Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has said that his country is working to counter "foreign plots" directed at Arab countries.
"Egypt is seeking to remedy what has been perpetrated against us by foreign forces that have carried out plots, starting with Iraq--as reports in recent days show--that have weakened the state…and opened the door for extremist groups," Shoukry told a ministerial gathering of the Arab League on Saturday.
Shoukry was apparently alluding to the report recetnly issued by the Iraq Inquiry, an official British investigation into the country's role in the 2003 US-led Iraq War.
He said such foreign powers "seek to expand their influence at the expense of the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Arab countries.
He said that the crises in Syria, Yemen Libya and Iraq are all linked to the "decline of the role of state in favour of sectarian and extremist militias and organisations and unofficial players seeking to undermine Arab territorial integrity."
Shoukry called on Arab states to join hands to prevent the spread of regional turmoil to countries still enjoying stability.
He told the gathering in Mauritania's capital Nouakchott that Arab joint cooperation at the political, economic and social levels "remains sub-standard" to achieving desired Arab integration that would preserve the interests of the Arab world.
