Lieutenant-General Tom Beckett, Defence Senior Advisor Middle East at the UK Ministry of Defence, last week made a one-day visit to Egypt to reaffirm the UK's commitment to Egypt as an important military partner in the region.

Lieutenant-General Beckett met a number of senior military officials at the Egyptian Ministry of Defence, including Assistant Minister of Defence General Mohamed el-Keshky. He was accompanied on the visit by retired Air Vice Marshal Nigel Maddox, currently Senior Military Advisor at UK Trade and Investment.

During the meetings, Lieutenant-General Beckett emphasised that the UK considers Egypt an important military partner in the region and in the fight against Daesh. He said that the UK remained firmly committed to strengthening the UK-Egyptian military partnership. He discussed with his Egyptian counterparts ways to increase UK-Egyptian military cooperation, including through further joint work to counter the threat of IEDs and through exploring further UK defence exports that will assist in the fight against Daesh.

Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of British Embassy Cairo.