In its first reaction to the attacks launched by the U.S against Syria on early Friday, Egypt's Foreign Ministry called both U.S and Russia for working together to contain the conflict witnessed in Syria to pave the way for reaching an inclusive and final solution for the over six-year conflict. The Egyptian statement has not contained any signal of condemnation to the U.S attack against Syria despite the Egyptian position based on rejecting any military interference against Syria and giving priority to the political solution for the crisis away from any political solution that would not end the conflict. The attack's timing The lack of condemnation to the American attack raised a state of controversy due to the timing of the attack especially that the attack came after hours from the departure of U.S President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi from Washington after a five-day visit which is the first of its kind since his ascent to the power in 2013. Palestinian analyst Taha Al Khateeb refuted the claims linking between the American attack on Syria and Sisi's visit to Washington, saying that such claims aim to distract attention from the notable success the president achieved during his visit to the U.S on both political and economic sides. Egypt's priorities The Egyptian position from the Syrian crisis has become controversial in the viewpoint of many politicians, as the Egyptian government has not expressed clear support for the Syrian regime since the beginning of the crisis, while it has not adopted opposite position against him. Egyptian researches Maher Farghly said that the Egyptian government does not support Bashar Al Assad, while it gives priority to keeping Syria's territorial integrity. He stressed that Egypt refuses both the extremist and Iranian alternatives of the current ruling regimes in Syria. He added that the current available choices pose serious threat against Egypt's national security. Implicit condemnation However, other experts underlined that the Foreign Ministry's statement has not contained any condemnation whether to the U.S attack against the Syrian military base or the Syrian regime's chemical attack against Khan Shaikhon. They stressed that the position adopted by the Egyptian regime towards the recent developments is balanced Egyptian parliamentarian Mustafa Bakry praised the Foreign Ministry's statement, saying that it is balanced statement taking into account the balance of regional and international powers. Meanwhile, the statement carries implicit condemnation to the American attack against Syria, he said, as it demanded both U.S and Russia of commitment to the international legitimacy in an implicit signal to the violation committed by the U.S against Syrian regime.
