Shoukry Discuses Regional Files with Niger's Foreign Minister in Rome

On Monday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry held talks with Niger's counterpart Hassoumi Massaoudou, to discuss a number of regional issues of mutual interest.

The meeting comes on the sidelines of the duo’s current visit to Rome to attend the expanded ministerial meeting of the international coalition against ISIS, which is being held with the participation of delegates from over 80 countries, including the foreign ministers of the coalition members.

Italy’s Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will co-chair the meeting that will be attended by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell. A number of representatives from African countries were invited as observers to the event that will tackle the threat of ISIS in Africa.

“We will analyze strategies to counter-terrorism in high-risk areas, such as the Syria-Iraq region and the Sahel region in Africa. Stabilizing these territories will also allow us to stop illegal migration flows to Italy and, hence, to the rest of Europe,” Italy's Di Maio wrote on Facebook.

Shoukry is also set to take part in a meeting chaired by the US state secretary on Syria on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting. "Shoukry will assert Egypt's firm stance towards reaching a political solution to the Syrian crisis," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Hafez said on Sunday.

The Global Coalition against ISIS was formed in September 2014 to dismantle the group's networks and economic infrastructure, prevent the flow of foreign terrorist fighters across borders, and support the stability and restoration of essential public services of areas liberated from ISIS.