Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Participates in Plenary Meeting of Coalition With VP Biden and SPE McGurk

HE Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs participated in the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL plenary meeting at the State Department during his official visit to the US. US Vice President Joe Biden participated in the meeting, along with newly appointed Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, Brett McGurk. The briefing was attended by coalition representatives from 65 countries.

Kicking off the meeting, Vice President Biden reconfirmed the unwavering commitment of the United States to work with coalition partners to degrade and destroy this unprecedented terrorist threat. For their part, coalition partners reaffirmed their solidarity against recent attacks and their commitment to working together to defeat ISIL.

Special Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk opened the briefing by outlining the current state of the campaign to push back on ISIL in Iraq and Syria by applying pressure across multiple lines of effort. He emphasized that while the Coalition will continue to increase pressure on ISIL at its core, more needs to be done to coordinate efforts and pressure ISIL across its global network.

Following SPE McGurk, Bahrain’s Foreign Minister and the coalition’s senior diplomats briefed the plenary on their efforts, including ongoing support for stabilization operations in Iraq, enhancing humanitarian aid, and increasing information sharing to counter the flow of foreign fighters into the region and cut off ISIL revenues. HE Sheikh Khalid highlighted the importance of tackling Syria’s political crisis, specifically as it relates to how ISIL took advantage of the leadership void to take and occupy the lands of people who have been there long before current groups came into being. He also emphasized the larger issue of tackling violent extremism and the importance of protecting diversity in the region.