Maputo, 10 Jun (AIM) – Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi and his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, on Friday reached an agreement on cooperation in security, under which Egypt will help train Mozambican special forces in the fight against terrorism and other crimes,
The willingness of Egypt to support Mozambican security came after Al-Sisi was briefed on the situation in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, where, despite significant advances in the fight against the jihadists, sporadic islamist attacks are continuing.
Al-Sisi gave his government’s commitment after a meeting with Nyusi in Maputo. The Egyptian leader was in Maputo for several hours, as part of a tour of several African countries.
In a statement to the press, Nyusi said the two presidents had reviewed several themes, including terrorism in Mozambique, and security in the world, bearing in mind that Al-Sisi is one of six African heads of state who are seeking a peaceful solution to the Russian war against Ukraine.
“We discussed many aspects and right now the priority areas are security and the fight against terrorism”, said Nyusi. “We shall explore the training of special forces against terrorism and against other crimes that have been emerging in Mozambique”.
Nyusi added that, in addition to security issues, the Presidents assessed the socio-economic situation of the two countries, and pledged to strengthen cooperation in areas such as infrastructures, agriculture and fisheries, by reactivating the joint commissions between the two countries to produce a matrix of concrete actions.
For his part, Al-Sisi said that his country has broad experience in dealing with terrorism. This is a phenomenon, he stressed, that Egypt has been suffering from for years, due to Islamic extremism. He promised to support Mozambique in building the capacity of its armed forces to better handle terrorism, which he regarded as a global threat.
“We shall bring the experience of Egypt in the fight against terrorism and other emerging crimes”, Al-Sisi told the press.
He said he also wants to bring to Mozambique religious training, in order to share methods of spreading messages of tolerance, thus avoiding the islamist extremism which foments terrorism.
As for economic cooperation, Al-Sisi said that about 5,000 Egyptian companies are willing to explore areas of investment, and to build up the capacity of Mozambican enterprises in energy, transport, education and health, among other areas.
(AIM)
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