Kerry in Cairo to drum up support for 'war' on terror

(MENAFN- Arab News) CAIRO: US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday Egypt was on the frontline against 'terrorism' after meeting its leadership to garner support to fight jihadi radicals in Iraq and Syria.

Egypt's formidable army is unlikely to take part in a military coalition against the Islamic State (IS) but it has closely cooperated with the United States on counter-terrorism.

Al-Azhar said Kerry would fight back against the IS' use of the religion.

Washington says it is 'at war' with IS and has named John Allen a hawkish former commander in Afghanistan and Iraq to coordinate its campaign against the movement that has seized large chunks of Iraq and neighboring Syria.

Kerry who flew in from Ankara held talks with President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi after meeting Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby.

'Egypt is on the frontline of the fight against terrorism particularly when it comes to fighting extremist groups in Sinai' Kerry told a news conference with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri. 'As an intellectual and cultural capital in the Muslim world Egypt has a critical role to play in publicly denouncing the ideology that ISIL disseminates' Kerry said.

Kerry said he also had a 'frank' discussion on human rights concerns in Egypt amid a bloody crackdown on the government's opponents and the jailing of three Al-Jazeera television journalists and secular dissidents.

Despite Washington saying it is 'at war' with IS Kerry has been reluctant to use the term speaking instead of a 'major counter-terrorism operation.'

Meanwhile the hard-line Al-Qaeda offshoot has destroyed several Sufi shrines and tombs in the eastern Syrian province of Deir El-Zor a monitoring group said on Saturday.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the latest destruction included two shrines and two tombs devoted to Sufis all in Deir El-Zor province which is almost entirely controlled by Islamic State militants.