200 Egyptian troops in Syria to back regime

Egypt has sent 200 military officers and advisors to Syria to help the regime with security coordination, Jordanian Assabeel newspaper reported yesterday.

Reporting the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which has close ties to Hezbollah, Assabeel said that the Egyptian military officers and advisors are distributed among a number of centres, including a centre in the headquarters of the Syrian regime in Damascus.

The newspaper said that this plan came after an official visit made by the Chief of the Syrian National Security Bureau Brigadier General Ali Mamlook and a senior intelligence delegation which visited Cairo.

At the beginning of November, the newspaper said, a group of Egyptian security and military officers moved to Syria as part of the security and military cooperation which included exchanging experiences in fighting terrorism.

It is also reported that Russia supports coordination and cooperation between the two countries.