Sisi meets with U.S. National Council of Churches delegation

President Abdelfattah el-Sisi received on Sunday a delegation of the U.S. National Council of the Churches (NCC) to discuss Egypt’s measures to combat terrorism. The meeting was attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry and Head of the Evangelical Church in Egypt, Andre Zaki. 

NCC, founded in 1950, is an ecumenical partnership of 38 Christian faith groups in the United States. The delegation expressed its support for Egypt’s counterterrorism efforts, and attempts to propagate values of tolerance and coexistence fundamental to combating violence and extremism as well as achieving proximity between different peoples and cultures. 

The president affirmed the state’s eagerness to establish principles of citizenship and equality abolishing any form of religious discrimination, and to promote pluralism and the acceptance of the “Other.” 

Egypt’s civilization has historically been marked as the epitome of peaceful coexistence, said Sisi, expressing his rejection of extremist interpretations and practices attributed to the Islamic religion. The meeting also highlighted anti-terrorism mechanisms on the cultural and intellectual levels in parallel to the efforts of security and military forces. 

The president emphasized the importance of supporting the efforts aiming to achieve stability in the region, and establish the state’s institutions in order to fill the vacuum facilitating the ascendance of terrorism. 

Sisi also stressed the importance of standing against the states and entities backing and financing acts of terror.