Egypt’s army chief Gen. Abdul Fattah El-Sisi on Monday thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for the Kingdom’s firm stand on Egypt at this hour of crisis. “We’ll never forget this support,” he added.
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, meanwhile, held talks with French President Francois Hollande and said: “We have reached an agreement with France to give Egypt road map a chance to achieve security and conduct early elections.”
Prince Saud said people should use their freedom of expression without violence. Hollande disclosed that he had received a message from the Saudi king on Egypt situation and condemned the ongoing violence and killings in the country.
Sisi, said in a speech to military and police officers on Sunday that his message to the supporters of deposed President Muhammad Mursi is that “there is room for everyone in Egypt.”
But in his first public comments since last week's security crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood, Sisi also warned that anyone who resorts to violence would not be tolerated.
“We will never be silent in the face of the destruction of the country,” Sisi said. “We are very prepared for this,” he said, and pledged a “forceful” response to further attacks on police stations and government buildings.
Mursi supporters canceled some Cairo marches Sunday for “security reasons.” This came as senior European Union diplomats are holding emergency talks in Brussels to discuss future EU action.
Qatar’s Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Attiya said his country had never given aid to Muslim Brotherhood and that all assistance went to Egypt as a whole. “As far as Qatar’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood, there are some wrong impressions about the aid Qatar is providing.”
Foreign minister says Egypt still on path to democracy
In an interview, Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said the interim government had not abandoned the path to democracy.
“I assure our friends that we are maintaining our roadmap to democracy,” Fahmy, a former ambassador to the United States, told German news weekly Der Spiegel in an interview published on Monday.
He said Egyptians “would not accept the country staying under the now-imposed state of emergency in the long run.”
He also said the Muslim Brotherhood were welcome to a dialogue on Egypt’s political future “as soon as calm and order have been restored.”
“Those who have not broken the law can take part in the political process,” he said.
Fahmy chided Western allies for their sharp criticism of government force against pro-Mursi demonstrators, which has left hundreds dead.
“I am disappointed that the violence by the other side has not been more clearly recognized and condemned by the West,” he said.
He discouraged direct intervention in the conflict by the United States or the European Union.
“This is an Egyptian problem that we must solve,” he said.
“I trust the military, I am sure that the officers are not fixated on power.”
The death toll in four days of violence topped 750 in Egypt in clashes following massive operations by the army-led government against Mursi supporters.
The bloodshed has shocked the international community, with European Union leaders Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso warning Sunday that the bloc would review its ties with the country unless it ended.
