Alalam - Egypt

“The ministry refutes allegations of a number of the Arab mass media about the presence of the Egyptian military in the Syrian territory,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said on Sunday.

Local media outlets recently reported that Egyptian military forces have joined the conflict in Syria in support of the Assad.

“Such ungrounded allegations exist only in the minds of those who are spreading them and the purpose of such rumors is clear.

Egypt will stay committed to the principle of non-interference into domestic affairs of other states.”

According to reports, Cairo had sent eight helicopter pilots to Syria.

However, the FM spokesman Abu Zeid denied, stressing that certain  legal and constitutional procedures are to be observed before sending Egyptian soldiers or weapons outside the country, adding that such procedures “cannot be kept secret from the nation.”

This comes after the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told Portuguese RTP channel during a visit to Lisbon that Cairo supported the Syrian army in its counter-terrorism efforts.

SA - 12