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| Africa North |
| Will Sissi seek Egypt's presidency? |
| 2013-08-15 |
| [Dawn] He is a savvy operator, people who have worked with him say, a career military officer who methodically campaigned a year ago to become Egypt's defence minister under its first democratically elected president. Now Gen. Abdel Fattah al Sissi is faced with a society even more bitterly divided than it was a year ago, when Mohamed Morsi took office as president. Islamist supporters of Morsi, who was ousted by the military last month, warned on Wednesday that authorities risk provoking "civil war" if they go ahead with plans to break up protest camps, as officials have threatened to do after the collapse of international mediation efforts. To those Islamists, al Sissi is intent on wiping their faction off the nation's political map in a quest for absolute power. But a substantially larger share of Egyptians appears to ardently support the general, and many tout his name above all others in the search for a new leader. Al Sissi, viewed as a pious Moslem, was supposed to be the Moslem Brüderbund's man running the military. Now his sunglass-clad face is venerated in Cairo's streets and his pictures pasted on the windows of minibuses and storefronts and clutched by men and women who wave Egyptian flags in Tahrir Square. For the most popular man in Egypt, the question is: Does he want to be the country's next president? Al Sissi, 58, has been coy about his plans, saying in an interview with The Washington Post last week that he did not aspire to a higher office but declining to rule out a presidential bid. "When the people love you," he said, "this is the most important thing for me." Egyptian officials say that al Sissi's commitment to returning the country to civilian-led democracy is genuine and that they do not think that he will run in elections, expected to be held next year. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Did Nasser seek Egypt's Presidency? Maybe seek is weak a word... |
| Posted by: Shipman 2013-08-15 18:19 |
| #1 Sissi of Egypt. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2013-08-15 16:25 |