President El-Sisi Chairs National Defense Council Meeting

Today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi chaired the National Defense Council meeting. The meeting was attended by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense and Military Production, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, the Director of the General Intelligence, the ministers of foreign affairs, finance, and interior, the Navy Commander, the Air Defense Forces Commander, the Air Force Commander, the Chairman of the Armed Forces Operations Authority, and the Director of the Military Intelligence and Reconnaissance Administration, in the presence of the Secretary General of the Council.

The Spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency stated that the Council addressed the overall political, security and military situations on all of the state’s strategic directions, in light of the various current regional and international challenges.

In this regard, President El-Sisi was briefed on the developments of the Renaissance Dam file and the current tripartite negotiations. His Excellency was also informed of the efforts aimed to reach a comprehensive agreement that fairly meets the aspirations and demands of Egypt, the Sudan and Ethiopia regarding development and water rights.

The Council affirmed that Egypt is still seeking to reach a comprehensive agreement on the pending issues regarding the Renaissance Dam. Such issues are topped by the rules governing the filling and operation of the dam in a manner that secures the three countries’ water and development interests and maintains regional security and stability.

The Council also addressed the developments in Libya on the western strategic directionin light of Egypt's endeavor to stabilize the current position and not to cross the declared red lines. These efforts aim at establishing peace between all the Libyan factions and parties. The Council stressed the strong ties between the two countries and that Egypt will spare no effort to support Libya. The Council also affirmed that Egypt prioritizes the Libyan issue and that Libya’s security is an integral part of Egyptian and Arab national security.

In this context, the Council stressed its commitment to reaching a political solution to end the Libyan crisis in a manner that preserves the sovereignty and the national and regional unity of Libya. Moreover, the political solution would help restore the pillars of Libya’s national institutions, eliminate terrorism and prevent the spread of criminal groups and extremist armed militias. In this respect, it was stressed that arriving at a political solution would put an end to illegal foreign interference while ensuring a fair and transparent distribution of the resources of the Libyan people and preventing any extremist group to have control over these resources.