UAE calls for maximizing efforts to diminish ISIS threat in Syria, Iraq, elsewhere

The United Arab Emirates has called for the maximization of pressures on what remains of ISIS in Syria and Iraq and for diminishing threats of their influence expanding in West Africa and Africa’s Sahel region, state news agency WAM reported on Tuesday.

In an address before the virtual meeting for foreign ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Small Group took place on Tuesday, the UAE’s Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem bint Ibrahim al-Hashemy emphasized the importance of the country’s work in conflict and war-ravaged areas such as Syria and Iraq to restore stability and provide humanitarian relief and essential oil supplies to the needy.

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As co-president of the Coalition Stabilization Working Group, the UAE plans to continue participating in critical projects across the areas that have been liberated from the extremist terrorist group ISIS, she said.

Volunteers from Saed Association prepare aid baskets to be distributed for those affected by the procedures that are taken to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2020. Picture taken April 14, 2020. (File photo: Reuters)

“The UAE proclaims its continued commitment to work along with international partners in combatting the spread of hate propaganda and incitement out of its principled commitment towards the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh (ISIS). The UAE will also continue its diligent efforts aimed at getting rid of the poisonous ideologies propagated by the terrorist group,” said al-Hashemy.

The UAE has contributed a great deal to counterterrorism in the region. The country provided $178.3 million in aid and launched programs to support achieving stability in areas liberated from ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

The country’s aid programs in Iraq focused on projects aimed at addressing peoples’ basic needs such those pertaining to energy and water.

In East and West Mosul specifically, the projects also focused on the rehabilitation of hospitals and residential units which was done in cooperation with the UN Development Program.

A laborer cleans a rock during the re-construction of the Grand al-Nuri mosque, in the old city of Mosul, Iraq January 23, 2020. Picture taken January 23, 2020. (Reuters)

The UAE also contributed to restoring a variety of religious sites in Mosul, such as the al-Hadba Minaret and al-Saa’a, al-Tahera Churches, and the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, with the help of UNESCO as part of the ‘Revive the Spirit of Mosul’ initiative.

The country also launched programs in Syria to help with food security, health and the rehabilitation of infrastructure to provide water and electricity.

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