Egypt was ranked as a safer country than the UK, US and France in Gallup's 2018 Global Law and Order report on Wednesday. Egypt came in 16th place out of the 135 countries included, with a score of 88, topping both the US ranked in 35th place and the UK in 21st. France was ranked 35th. Egypt was the only Arab and the only African country placed by Gallup in the annual poll's "Countries/Areas With Highest Law and Order Index Scores" category, attaining a score similar to that of China, Netherlands, Denmark, Slovenia, and China. Egypt previously scored 82 in 2016. Egypt has been working on tightening its security since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power in 2014, following an escalation in the number of militant attacks that took their toll on the country's finances and tourism sector over the past years. Speaking with regards to terrorism in 2018, Sisi said that Egypt had "improved significantly in comparison to the situation in the past". Egypt is currently proceeding with its military counter-terrorism campaign, Operation Sinai 2018, launched earlier this year, targeting terrorist organisations in North and Central Sinai, parts of the Nile Delta and the Western Desert. Sinai 2018 follows extensive nationwide campaigns by state bodies aiming to eliminate terrorism and consolidate security and stability since 2014. The 2018 Global Law and Order report presents the results from Gallup's latest measurements of people's answers to these questions based on more than 148,000 interviews with adults in 142 countries and areas in 2017. The index uses four questions in its survey, which revolve around confidence in the local police force, safety walking alone in city of residence, and finally a question about theft affecting respondents or their family members, or assault and mugging cases within the past 12 months. 69 percent of adults in 10 regions worldwide said that they had confidence in their local police in 2017. The US and Canada saw the highest percentage of adults confident in police, at 82 percent, the Middle East and Africa coming seventh with 68 percent, and Latin America and the Caribbean coming in last place at 42 percent. Singapore was deemed the safest in the world with a score of 97, while Venezuela ranked last worldwide with a score of 44. Source: Ahram Online
