Sisi: Terrorism is ‘monster’ sustained by some countries

CAIRO – 14 September 2019: The eighth National Youth Forum kicked off in New Cairo Saturday with the opening session evaluating the local and international counter-terrorism efforts.

Addressing the panel, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi said that terrorism would not have succeeded if not supported by some countries.

He referred to terrorism as “cancer” and a “monster” that has gone out of control of the entities that initiated it.

He referred to Taliban schools in Pakistan, which recruited energetic youths, however, the future of those students remained ambiguous then, until they were among the wave of “The returnees from Afghanistan” which Egypt received some of them.

He further noted that weakening the power of the national state is the main goal of terrorism. Terrorism was used for destroying Syria and Libya along with other countries in central Africa, said the president, adding that terrorism is now seeking to undermine the Egyptian state.

Sisi reiterated that the Egyptian army is the main pillar of the whole region, and that the religious discourse should cope up with modern age.

“We have not yet confronted terrorism ideologically in a strong way,” said Sisi, adding that the main directors of terrorists on social media platforms still unknown.

The eighth National Youth Conference kicked off Saturday, September 14 at New Cairo’s Al Manara International Conference Center at the presence of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

A total of 1,600 participants are attending the conference. Those include members of the Presidential Leadership Program (PLP), university students, young politicians, young engineers working in national projects, young physicians, and young businessmen.

The one-day conference consists of three sessions. The first session evaluates counter-terrorism efforts locally and regionally, while the second session discusses the effect of spreading false information on the state as part of Fourth-generation warfare, and the third session will be dedicated to questions sent by citizens via online platforms to President Sisi who will be answering them in the session titled "Ask the President."

The seventh edition of the National Youth Conference having 1,500 participants was held in the New Administrative Capital (NAC) on July 30-31. The event hosted the commencement of the first class of the African Presidential Leadership Program (APLP).