Egypt, Jordan discuss security, counterterrorism cooperation

Egypt and Jordan's interior ministers discussed here on Sunday means to enhance their cooperation in security and counterterrorism fields, said the Egyptian Interior Ministry in a statement.

The discussion took place during a visit by a Jordanian high-profile security delegation led by Interior Minister Salama Hammad to Cairo as he met with his Egyptian counterpart Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar.

Abdel-Ghaffar stressed Egypt's keenness to cooperate on security issues with fellow Arab states including training, knowhow and information exchange, hailing Egyptian-Jordanian ties as "historical."

The talks further highlighted regional security developments and the effect of conflicts in the Middle East on growing terrorist and extremist ideologies.

"The current conditions require joint international efforts to besiege all negative phenomena resulting from terrorism," said the Egyptian interior minister.

Hammad conveyed Jordan's interest to learn from Egypt's security expertise "which is known for efficiency in the fields of security and counterterrorism."

He expressed an inclination to enroll Jordanian policemen into security-specific training courses given by the Police Academy in Cairo.

Egypt and Jordan have been suffering from rising extremist groups in the past few years following the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, in addition to the ensuing 2010-2011 so-called "Arab Spring" which toppled a number of Arab leaders. Endit