Egyptian Defense and Military Production Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Sedqi Sobhi said that terrorism and extremism now constitute a potent world-wide threat. 

Giving Egypt's word before the conference of the defense ministers of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) on Thursday, Sobhi said that terrorism and extremism are no longer a new phenomenon in the Sahel and Saharan states which were a theatre of operations of organized cross-border crimes, human trafficking and kidnapping.

He further reiterated Egypt's denunciation of these operations that target its friendly countries.

He also stressed the necessity of intensifying efforts to outline a unified strategy that includes all relevant organizations, to encounter terrorism and extremism and covers all aspects related to the human development and the religious discourse renewal. 

He also condemned terrorist operations that recently took place in the CEN-SAD countries as well as vicious attacks that hit the Belgian capital Brussels on Tuesday that left scores of civilians dead and injured. 

Sobhi asked the attendees to observe a minute of silence for the victims of these attacks.

The meeting came at a critical time that necessitated full cooperation and coordination among the CEN-SAD member states to develop a joint action mechanism to achieve peace and stability in the Sahel-Saharan states, he said.

He added that the meeting is a opportunity to review documents related to the development of the CEN-SAD General Secretariat and its bodies, in addition to the implementation of the recommendations of the Extraordinary Summit that was held in N'Djamena in February 2013. 

Under Egypt's presidency, more than 27 Arab and African countries and five European countries; France, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Spain, are participating in the meetings.

Source: MENA