Sisi, Jordanian King and Kadhimi Meet in Baghdad

Iraqi President Barham Salih welcomes Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at Baghdad International Airport in Baghdad, Iraq June 27, 2021. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily
Iraqi President Barham Salih welcomes Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at Baghdad International Airport in Baghdad, Iraq June 27, 2021. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily
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Sisi, Jordanian King and Kadhimi Meet in Baghdad

Iraqi President Barham Salih welcomes Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at Baghdad International Airport in Baghdad, Iraq June 27, 2021. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily
Iraqi President Barham Salih welcomes Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at Baghdad International Airport in Baghdad, Iraq June 27, 2021. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Jordanian King Abdullah II and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi met in Baghdad on Sunday.

Sisi was greeted by Iraq's President Barham Salih upon arriving Sunday morning. It marked the first time Egypt's president paid an official visit to Iraq since the 1990s.

King Abdullah II arrived shortly afterwards, he and Sisi then met with Kadhimi.

The three leaders discussed several areas of regional interest, including the recent development on the Palestinian issue, combating terrorism and economic cooperation, an Egyptian presidential statement said.

"The leaders stressed the need to intensify consultation and coordination between the three countries on the most important regional issues," it added.

“This visit is an important message to our people that we are mutually supportive and unified to serve our people and the people of the region,” Kadhimi said, according to a statement from his office.

Kadhimi, Sisi and Abdullah held a summit in Amman last year and were due to hold another in Baghdad in April, but this was delayed after a deadly train crash in Egypt.

Egypt signed 15 deals and memoranda of understanding in sectors including oil, roads, housing, construction and trade in February after Iraq's cabinet in December approved renewing its contract to supply the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) with 12 million barrels of Basra light crude for 2021.

Iraq is also planning to build a pipeline that is meant to export 1 million barrels per day of Iraqi crude from the southern city of Basra to Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said in a press conference following Sunday's meeting that a wide range of topics had been discussed, including economic and political cooperation, large-scale industrial projects, and trade in medicine and agricultural pesticides.

The talks, which were welcomed by the US, also covered regional issues including the Syria crisis, the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, and the war in Yemen.

“Iraq must be isolated from regional interventions” Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told reporters after the meeting, in an apparent reference to Iran’s powerful influence.

Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam project, which Egypt fears will imperil its water supply, was also discussed, he added, and all three countries agreed that a political solution and the return of refugees was needed to end the Syrian crisis.

“The message from the leaders is we stand together in the face of these challenges,” he said.



Blinken Says Syria's HTS Should Learn from Taliban Isolation

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern city of Aqaba on December 14, 2024. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern city of Aqaba on December 14, 2024. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
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Blinken Says Syria's HTS Should Learn from Taliban Isolation

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern city of Aqaba on December 14, 2024. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern city of Aqaba on December 14, 2024. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Wednesday on Syria's triumphant HTS opposition group to follow through on promises of inclusion, saying it can learn a lesson from the isolation of Afghanistan's Taliban.
The movement supported by Türkiye has promised to protect minorities since its lightning offensive toppled strongman Bashar al-Assad this month following years of stalemate, AFP reported.
"The Taliban projected a more moderate face, or at least tried to, in taking over Afghanistan, and then its true colors came out. The result is it remains terribly isolated around the world," Blinken said at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
After some initial overtures to the West, the Taliban reimposed strict restrictions including barring women and girls from secondary school and university.
"So if you're the emerging group in Syria," Blinken said, "if you don't want that isolation, then there's certain things that you have to do in moving the country forward."
Blinken called for a "non-sectarian" Syrian government that protects minorities and addresses security concerns, including keeping the fight against the ISIS group and removing lingering chemical weapons stockpiles.
Blinken said that HTS can also learn lessons from Assad on the need to reach a political settlement with other groups.
"Assad's utter refusal to engage in any kind of political process is one of the things that sealed his downfall," Blinken said.