Egyptian Defence Minister Sedki Sobhi (C) gives the closing speech next to Secretary General of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) Ibrahim Sani Abani (L) and the CEN-SAD rapporteur (R) at the end of a conference gathering the Defence ministers and officials of 27 African and Arab countries on March 25, 2016 in Egypt's Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh (AFP)
The 27 Sahel-Sahran countries agreed on Friday after a two-day conference to form a terrorism-combating unit, with its headquarters in Egypt, a concluding statement read.
The fifth Sahel-Saharan Defence Ministers Conference was held in Egypt’s Red Sea Sharm El-Sheikh resort in South Sinai.
The decision to form a terrorism-combat unit is among the 17 points that were announced in a conference declaration.
The tasks of the unit have yet to be announced.
Other points include forming joint patrols on borders of countries experiencing unrest to firmly combat the threat of terrorism and trans-border crimes.
It also included an agreement on “prohibiting all forms of political interference in the states’ domestic affairs and respecting their sovereignty.”
On Thursday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi promised a thousand scholarships for nationals of Sahel-Sahran countries in Egypt’s military colleges.
The conference convening in Egypt comes ahead of a summit of heads of member states of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States organisation, to be held in Morocco later this year.
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