‘We must not let ISIL increase its presence in Egypt’
ISIL cannot be allowed to increase its presence in Egypt, the Canadian defence minister said in Abu Dhabi yesterday, where he also voiced concerns at returning extremists.
Visiting the UAE to sign a defence co-operation agreement, Harjit Singh Sajjan said: “ISIL still has a presence in Sinai and the responsibility to deal with this threat is in the hands of the Egyptian government.”
“The movement of the different groups is something that we do monitor quite regularly, so even if we focus on Iraq, we do have troops in Sinai and they are part of the peace mission with the multinational force and observers.”
Canadian troops have been in Sinai since 1981, as part of the force’s peace mission.
“And that is one of the true peacekeeping missions that we’ve had in the past,” Mr Sajjan said. “We would like to maintain that. Our focus in Sinai is to keep peace in that area and to make sure ISIL threats do not grow.”
The minister hopes to increase the UAE’s involvement in Canadian peacekeeping operations and to work with the country on its de-radicalisation programmes.
Mr Sajjan said he would work with the UAE on preventing
youths from “being sucked into radical groups”.
“We did have Canadians who went to fight for ISIL and we have had them in large numbers,” he said. About 180 ISIL fighters had links to Canada.
“We use all of our tools. From our laws to surveillance we will make sure we use every tool necessary.”
Mr Sajjan comes from a policing and military background. He served in Bosnia, and three times in Afghanistan, for which he received the Meritorious Service Medal in 2013 after helping to reduce the Taliban’s influence in Kandahar.
Before that he was a detective with the Vancouver police, investigating organised crime and gangs.
“One thing that I have learnt, whether dealing with conflict or organised crime, is that all of these groups require a younger generation to be funnelled in to support their organisations, because otherwise they cannot do what they do,” Mr Sajjan said.
“So if we prevent these younger generations from getting sucked into these radical organisations, we can deal with this threat a lot easier.
“At the end of the day, every family and every parent wants what is best for their children, but if those children feel from what they see around them that there is no future it is easier for them to be sucked into radicalisation. So this is one of the things that I am looking forward to work with in my partnership with the UAE. What I like to do is inspire the younger generation to reach for your goals and raise them even higher.”
He had earlier met the Minister for Defence, Ahmed Al Bowardi. They signed a co-operation agreement that, Mr Sajjan said, would open doors for both nations.
“This agreement is one of the first steps that will allows us to have a formal arrangement between the two nations in military and develop various aspects of training, building capacity – a way of having a formal relationship instead of just doing some private training,” he said.
Canada and the UAE have had a long history of military co-operation. They have served together in operations in countries including Afghanistan and Iraq.
There are about 40,000 Canadians living in the UAE.
“We used to use an airbase here when we were serving in Afghanistan,” Mr Sajjan said.
“We have our base in Kuwait and serving in Iraq at the moment we provide regional capacity building to feed the rise of the terrorist aspect from ISIL to other organisations.
“We have been doing some work with the UAE but it is something that we want to develop further.”
All these groups require a younger generation to be funnelled in HARJIT SINGH SAJJAN Canadian defence minister