King participates in new Aqaba Process round on East Africa

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Thursday participated in a new round of the Aqaba Process meetings held in the city of Aqaba, covering East Africa for the fifth time.

The meetings witnessed the participation of the presidents of Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Mozambique, as well as Tanzania’s prime minister, according to a Royal Court statement.

Participants also included representatives of military and security agencies from African, European, East Asian and Latin American countries, in addition to the United States, and representatives of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism.

Thursday’s round covered means of maintaining coordination and consultation to counter renewed terrorism and extremism threats, within a holistic approach that covers the military, security and ideological dimensions.

Participants said it is important to continue to counter the threats of terrorist and extremist groups, stressing that efforts to address other arising challenges must not hinder counterterrorism operations.

They urged continued cooperation and exchange of expertise, especially to prevent the expansion of terrorist groups into new areas.

The Aqaba Process initiative, launched by King Abdullah in 2015, aims to enhance coordination and exchange of expertise and information among regional and international stakeholders to counter terrorism and extremism.

The Aqaba Process meetings have also been held outside Jordan over the past years, hosted by Albania, the Netherlands, Nigeria, the United States, the United Nations and Singapore, in partnership with the Kingdom.