The Egyptian Counter-Terrorism Strategy, Written by Ashraf Fawzy/Ah-hram Elmasry News

 by / Ashraf Fawzy

 Egypt has witnessed, in recent years, strenuous efforts to eliminate terrorism in its forms and types. It is noteworthy that the main axes of the Egyptian strategy in combating terrorism are the comprehensive approach to it after the June 30 Revolution, which did not only deal with the security dimension of the phenomenon of terrorism, but extended to deal with development and economic challenges.  Nurturing this phenomenon, through a comprehensive economic and social reform program that succeeded in achieving a huge developmental leap over the past years, along with intellectual dealing with the phenomenon by working to develop community awareness, through the pivotal role of Al-Azhar in confronting extremist ideas  And spread the tolerant teachings of Islam.  Resisting the distorted view prevalent in many societies suffering from Islamophobia, the need to stop mixing Islam with terrorism, and the deviation of interpretations of religions and ideologies throughout human history.

 The strategy also focused on the importance of international cooperation in facing this cross-border challenge, and the need to confront countries that sponsor, finance, transport and arm terrorism, indicating that any attempt to employ extremist ideology to undermine the state will fail, stressing the importance of preserving states and their institutions.

 In addition to the efforts of the armed forces and police forces in combating terrorism, especially in the Northeast Sinai region, and the success of the military strategy in the face of terrorism, without prejudice to the security and stability of the Egyptian citizens and their rights, and the extension of their role to include the achievement of development and social dimensions in support of efforts to maintain security and stability in the Sinai and the whole territories  Motherland.

  The governorates of the Canal witnessed a wide developmental awakening that this precious spot in the land of Egypt did not witness except during the era of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and this developmental awakening aims to improve living conditions

 For citizens in general, through the exploitation of all available resources, and placing Sinai and the canal governorates in the ranks of areas that attract investment,

 This will be reflected in the elimination of terrorism and ideological extremism as an inevitable result of construction and reconstruction, and all state agencies participate in the development process under the supervision of the Egyptian Armed Forces.

 The projects that the President has inaugurated in recent years vary between mega projects or infrastructure projects that pave the way for receiving investments, which makes these projects important pillars of the process of rebuilding the Egyptian state that was launched after June 30, 2013.

 That the national projects adopted by the Egyptian state in recent years have contributed to reshaping the Egyptian image internationally, as expressed by international reports and praises.

 On the part of international institutions regarding the improvement of the Egyptian economy’s situation and its prosperous prospects, thus attracting the world's attention to the Egyptian model and the ability of Egyptians to overcome the difficulties of recent economic reform.

 The picture transmitted from the activities of the opening of the recent projects, and other than the above, continuously shows the President's keenness to accompany some of the original Egyptian personalities, including Dr. Magdy Yaqoub, which represents the President's keenness to bring the scientific expertise and the original Egyptian symbols at the forefront of the scene in general.

 The proper confrontation with terrorism is a comprehensive one, that is, it is not limited to the security confrontation, but rather includes the intellectual, cultural, economic and development confrontation.

 Achieving economic growth, development projects, creating employment opportunities and facing unemployment are all within the framework of combating terrorism

 This is what is happening in Sinai and Port Said. Development projects, infrastructure projects, land reclamation, youth employment and investment attraction are all part of the comprehensive confrontation with terrorism.

 Economic development, human development, improving their capabilities and training them, which is what the President is doing, contributes to combating terrorism, which tries to attract young people who do not find a job opportunity or suffer from an intellectual or cultural void, and therefore such development projects are an important line of defense in the siege, confrontation and elimination of terrorism,  Hence the importance of economic and development projects.

 The Egyptian state is purifying Sinai from terrorism at a time when it is leading the development plan to prevent the re-spread of terrorism again. The process of reconstructing Sinai through a well-thought-out plan for development

 It did not exist before in this way, that Egypt is determined with all force to wish and develop Sinai, as Sinai was before the era of President Sisi

 It has fallen out of development plans in Egypt, the same as Upper Egypt, but now the Egyptian state distributes development efforts in all places and regions in equal ways to achieve the greatest benefit and speed in finding positive results on the ground.

 And that Egypt is fighting terrorism in Sinai and adopting and developing the turquoise land. The goal of development is to enhance investor interest and increase the attractiveness of national and foreign investment.

 By setting a map for integrated investments, supporting the security and political dimension of the eastern borders of the state, and redistributing Egypt's demographic map, while establishing new urban communities with basic infrastructure.

 The final elimination of terrorism will only be achieved through integrated development in various economic, industrial and urban areas.

 The state pumps total government investments that are distributed over a number of programs serving various fields

 In the forefront of which is the start of the construction of the new city of Rafah, the construction of 936 social housing units, and the completion of the construction of Bedouin homes and their services in Rummana, al-Hasanah, Nakhl and Bir al-Abd.

 It should be noted that the axes of Sinai development include all areas, starting with the infrastructure in the field of health, the field of population, and attracting investments through the establishment of industrial zones in it.

 A prerequisite for achieving development in Sinai was to cleanse it first of terrorist and expiatory outposts, which exist in some limited areas, in order for real development to begin in them, and this was not an easy matter, as the Egyptian state fought and is still waging fierce battles against terrorist and expiatory elements,  Since 2013 until now.