Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has advised Tunisian protesters decrying unemployment to abstain from the activity as the days-old turmoil in Tunisia triggered a nationwide curfew by the government on Friday.
"I would never intervene in the domestic affairs of our Tunisian brothers, but I tell the Tunisian people the whole world is under economic hardships, take care of your country,” Sisi said during a speech at Cairo’s Police Academy on Saturday marking the national Police Day celebrations.
Anti-regime protests by Tunisians in December 2010, which forced former president Zein al-Abidine bin Ali to flee to Saudi Arabia, has inspired similar uprisings that toppled presidents in Egypt, Libya and Yemen.
“Why am I am saying this? Because I hope I will be rewarded for promoting peace, constructiveness, development and stability, rather than sabotage and killings,” Sisi told attendants at the celebration.
Egypt itself is witnessing heightened security ahead of potential protests by Sisi’s opponents on January 25, the fifth anniversary of the Tunisian-inspired uprising that toppled former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. Army troops have been deployed to Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the 2011 uprising and a favorite location for socially and politically-motivated protests since then.
Sisi had already advised against protesting on that day during a speech in December, asking why the advocates of demonstrations in Egypt would want to “ruin” the country.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
