Saturday, June 28, 2014

El-Sisi Speaks at AU Summit Attempting to Justify Coup
Former Egyptian military leader turned President Abdel Fattah
El-Sisi speaking at the African Union Summit in Malabo, Equatorial
Guinea.
Ahram Online, Thursday 26 Jun 2014

The newly elected president says in his first international speech that the Egyptian armed forces took the people's side 'not the other way around'

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi addressed the African Union’s 23rd Ordinary Summit in Equatorial Guinea's capital Malabo on Thursday afternoon.

Egypt’s membership in the union was suspended for almost a year after the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, but was restored this week.

"Egypt returns to you after what it achieved from the 25 January and 30 June revolution (the date of mass protests against Morsi's rule) in terms of goals of freedom, democracy and social justice, which Egypt achieved through the constitution," said El-Sisi in his first international speech, adding that "no one can claim to have achieved perfect democracy.”

"In the 30 June revolution, the Egyptian armed forces took the side of the people and not the other way around, saving Egypt from a civil war and chaos," he said, adding that many African countries suffered from civil wars.

The new elected president also expressed what he said was Egyptians' dismay that their "African brothers" did not support them after 30 June.

Egypt's membership in the African Union was suspended Egypt from the 54-nation bloc after the overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, with the Peace and Security Council citing the need to restore "constitutional order".

It is the AU's policy to suspend any member state that undergoes an "unconstitutional" change of government.

The Egyptian president also tackled the problem of terrorism in Africa describing it as a threat to nations in the continent which must be confronted with joint efforts.

El-Sisi announced that Egypt will create an Egyptian partnership for development in Africa which will start working this July.

The new agency will support new initiatives to implement development projects in Africa. El-Sisi mentioned that Egypt has already founded an Egyptian fund for development in Africa.

Earlier, AU head Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma welcomed the new elected president of Egypt in the opening of the summit.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/104836.aspx

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