Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi urged Sunday awareness of "conspiracies that aim to undermine the country’s stability."
In a televised talk during the Armed Forces' 32nd Cultural Symposium, El-Sisi underlined the necessity of preserving the state, especially amid emerging challenges and new types of war.
“There are currently new wars that turn public opinion into a tool to destroy the state … The challenges in Egypt are vast and we can stand together against them,” he said, adding that the nation will not be defeated by an external war.
El-Sisi affirmed that the state can overcome all challenges it faces, adding that he was not promoting delusions when he previously warned of major emerging challenges.
“We will be successful. We build and do not destroy. God will help us,” he said.
El-Sisi warned of the gravity of destabilisation. “The challenge that we should be aware of is the solidity and the stability of the state and the awareness of the nation. We sacrifice ourselves through work and effort to push the country forward,” he said.
El-Sisi highlighted instability after the 2011 revolution, affirming the necessity of resilience by the nation against such destabilisation attempts.
“Those who attempted to reach power in 2011 were able to do so while the state was in calamity,” he said.
El-Sisi dismissed all calls for reconciliation with the banned Muslim Brotherhood, from whom late Islamist President Mohamed Morsi hailed, despite not referring to the group directly during his talk.
“I cannot reconcile with those who threaten my state and nation … We can argue, yet when you kill and destroy a nation of 100 million, how can I reconcile with you?” he said.
This is not the first time that the Egyptian president has addressed the topic of reconciliation with the banned group blamed for instability in the country since their ouster in 2013 following one-year rule.
In recent years, El-Sisi has said that reconciliation with the group was not solely his decision, stressing chances provided by him to the group as army chief during the days before their ouster.
The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition group for decades, was blacklisted as a "terrorist group" in December 2013. Many of its senior leaders are in jail and facing trial over violence-related charges following the ouster of late President Morsi and violent dispersals of Islamist sit-ins Rabaa and Nahda squares in Cairo and Giza.
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