Egypt Says Foreign Troops Must Leave Libya

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with the Russian Security Council Secretary, Nikolai Patrushev, in Moscow (Egypt's Foreign Ministry)
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with the Russian Security Council Secretary, Nikolai Patrushev, in Moscow (Egypt's Foreign Ministry)
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Egypt Says Foreign Troops Must Leave Libya

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with the Russian Security Council Secretary, Nikolai Patrushev, in Moscow (Egypt's Foreign Ministry)
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with the Russian Security Council Secretary, Nikolai Patrushev, in Moscow (Egypt's Foreign Ministry)

Egypt reiterated that all foreign forces must leave Libyan territories, rejecting any foreign presence in the country.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed with the Russian Security Council Secretary, Nikolai Patrushev, in Moscow bilateral relations and international and regional developments.

Shoukry said Egypt supports the roadmap set by Libyans, reiterating the importance of the planned presidential and parliamentary elections.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Hafez said that Shoukry stressed the need for all foreign forces to leave Libya.

Shoukry also discussed with the Russian official recent Palestinian developments and Egypt's continuous efforts to revive the peace process.

They also addressed Cairo's current efforts to support reconstruction efforts in the Palestinian territories.

Cairo attaches great importance to the pullout of foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya, which President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has stressed in most of his meetings with foreign officials.

In a meeting of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) on Libya last week, Shoukry stressed that the presence of foreign forces and mercenaries in Libya has an impact on its national security and the security of its Arab neighbors.

He said that the international community had not taken firm measures to end the presence of foreign forces and mercenaries in country.

"Egypt warned more than a year ago of the consequences of the continuation of the armed conflict in Libya and that it may have to take measures to protect its national security and preserve the balance of power if it was disrupted," he added.

Shoukry reiterated Egypt's call for the "unconditional, simultaneous, and coordinated exit."



11 Years on, Syria Protesters Demand Answers on Abducted Activists

Demonstrators rally in the Syrian city of Douma demanding answers about the fate of four activists who were abducted 11 years ago. Bakr ALKASEM / AFP
Demonstrators rally in the Syrian city of Douma demanding answers about the fate of four activists who were abducted 11 years ago. Bakr ALKASEM / AFP
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11 Years on, Syria Protesters Demand Answers on Abducted Activists

Demonstrators rally in the Syrian city of Douma demanding answers about the fate of four activists who were abducted 11 years ago. Bakr ALKASEM / AFP
Demonstrators rally in the Syrian city of Douma demanding answers about the fate of four activists who were abducted 11 years ago. Bakr ALKASEM / AFP

A few dozen protesters gathered in the Syrian city of Douma on Wednesday demanding answers about the fate of four prominent activists abducted more than a decade ago.
Holding up photographs of the missing activists, the demonstrators called on Syria's new rulers -- the opposition factions who seized power last month -- to investigate what happened to them, AFP said.
"We are here because we want to know the whole truth about two women and two men who were disappeared from this place 11 years and 22 days ago," said activist Yassin Al-Haj Saleh, whose wife Samira Khalil was among those abducted.
In December 2013, Khalil, Razan Zeitouneh, Wael Hamada and Nazem al-Hammadi were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen from the office of a human rights group they ran together in the then opposition-held city outside Damascus.
The four played an active role in the 2011 uprising against Bashar al-Assad's rule and also documented violations, including by the Jaish al-Islam group that controlled the Douma area in the early stages of the ensuing civil war.
No group has claimed the four activists' abduction and they have not been heard from since.
Many in Douma blame Jaish al-Islam but the group has denied involvement.
"We have enough evidence to incriminate Jaish al-Islam, and we have the names of suspects we would like to see investigated," Haj Saleh said.
He said he wanted "the perpetrators to be tried by the Syrian courts".
'The truth'
The fate of tens of thousands of people who disappeared under the Assads' rule is a key question for Syria's interim rulers after more than 13 years of devastating civil war that saw upwards of half a million people killed.
"We are here because we want the truth. The truth about their fate and justice for them, so that we may heal our wounds," said Alaa al-Merhi, 33, Khalil's niece.
Khalil was a renowned activist hailing from the Assads' Alawite minority who was jailed from 1987 to 1991 for opposing their iron-fisted rule.
Her husband is also a renowned human rights activist who was detained in 1980 and forced to live abroad for years.
"We as a family seek justice, to know their fate and to hold those responsible accountable for their actions," she added.
Scars of war
Zeitouneh was among the 2011 winners of the European parliament's human rights prize, a lawyer, she had received threats from both the government and the opposition group before she went missing. Her husband Hamada was abducted with her.
Protesting was unthinkable just a month ago in Douma, a former opposition stronghold that paid a heavy price for rising up against the Assads.
Douma is located in Eastern Ghouta, an area controlled by opposition factions for around six years until government forces retook it in 2018 after a long and bloody siege.
The siege of Eastern Ghouta culminated in a devastating offensive by the army that saw at least 1,700 civilians killed before a deal was struck that saw fighters and civilians evacuated to northern Syria.
Douma still bears the scars of the civil war, with many bombed out buildings.