Egypt’s military focus is at home, not on Isil, minister says

Cairo: Egypt’s foreign minister has suggested his country might not provide military assistance to the United States for its battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), saying the army was focused on the home front.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said last week he had won the backing of ten Arab states, including Egypt, for a “coordinated military campaign” against Isil, which has grabbed territory in Syria and Iraq.

However, Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri appeared to throw cold water on the possibility of active Egyptian participation.

“We did not discuss this and no one asked this of us. We always say that the mission of the Egyptian army is to protect the Egyptian people and the country’s borders,” he told the local Al Akhbar newspaper.

Shukri said Egypt’s army was focused on fighting terrorism in areas such as the Sinai Peninsula and along Egypt’s border with Libya, where Islamist militant insurgents operate.

Egyptian security officials have said that Isil has established contacts with Egypt’s most dangerous militant group — Ansar Bait Al Maqdis — and President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi told Kerry at the weekend that any global coalition against terrorism should tackle an array of extremist groups.