The Egyptian minister of foreign affairs, Sameh Shoukry, and his American counterpart John Kerry discussed urgent regional issues by telephone on Saturday, focusing particularly on the ongoing crises in Syria and Libya. The two discussed efforts to form a government of national unity in Libya, as well as following up on the outcomes of the recent Vienna talks on Syria. They also agreed to continue consulting in the next few days regarding developments in the region and internationally. At the Friends of Libya meeting in Algeria last Tuesday, Shoukry called for efforts to reach an agreement in Libya, to be adopted by the Libyan parliament before the end of December. Shoukry said this was necessary "so we do not have to consider alternative plans that may face resistance from some parties in Libya". Fighting terrorism and securing Libyan territories, especially Tripoli, is the mission of the Libyans themselves, he said, noting that there should not be outside intervention. Regarding the Syrian crisis, John Kerry recently urged other NATO allies to step up the fight against "Islamic State" (IS) in Syria. He made the statements in his meeting with 27 foreign ministers of NATO in Brussels on Wednesday. Kerry called on NATO to do more to strike at IS militants in Iraq and Syria.
