Egypt will not bow to violence, says military leader Sissi

Published:August 19,2013

The defence minister’s remarks are his first since Wednesday’s crackdown that killed hundreds.

Egypt’s military leader, Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi, has warned that the country will not “kneel” in the face of deadly violence that killed hundreds, vowing not to allow further unrest in the country.

“Whoever imagines violence will make the state and Egyptians kneel must reconsider; we will never be silent in the face of the destruction of the country,” said Mr. El- Sissi, who led the military coup that toppled President Mohammed Morsi on July 3.
The remarks, his first since a deadly crackdown Wednesday on two encampments of Morsi supporters that left hundreds dead and sparked days of violence across the country, came at a gathering of top military commanders and police chiefs.

The death toll since Wednesday has climbed beyond 750, reports say.

He denied the army was going after power and claimed the military acted transparently and accurately

“We in army and police were not treacherous, we didn’t plot or betray. We warned against outcome of political conflict,” he said.

He said the military will not accept “the destruction… of the country, the terrorizing of the people and sending a wrong image to the Western media.”

“We will not stand by silently watching the destruction of the country and the people or the torching the nation and terrorizing the citizens,” he said in comments quoted on state television and posted on an official military Facebook page.

Mr. El-Sissi called for Muslim Brotherhood to be included in Egypt’s politics moving forward.

“We have given many chances … to end the crisis peacefully and call for the followers of the former regime to participate in rebuilding the democratic track and integrate in the political process and the future map instead of confrontations and destroying the Egyptian state,” he said.