In an exclusive interview, Al Ragol Magazine sat down with President Sisi, who was named as the Magazine’s person of the month - Screenshot of Al Ragol Magazine
CAIRO –2 June 2018: National security of Egypt and Saudi Arabia is vital for the region’s stability, said President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, describing the two countries’ relations as strategic and stable with the Saudi leadership being fully cognizant of that.
“Any attempts to disrupt the relationship that is distinguished with mutual understanding and respect between the two leaderships are doomed to fail and futile,” Sisi added to Saudi-led magazine Al Ragol.
In an exclusive interview, Al Ragol Magazine sat down with President Sisi, who was named as the Magazine’s person of the month.
On regional front:
The Arab region is going through difficult circumstances, which entails the need to proceed with a unified stance based on a careful understanding of the reality, Sisi said.
He hailed the positive stances undertaken by the leaders of Gulf States in support of Egypt. “The support of our brothers in the Gulf states to Egypt is one of the reasons why we were capable of overcoming [our] crisis in spite of all the persistent attempts that are aimed at crumbling our development process.”
Achieving peace is deterrent to terrorism:
Sisi denounced terrorist attacks that plagued many Arab and non-Arab capitals, stressing the importance of the world’s concerted efforts to address terrorism globally.
On the internal level, Sisi told Al Ragol that Egypt has made significant progress in fighting terrorism. “Egypt is becoming more stable compared to the past. Whoever follows up on the situation in Egypt can sense and see that.”
"Achieving peace through development will strip terrorism of its main pretext that it uses to survive,” stressing the need to fight terrorism through a comprehensive strategy that involves the cultural and intellectual aspects and is not premised on the only-military solution.
Sisi further said: “It is time to find out a comprehensive solution to the Palestinian cause – the Arab World’s central issue - based on supporting the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
Egypt’s stability is top priority:
President Sisi said that ensuring Egypt’s stability and thwarting attempts to circumvent its security are on top of his priorities.
He expressed his confidence of Egypt’s young people and their capabilities and political awareness and underscored the need to urge them into political life.
Sisi further contended “I never get angry with young people who are in disagreement with the political leadership,” pointing out the importance of willingly and lovingly embracing them.
On the other hand, Sisi said that he has never dreamed of becoming a president, and instead he basically wanted to become a pilot.
When asked about the most people that have influenced him, Sisi said that he was inspired and deeply influenced by the late president Gamal Abdel Nasser, revealing that he cried a lot when he died.
Sisi had a great admiration for the strong militancy of the former Minister of Defense Mohamed Abdulhalim Abu Ghazala and the former head of military intelligence, Mohamed Abdel Ghani al-Jamsi.
“I hope history keeps recording that I saved the country and its people under difficult circumstances,” Sisi concluded.
President Sisi will swear-in before the House of Representatives on Saturday for his second presidential term.
In the March presidential vote, Sisi garnered 97.08 percent of valid votes in the presidential election, where more than 21.8 million people voted for him. His rival, Chairman of Al-Ghad politcial party, Moussa Mustafa Moussa, received 656,534 votes, making up 2.9 percent of the valid ballots.
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