Egypt calls for political, not military solutions in Syria

Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said that Egypt stands by the Syrian people, and that the crisis should be solved politically and not through violence, the state-run Egynews reported on Tuesday.

His comments came amidst circulating news about a possible attack against the Syrian regime waged by forces supporting the Syrian opposition, Reuters reported. US Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the Syrian regime in a speech on Monday, as talks mounted of a possible US-led attack on Damascus in the coming days.

“We salute the revolutionary people and their perseverance, and insist on a political solution and not a military one,” Fahmy was quoted as saying, adding that Egypt refuses the use of chemical weapons.

Investigations are still taking place in Syria over the death of hundreds near Damascus following a chemical attack.

Egypt’s position on a US-led attack on Syria remains to be seen as relations between the two countries have soured following the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi.

Morsi had intensified his rhetoric against the Syrian regime briefly before he was ousted by the military, severing diplomatic relations between the two countries. His fall was celebrated by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad who said that the fall of the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt is a sign of the fall of political Islam, in a reference also to the Islamic insurgency in Syria, media reported earlier this month.