UAE calls for more action to stop the expansion of ISIS remnants in Iraq and Syria

UAE provides Dh655 million in direct aid and to programmes to achieve stability in areas liberated from ISIS

A US military convoy drives through the town of Qamishli in northern Syria. AP 

The UAE is urging more action against the remnants of ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

More also needs to be done to halt the terrorist group’s expansion in West Africa and the Sahel, said Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Co-operation.

She was speaking during an online meeting for the foreign ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Small Group, which was co-hosted by Belgium and the US.

Ms Al Hashimy said the UAE would continue to support – during its co-presidency of the Coalition Stabilisation Working Group – efforts to restore stability in areas liberated from the terrorist organisation.

She said it was also important to ensure that the needy in Syria and Iraq have unrestricted and unconditional access to oil and humanitarian help.

"The UAE proclaims its continued commitment to work along with international partners in combating the spread of hate propaganda and incitement, out of its principled commitment towards the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh,” she said.

“The UAE will also continue its diligent efforts aimed at getting rid of the poisonous ideologies propagated by the terrorist group.”

The UAE has provided Dh655million in direct aid and to programmes aimed at achieving stability in the areas liberated from ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

In Iraq, the aid was focused on energy and water projects, as well as the restoration of hospitals and homes in areas of Mosul, in co-operation with the UN Development Programme.

This was in addition to restoring Al Hadba Minaret and the Al Saa'a and Al Tahera churches, and the revamping of the Great Mosque of Al Nuri in Mosul City, in co-operation with Unesco.

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