Egypt's El-Sisi says foreign hands behind Friday Sinai attack; vows action
Egyptian president says that deadly attacks in Sinai are the result of a
'broad conspiracy' aimed at driving a wedge between the people and the army
Ahram Online , Saturday 25 Oct 2014
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/113911/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-ElSisi-says-foreign-hands-behind-Friday-Sin.aspx

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said in comments aired on state TV on
Saturday that "foreign hands lie behind Friday's attacks" on army soldiers
in Sinai that killed 31 troops and injured 30.

Surrounded by top military generals, El-Sisi's comments came immediately
following an emergency meeting of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces
(SCAF) on Saturday morning.

At the emergency meeting, which was headed by President Abdel-Fattah
El-Sisi, the SCAF tasked a group of its senior leaders with studying the
circumstances of the latest terrorist attacks in Sinai.

On Friday, 28 soldiers were killed and another 30 injured when a car bomb
exploded at the Karm Alkwadis security checkpoint in Sheikh Zuweid in North
Sinai. Hours later, three security personal were killed when militants
opened fire at a checkpoint in nearby Al-Arish.

The president declared a three-months state of emergency in parts of North
Sinai on Friday evening.

Addressing his remarks to the nation, El-Sisi said that it is important that
the Egyptian people know that foreign forces aim to defeat the will of the
military and of all Egyptians.

"We must know that this terrorist attack was supported by foreign hands to
defeat the military that has been protecting the Egyptian people and their
will," he said.

He also stressed that he knew that all these attacks would take place "even
before 3 July 2013," in reference to the date of the ouster of Islamist
president Mohamed Morsi.

"We had a choice - either the people or the army had to confront terror. We
chose that the army carry out the mission," said El-Sisi.

The former military chief said that his country is undergoing an
"existential war" and stressed that the real danger lies in the foreign
hands that wants to intervene between the armed forces and Egyptians.

"Reforming the new Egypt will necessitate a lot of blood, work and effort,
so we all have to work closely hand-in-hand," El-Sisi said, adding that
soldiers and civilians died and that there will be more and more people
dying.

El-Sisi also said that Egyptians must realise "how broad the conspiracy
against us is."

The former military chief, who was elected president this summer, said that
recent work in different fields had been very fruitful at combating
terrorism in Sinai.

El-Sisi said that if it hadn't been for the army's intervention in Sinai,
the restive peninsula would have been a "cluster" of terrorism and
extremism.

"I have noted before that the war in Sinai will last for a long time, as
there are a lot of terrorists hiding in the peninsula, but this new level of
attacks has put us in a new level of planning too in order to combat the
terrorism there," stated El-Sisi.

"There are attempts to drive a wedge between the people and the army. No-one
will be able to divide the Egyptian people and its army."

The president said despite the recent attacks "much has already been done to
combat terrorism."

El-Sisi said that the government "was ready to take action to solve the
problem on the Egypt-Gaza border at the roots."

He ended his speech by assuring Egyptians that the armed and police forces
will work to combat the terrorism and by extending his condolences to all
Egyptians for the great loss.

Over 40 security personnel have been killed in attacks in the Sinai
Peninsula this week, including the two attacks on Friday.

A militant insurgency by jihadist groups in the peninsula has become more
active since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Hundreds of police and soldiers, as well as militants, have been killed.