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Tag: Abdel Fattah al-Sisi

  • Al-Sisi : Rumours main threat to Arab countries

    President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi of Egypt has warned that Arab countries, including Egypt, were vulnerable to imploding from within under what he described as a barrage of rumours aimed at spreading instability.

    Addressing a military academy graduation ceremony in Cairo, Sisi said that his government had detected 21,000 rumours over a period of three months.

    Al-Sisi, who was elected president after he led the army in ousting Mohamed Mursi following mass protests against the Islamist president’s one year in office, sees himself as trying to rebuild Egypt following years of turmoil that began in 2011.

    “The real danger is blowing up countries from within. Rumours, acts of terrorism, loss of hope and feeling of frustration, all these work in a grand network aimed at one objective, only one objective, and that is to move people to destroy their country,” Al-Sisi said, speaking in Arabic.

    “Destroying our countries will not happen unless it came from within. We must be alert and pay attention to what is being spun against us in secret,” he added, without naming any party.

    He said that while he understood the economic hardships that ordinary Egyptians are enduring due to economic reforms, nothing justifies “causing chaos and destroying the state”.

    Read Also: Egyptian President pardons 712 prisoners

    Al-Sisi’s government has faced criticism from ordinary Egyptians over the raising of fuel, electricity and transportation prices, part of IMF-backed reforms that called for lifting subsidies on fuel prices causing economic hardships to many Egyptians.

    Critics accuse Al-Sisi’s government of presiding over the most serious crackdown on dissent since 2011, jailing thousands of people, most of them Islamists but also including liberals who opposed his policies.

    Supporters say Al-Sisi’s policies were necessary to bring stability to the most populous country in the Arab world and save it from the anarchy and destruction witnessed by other Arab countries such as Syria and Libya.

    At the ceremony, which was attended by senior army officers including former army chief Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, Al-Sisi also lavished praise on army officers who overthrew the monarchy in 1952 in what is known as the “July 23 Revolution”, including the late presidents Mohammed Naguib, Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat.

    Sisi also decorated Youssef Siddiq, one of the Free Officers who fell out of favour with the Revolutionary Command Council due to differences over running the country after 1952 until he died in 1975, with the Nile Medal, the country’s highest honour.

    “My dad had no medals or any decorations. This is the first medal to be placed in the history of Youssef Siddiq,” Siddiq’s daughter, Laila, who received the medal, told Reuters.

    “What happened today was an act of justice to Youssef Siqqiq and his history, which had been deliberately suppressed,” she added.

  • Egyptian President pardons 712 prisoners

    President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt on Wednesday pardoned 712 prisoners, the state news agency MENA said on Wednesday, and security sources said many of those freed were youth jailed for anti-government protests.

    A full list of those pardoned was not immediately available.

    Since coming to power in 2014, Al-Sisi has presided over a sweeping crackdown on Islamist opponents and liberal activists that rights groups say is the worst period of political repression in Egyptian history.

    He has issued pardons several times a year, including on major national holidays, often releasing students and young protesters.

    Read Also: Ethiopia to free all political prisoners

    Egypt in 2013 passed a law requiring interior ministry permission for any public gathering of more than 10 people, effectively ending the mass protests that helped unseat two presidents in the span of three years beginning in 2011.

    Al-Sisi is a former military chief who toppled elected Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in 2013 after mass protests against his rule.

    Critics say public dissent continues to be suppressed as matter of policy under Sisi.

    Al-Sisi denies that there are political prisoners in Egypt.

    He was sworn in for a second term as Egyptian president on Saturday amid a crackdown on opponents after a landslide victory in a March election from which all serious opponents had withdrawn.

     

    NAN

  • Egyptian army kills 15 terrorists in anti-terror raids in North Sinai

    Egyptian army kills 15 terrorists in anti-terror raids in North Sinai

    Egyptian forces have killed 15 terrorists during anti-terror raids in North Sinai Province northeast of the capital Cairo, a military spokesman said on Wednesday.

    “The forces also destroyed 11 targets used as shelters and hideouts of terrorist elements,” Military Spokesman, Tamer al-Refaay, said in a statement.

    According to the statement, the raids destroyed 181 mountain huts, hideouts and warehouses containing explosives and chemicals used for making improvised explosive devices.

    The army forces launched a massive anti-terror operation on Friday and have killed 53 terrorists until Wednesday, while the police forces have killed 13.

    The operation mainly targets the Islamic State (IS) militants in the restive North Sinai bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

    It also covers the Nile Delta provinces and the western borders with eastern war-torn Libya.

    The northern part of the Sinai Peninsula has been the centre of terrorist attacks that killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers following the military removal of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests.

    Terror attacks later extended to several other provinces including Cairo and started to target the Coptic minority via church bombings and shootings.

    Most of the attacks were claimed by Wilayat Sinai, a Sinai-based IS-affiliated group.

    Read Also: Egyptian court sentences 16 over Church raid

    Terrorists in Egypt have, apart from targeting security personnel and Copts, they attacked a mosque in North Sinai’s Arish in November 2017, killing at least 310 Muslim worshipers and injuring more than 120 others.

    No group has yet claimed responsibility for the mosque attack, the deadliest terror attack and the first against a mosque in Egypt’s modern history.

    Following the attack, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi ordered the army to restore security and stability in North Sinai within three months.

    Egyptian security forces have so far killed hundreds of terrorists and arrested thousands of suspects during the anti-terror war declared by Sisi, the army chief then, following Morsi’s ouster in 2013.

    The anti-terror “Comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018” comes weeks before Egypt’s 2018 presidential elections scheduled for March, where incumbent President Sisi is expected to make an easy win for a second term because of lack of strong rivals in the race.

    NAN

     

  • Egypt ‘s court sentences 13 terrorists to death

    Egypt ‘s court sentences 13 terrorists to death

    Egypt ’s Giza Criminal Court on Thursday ordered that 13 convicts be  executed  for launching terrorist attacks against security forces, official MENA news agency reported.

    The convicts were from a disbanded militant group that referred itself as Ajnad Misr (Soldiers of Egypt).

    They were charged with installing explosive devices.

    The explosive devices targeted various venues which included checkpoints, police stations, vital institutions and public properties as well as murdering policemen and citizens.

    On October 8, Giza Criminal Court referred the files of the 13 defendants to the country’s highest religious authority, the Grand Mufti, for his non-binding Islamic legal opinion on their execution.

    The case started in July 2014 and it includes 44 defendants in total.

    The execution verdict comes about two weeks after a terrorist attack against a mosque in North Sinai killed at least 310 Muslim worshippers and wounded over 120 others.

    This is the deadliest terror operation and the first against a Muslim mosque in Egypt’s modern history.

    Egypt has been fighting against a wave of terror activities that killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the military toppled former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

    This came as a response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his currently blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood group.

    Terror attacks in Egypt focused on targeting police and military men in North Sinai before spreading nationwide and targeting the Coptic minority as well, with most of them claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State (IS) militant group.

    Ajnad Misr pledged allegiance to the IS in 2014, a year before its founder was killed as announced by the Egyptian police in April 2015.

    Meanwhile, the Egyptian military and police have killed hundreds of militants and arrested a similar number of suspects as part of the country’s anti-terror war declared by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the army chief then, following Morsi’s removal.

    NAN

  • 44 killed in Egypt’s Palm Sunday bombings

    44 killed in Egypt’s Palm Sunday bombings

    The Ministry of Health on Monday said that no fewer than 44 people were killed in bomb attacks on the symbolic cathedral seat of the Coptic Pope and another church on Palm Sunday.

    Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks, which also injured more than 100 people and occurred a week before Coptic Easter, with Pope Francis scheduled to visit Egypt later in April.

    The assault is the latest on a religious minority increasingly targeted by Islamist militants, and a challenge to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has pledged to protect them as part of his campaign against extremism.

    The ministry of health said that the first bombing, in Tanta, a Nile Delta city about 100 km (60 miles) north of Cairo, tore through the inside of St. George Church during its Palm Sunday service, killing at least 27 people and injuring at least 78.

    The ministry added that the second, just a few hours later in Alexandria, hit Saint Mark’s Cathedral, the historic seat of the Coptic Pope, killing 17 people, including three police officers, and injuring 48.

    Sisi ordered troops be immediately deployed to assist police in securing vital facilities, a statement from his office said.

    “The attack…will only harden the determination (of the Egyptian people) to move forward on their trajectory to realise security, stability and comprehensive development,” Sisi said in a statement.

    President Donald Trump, who hosted Sisi on April 3, in his first official visit to the U.S., expressed support for a leader he has said he plans to work more closely with on fighting Islamist militants, who Sisi identifies as an existential threat.

    “So sad to hear of the terrorist attack in Egypt. U.S. strongly condemns. I have great confidence that President Al Sisi will handle situation properly,” Trump wrote on his official Twitter account.

    Hundreds gathered outside the Tanta church shortly after the blast, some weeping and wearing black while inside, blown apart pews sat atop tiles soaked with blood.

    “There was blood all over the floor and body parts scattered,” a woman who was inside the church at the time of the attack said.

    “There was a huge explosion in the hall. Fire and smoke filled the room and the injuries were extremely severe,” another woman, Vivian Fareeg, said.

    Islamic State’s branch in Egypt has stepped up attacks and threats against Christians, who comprise about 10 percent of Egypt’s 90 million people and are the biggest Christian minority in the Middle East.

    In February, scores of Christian families and students fled Egypt’s North Sinai province after a spate of targeted killings.

    Those attacks followed one of the deadliest on Egypt’s Christian minority, when a suicide bomber hit its largest Coptic cathedral, killing at least 25 people.

    Islamic State later claimed responsibility for that attack.

    Islamic State has waged a low-level war against soldiers and police in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula for years but is now targeting Christians and broadening its reach into Egypt’s mainland.

    That is a potential turning point in a country trying to prevent a provincial insurgency spiralling into wider sectarian bloodshed.

    Although Copts have faced attacks by Muslim neighbours, who have burnt their homes and churches in poor rural areas, in the past, the community has felt increasingly insecure since Islamic State spread through Iraq and Syria in 2014.

  • Protesters demand fall of Egypt’s government over islands deal

    Thousands of Egyptians angered by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s decision to hand over two islands to Saudi Arabia on Friday called for the government to fall, chanting a slogan from the 2011 Arab Spring uprising.

    Their protests signaled that the former general, who is also under mounting criticism over the struggling economy, no longer enjoys the broad public support that let him round up thousands of opponents after he seized power in 2013.

    In the evening, riot police who had surrounded the site of the biggest demonstration, in the heart of downtown Cairo, dispersed the crowd with tear gas, Reuters witnesses said.

    Egyptian security forces detained a total of 119 protesters at several demonstrations, according to security officials.

    Sisi’s government prompted an outcry in Egyptian newspapers and on social media last week when it announced an accord that put the uninhabited Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir in Saudi waters.

    “The people want the downfall of the regime!” protesters cried outside the Cairo press syndicate, using the signature chant of the 2011 revolt against then-president Hosni Mubarak, who later stepped down.

    They also chanted: “Sisi – Mubarak”, “We don’t want you, leave” and “We own the land and you are agents who sold our land.”

    In other parts of Cairo, police fired tear gas at protesters, security sources said.

  • Sisi, Putin discuss cooperation in anti-terror campaign

    Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have discussed international cooperation in the fight against terrorism, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement on Wednesday.

    The two leaders agreed in a telephone call on the need for greater international security cooperation, the statement said.

    Russia’s FSB security service, according to Reuters, said on Tuesday it was certain a bomb had brought down a Russian passenger plane in Egypt’s Sinai on October 31, joining Britain and the United States in reaching that conclusion.

  • Egypt’s president retains key ministers in new government

    Egypt’s president retains key ministers in new government

    Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, kept his finance, investment and interior ministers in a new government sworn in on Saturday, state news agency MENA reported, as he tries to rebuild an economy battered by Islamist militant violence.

    Reuters said Sisi named former head of the state oil company Tarek al-Mullah as petroleum minister, charged with easing the country’s energy crisis and attracting more foreign investment in a strategic sector.

    Mullah succeeds Sherif Ismail, who became prime minister.

     

  • Egypt’s al-Sisi admonishes police, government on anniversary

    Egypt’s al-Sisi admonishes police, government on anniversary

    Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi reproached police and criticised his government on Sunday, a year after he took office, with critics accusing him of allowing human rights abuses to flourish and doing little to boost jobs.

    Many Egyptians support Sisi for delivering a degree of stability after years of turmoil following the 2011 uprising that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

    But critics said he has returned Egypt to authoritarian rule and has not done enough to boost its battered economy, Reuters says.

    Sisi, the former army chief who ousted Egypt’s first freely elected leader — Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood — in mid-2013 following mass protests against his rule, addressed the criticism on Sunday.

    At an event to launch army-backed infrastructure projects, Sisi said: “I say to our sons in the police or any government agency they must be mindful that they are dealing with human beings.” His comments were reported by state news agency MENA.

    Activists said the police, whose power waned as Mubarak fell, now act with impunity, a charge the Interior Ministry denied.

    “I apologise to every Egyptian citizen who has been subjected to any abuse. I am accountable for anything that happens to an Egyptian citizen,” Sisi said.

    But he presented no clear plan for addressing the problems.

  • Sisi wins Egypt’s presidential election

    Former Egyptian army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, won a landslide victory in a presidential election on Thursday but a low turnout may have deprived him of the strong mandate he needs to fix the economy and face down an Islamist insurgency.

    Sisi won 93.3 percent of votes cast, judicial sources said, with most ballots counted after three days of voting. His only rival, leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, gained 3 percent while 3.7 percent of votes were declared void.

    But a lower-than-expected turnout figure raised questions about the credibility of a man idolised by his supporters as a hero who can deliver stability, Reuters says.

    The stakes are high for Sisi in a country where street protests have helped topple two presidents in three years.

    Since a series of television interviews he gave ahead of the vote, many Egyptians feel Sisi has not spelled out a clear vision of how he would tackle Egypt’s problems, instead making a general call for people to work hard and be patient.

    He has presented vague plans to remedy the economy, suffering from corruption, high unemployment, and a widening budget deficit aggravated by fuel subsidies that could cost nearly $19 billion in the next fiscal year.

    “All in all the weak turnout will make it harder for Sisi to impose painful economic reforms that international institutions and investors are demanding,” said Anna Boyd, an analyst at London-based IHS Jane’s.

    Investors want Sisi to end energy subsidies, impose a clear tax regime and give guidance on the direction of the exchange rate.