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US Syria effort hinges on unreliable Egypt

The Donald Trump administration has reportedly asked Egypt to contribute money and troops to the Syria fight even as President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has proven a challenging ally in battling the Islamic State at home.
An army soldier is seen talking to locals at a check point between the northern Sinai cities of Al-Arish and Sheikh Zuwayed, May 25, 2015. Authorities in the Sinai Peninsula are battling insurgents who support Islamic State, the militant group that has seized parts of Iraq, Syria and Libya. The Sinai conflict, which has has displaced hundreds of Egyptians, is the biggest security challenge for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has promised to deliver stability after four years of turmoil triggered by the

President Donald Trump’s announcement of a US-led strike on suspected Syrian chemical weapons sites last week signaled a changing of the guard in the war-torn country. As missiles struck three Syrian facilities, the US commander-in-chief said he would seek to hand off more responsibility in the yearslong conflict to Arab partners.

As the dust cleared from more than 100 American, French and British precision-guided missiles, The Wall Street Journal reported that national security adviser John Bolton soon got on the phone with top Egyptian officials to ask for Cairo to contribute troops to the US-led effort to defeat the Islamic State (IS) in Syria’s northeast.

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