Cairo – Ashraf Abo Aarfe
The UK’s Defence Senior Advisor for the Middle East Lt General Tom Beckett arrived in Cairo, to discuss opportunities to expand UK-Egypt joint military training, as well as counter terrorism and regional concerns.
Lt General Tom Beckett CBE will meet with Major General Mohammed Abdulfattah El Keshki, the Assistant Minister of Defence for External Relations, and Major General Nasser Mohamed Ibrahim Assi, Chief of the Training Authority to drive forward plans to expand UK-Egyptian military engagement.
This is the latest in a series of high profile defence engagement visits between the UK and Egypt this year, including visits by the UK Deputy Chief of Defence Staff for Military Strategy and Operations, Lieutenant General Mark Carleton-Smith and the UK Chief of Defence Intelligence, Air Marshal Philip Osborn.
The UK’s Defence Senior Advisor will also discuss counter-terrorism related efforts, including in Sinai. The UK, alongside Egypt, plays a leading role in the 68 member Global Coalition against Daesh. The UK is also giving Egypt practical support as it battles Daesh. As well as high-level security talks, the UK is providing Counter-IED training, close protection training, increased numbers of places for Egyptian military at the UK’s highly prestigious military academies such as Sandhurst, and its firms are supplying vital equipment, such as C-IED equipment. The visit will consider further ways the UK’s training programs can support Egypt’s fight against terrorism.
Lt General Beckett, who has served as Defence Senior Advisor to the Middle East since 2014, will also discuss regional concerns, including Libya, Yemen and Qatar with his Egyptian counterparts.
His Excellency Ambassador John Casson said: ‘The UK and Egypt’s defence partnership is strong and getting stronger. We face the same threat of terrorism in the UK as in Egypt. Working together, especially through joint training to share expertise, we can and will overcome it.’
