Defense Minister General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's Wednesday speech does not represent a call for violence against any group in Egypt, according to army spokesperson Ahmed Mohamed Ali.
The speech, in which Sisi called for mass protests to allow the army to "confront violence and terrorism," was only concerned with national security, Ali said in a post on his official Facebook page.
Ali said the call coincides with efforts by the Egyptian state to consolidate national reconciliation, transitional justice and a roadmap for the future.
At a graduation ceremony of the Navy and Air Force academies on Wednesday, Sisi expressed his condolences to the families of the victims who were killed in recent months. “To every mother and father,” he said, “I pray to God the bloodshed stops.”
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
