Sisi assures US Congressmen He doesn’t fear Assassination

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has assured US Congressmen visiting Cairo that he does not fear suffering the same fate as Anwar Sadat, who was assassinated by Islamist militants in 1981.

“Sadat saved hundreds of thousands of Egyptian lives, and my life is not a big price to pay for saving thousands of lives,” al-Sisi said he told the Congressmen who were visiting Cairo this week.

Former president Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981 by militant Islamists, who opposed his jailing of thousands of Islamists as well as his signing of the Camp David accords in 1978 which led to peace with Israel.

Al-Sisi previously said in an interview, prior to becoming president, that he had escaped two assassination attempts while defence minister.

The president’s speech on Monday, via videoconference, was at the opening ceremony of the inauguration of 19 projects carried out by the army, including bridges as well as a mosque and conference hall.

The Tantawy Mosque, in the fifth settlement suburb east of Cairo, is named after Field Marshal Hussein Tantawy who was head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and defence minister from 1991 to 2012.

Meanwhile, Al-Sisi also said that no one will “dare to disrupt the economic summit” scheduled to take place on 13-14 March in Sharm El-Sheikh resort.

Egypt has been trying to draw in investors following four years of political turmoil.

The country has been combating a decade-long militant insurgency in North Sinai that has spiked and spread to Cairo and other governorates since Mohamed Morsi’s ouster in July 2013.

The attacks initially targeted police and army personnel.

However, in recent weeks, assailants have planted small bombs near Emirati banks as well as telephone companies.

Source: Ahram Online