussions regarding the cross-border terrorism in Africa.

The African Union, the international community and the United Nations in particular have to put the cross-border terrorism at the top of the priorities of joint action, Sisi said.

Today meeting affirms our realization of the importance of intensifying efforts to eradicate terrorism, he added.

The President warned that terrorism daily gains new dimensions and becomes a cross-border problem, which requires unifying all the efforts to confront it using an integrated and comprehensive approach.

Sisi said efforts for achieving security and prosperity for the African peoples as well as confronting terrorism and its plots to undermine the development process in the continent’s countries make it necessary to understand the nature of the environment in which the current war on terrorism takes place.

We all face various strategic challenges that are directly related to the consequences of the armed conflicts, which provide a fertile environment for the growth of terrorism and the spread of extremist ideas, he added.

President Sisi said that the weakness of national state institutions in some African countries over the past few years led to a devastation, which was exploited by terrorist organizations to strengthen their presence, recruit militants and raise funds to carry out their crimes.

Sisi said the history of all terrorist organizations confirms that there are no really differences in the bases they use to justify their violence and terrorism.

These extremists and terrorists exploit misinterpretations of the course of history, religion and human civilization to create a hate speech and use violence to impose their unilateral vision, he added.

Terrorism has become an existential threat to the security of the entire world, the President said.

He added that terrorism can only be combated through a comprehensive approach that begins with a relentless war by all available means, including confronting its roots and sponsors.

Sisi called on the international community to firmly deal with all sides that provide political, media, military and financial support for the terrorist bodies worldwide.

He also called for intensifying cooperation and coordination to drain the sources of support, which allow terrorist organizations to continue their crimes. (MENA)