Sisi Calls for Joint Arab Responsibility to Combat Terrorism

President Sisi addresses the forum. (Presidency spokesman)
President Sisi addresses the forum. (Presidency spokesman)
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Sisi Calls for Joint Arab Responsibility to Combat Terrorism

President Sisi addresses the forum. (Presidency spokesman)
President Sisi addresses the forum. (Presidency spokesman)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called Tuesday for the “adoption of the principle of joint responsibility” to deal with challenges in the region, especially terrorism and extremism.

Speaking virtually during an extraordinary meeting of the Arab Intelligence Forum held in Cairo, Sisi said combatting terrorism on a regional scale requires comprehensive approaches, including ending foreign meddling in Arab affairs, as well as respecting the Arab peoples’ voice and Arab states’ sovereignty.

“Egypt had not and will not spare any effort to assist its fellow Arab states in protecting themselves through comprehensive political solutions,” he stressed.

These solutions should be based on unifying each country’s military institutions, the withdrawal of foreign forces and mercenaries and ending the presence of armed militias.

Presidential spokesperson Bassam Rady said Sisi commended the initiatives launched by the forum to achieve joint security work and exchange assessments in a transparent way.

The extraordinary meeting of the Arab Intelligence Forum was attended by chiefs of intelligence agencies at Arab countries.

They highlighted the importance of the forum as a firm mechanism that supports close intelligence cooperation among Arab states and contributes to establishing a comprehensive and tight system to combat terrorism.



18,000 Syrians Returned Home from Jordan Since Assad’s Fall

Syrians work at a vegetables market in Aleppo, on December 23, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)
Syrians work at a vegetables market in Aleppo, on December 23, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)
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18,000 Syrians Returned Home from Jordan Since Assad’s Fall

Syrians work at a vegetables market in Aleppo, on December 23, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)
Syrians work at a vegetables market in Aleppo, on December 23, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)

About 18,000 Syrians have crossed into their country from Jordan since the government of Bashar Assad was toppled earlier this month, Jordanian authorities said on Thursday.
Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya told state TV channel Al-Mamlaka that “around 18,000 Syrians have returned to their country between the fall of the regime of Bashar Assad on December 8, 2024 until Thursday.”
He said the returnees included 2,300 refugees registered with the United Nations.
Amman says it has hosted about 1.3 million Syrians who fled their country since civil war broke out in 2011, with 650,000 formally registered with the United Nations.

Earlier this month, Al-Faraya said that security circumstances now allow Syrian refugees to return to their country.

"What prevented refugees from returning to their country was the security issue and now this has changed,” he said.

The minister said information suggests that security conditions on the northern border of the Kingdom with Syria are stable, adding that what is happening today in Syria represents "the end of a tragedy and years of suffering."

The Jaber-Nasib border crossing, which is located about 80 kilometers west of Amman, is currently the only functioning crossing between the two countries.