Egyptian president calls for de-escalation with Iran
EGYPT: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said yesterday he was against military strikes on Iran or the Tehran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, saying there was enough turmoil in the Middle East.
In a meeting with a group of journalists, Sisi also pledged support for Saudi Arabia in its standoff with Iran.
Asked about the prospect of attacks on Iran and Hezbollah – two days after Saudi Arabia had accused Lebanon of declaring war because of Hezbollah’s ‘‘aggressive actions’’ – Sisi stressed the importance of de-escalation. ‘‘I am always against war,’’ he said, without spelling out who might be involved in military action.
Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia called for sanctions against Hezbollah this week and accused Iran of supplying Yemen’s Houthis with missiles used to target it.
‘‘I have said it once and I will say it again, Gulf national security is Egyptian national security. I have faith in the wise and firm leadership of Saudi Arabia,’’ Sisi said.
He said the situation in the kingdom was ‘‘reassuring and stable’’ following last weekend’s arrests of 11 princes, former and current ministers, and a group of elite businessmen on corruption allegations.
They face allegations of money laundering, bribery, extortion and exploiting public office for personal gain.
Sisi stressed his backing of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states, which have showered Egypt with aid since the general-turnedpresident led the military’s ouster of former President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 following mass protests.
Lebanon has been thrust to the centre of regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran since the Saudi-allied Lebanese politician Saad al-Hariri quit as prime minister on Saturday, blaming Iran and Hezbollah in his resignation speech.
Hezbollah is both a military and a political organisation that is represented in the Lebanese parliament and in the Hariri-led coalition government formed last year.
Its powerful guerrilla army is widely seen as stronger than the Lebanese army, and has played a major role in the war in neighbouring Syria, another theatre of Saudi-Iranian rivalry where Hezbollah has fought in support of the Syrian government.
Sisi was elected a year after he ousted Mursi and his first fouryear term ends next year. He would not be drawn on when he would announce a re-election bid, although he is widely expected to run and win. He hinted at doing so by February.
‘‘I have to present achievements over the past four years to Egyptians first, before saying whether I will run or not. I will do this over the next two months, December and January, and based on their response I will reach a position on running.’’
One candidate has already declared his intention to challenge Sisi. Rights lawyer Khaled Ali announced his 2018 bid on Monday in a speech criticising Sisi’s administration; accusing it of suppressing freedoms and causing deteriorating economic and security conditions.
Egypt’s economy has been struggling to recover since a 2011 uprising scared away tourists and investors, two main sources of foreign currency, but a three-year International Monetary Fund programme is expected to help restore confidence.
The IMF programme is tied to harsh reforms, chief of which was the central bank’s decision to float the pound currency last year, which halved its value.
Sisi said yesterday he expected the pound to rally in the near future.
‘‘I expect that the exchange rate will strengthen in the coming period, because all the problems that created the crisis over the past few years before the float, I believe, have been solved,’’ he said.
Tourism, a major source of hard currency, took a massive hit in 2015 when Russia suspended flights to Egypt, after Islamic State blew a plane out of the air that took off from Sharm al-Sheikh, the Red Sea resort in which Sisi was speaking on Wednesday, killing all 224 people, mostly Russians, on board.
Sisi said he was not pressing the Russian government to restore flights because he understood its need to protect its citizens.
‘‘I have never, and will never, insist on the restoration of flights,’’ he said.
He said security forces were making significant gains against militants, however. The military had captured a foreign fighter in a raid it carried out against militants responsible for a deadly attack on a police convoy in Egypt’s Western Desert last month.
Three security sources said at the time that at least 52 police officers and conscripts were killed on October 21 when their patrol came under attack, but the interior ministry rebutted the figure the next day and said only 16 policemen had been killed. – Reuters