At a conference organized by the Canada Egypt Business Council on Wednesday, Lieutenant General Ahmed Shafiq, who is running in the upcoming presidential elections, said he is on very good terms with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).
“The SCAF does not support me,” he said. “But we have good relations.”
“I am a fighter, and I like to beat difficulties,” Shafiq said. “But I support dialogue between the political forces and the military council.”
Shafiq claimed the recent violence near the cabinet and the burning down of the Egyptian Scientific Institute were the work of infiltrators who want to destroy the state and drive a wedge between the people, on the one hand, and the army and police, on the other.
“The Egyptian people deserve to eat fish and chips, not foul and tameya,” he said, hinting that he would work on improving living standards if he became president.
Shafiq also said he would turn Sinai into a free industrial zone in order to encourage foreign investment.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
