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Sisi Discusses Army’s Efforts in Preserving Egypt’s National Security

Sisi was accompanied by Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Minister of Defense and Military Production Lieutenant General Mohamed Zaki and Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Lieutenant General Mohamed Farid. (Egyptian presidency)
Sisi was accompanied by Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Minister of Defense and Military Production Lieutenant General Mohamed Zaki and Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Lieutenant General Mohamed Farid. (Egyptian presidency)
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Sisi Discusses Army’s Efforts in Preserving Egypt’s National Security

Sisi was accompanied by Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Minister of Defense and Military Production Lieutenant General Mohamed Zaki and Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Lieutenant General Mohamed Farid. (Egyptian presidency)
Sisi was accompanied by Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Minister of Defense and Military Production Lieutenant General Mohamed Zaki and Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Lieutenant General Mohamed Farid. (Egyptian presidency)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi discussed on Monday with the army commanders, the tasks of the armed forces and their efforts to preserve the pillars of the country’s national security.

The meeting came in line with the celebrations marking the 49th anniversary of the October 6 War victory.

Presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said Sisi chaired a meeting of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, during which he congratulated Egyptians on the occasion of celebrating the victories in the October 1973 war.

Sisi discussed with the army commanders the tasks of the armed forces and their efforts to “protect Egypt’s national security at all strategic levels, in cooperation and coordination with state institutions”, Rady stated.

The President later laid a wreath on the Unknown Soldier Memorial and the tombs of the two leaders, Anwar El-Sadat and Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Sisi was accompanied by Lieutenant General Mohamed Zaki, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Minister of Defense and Military Production, as well as Lieutenant General Mohamed Farid, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, for his part, pledged in a congratulatory letter to Sisi on this occasion that the government maintains its efforts to achieve comprehensive development throughout the country.

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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would travel to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by insurgents, and appealed on Europe to review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.
Tajani presided over a meeting in Rome on Thursday of foreign ministry officials from five countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.
Going into the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HT.
“The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That’s why I’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation,” Tajani said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to its sanctions on Syria. “It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.
Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the US, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.
HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.
The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian opposition leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.
Syria’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of insurgents.