Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has telephoned his Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim El-Gaafari to offer his congratulations on Iraq's victory against Daesh in Mosul, the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Sunday evening. In an official statement, foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said Shoukry stressed Egypt's commitment to standing by Iraq in its fight against terrorism as a part of ongoing efforts by Egypt to rid the region of terrorism. On Sunday, Iraq's PM Haider Al-Abadi declared that Iraqi armed forces had been victorious against Daesh in Mosul, nine months after a campaign was launched to drive Daesh out of the city. The battle for Mosul – by far the largest city to fall under the militants' control – has left large areas in ruins, killed thousands of civilians and displaced nearly one million people. During Sunday's phone call, El-Gaafari extended his condolences to Egypt over the killing of dozens of army personnel and police in attacks in North Sinai over the weekend. The ministers also discussed regional developments, as well as ways of boosting cooperation between the two countries, both bilaterally and through a coordination of stances on regional issues. Abu Zeid added that preparations were underway for the upcoming round of Iraq-Egypt consultations at the foreign-minister level, as well as a high-level joint committee meeting headed by the prime ministers of the two countries.
