President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned against those spreading rumors against the state during the eighth National Youth Conference on Saturday, saying that they work to upend confidence between the people and the president, and asserting that they will lose the bet.
During the session “The effect of spreading lies on the state in light of the wars of the fourth generation”, Sisi added that these rumors also aim to shake the people’s faith in the army.
In a speech, Sisi said “I will tell you, Egyptians, a mistake that we have paid and will pay for, which is the 2011 revolution. Dams would not have been built on the Nile River, if not for the 2011 revolution.”
Sisi clarified that any issues sensitive to Egyptian national security were not discussed to the public, adding that “One of the principles that I worked on was to speak very clearly and transparently, because the risks of secrecy are greater than the risks that Egypt would face if we remained silent.”
The President added that social media in 2009 and 2010 contributed to the spread of disinformation.
Looking to the future, Sisi said that “We build in the New Administrative Capital a state within a state which the world will talk about. Egypt is not a small country, and I will build new presidential palaces for Egypt and another 14 new cities in 2020.”
During the session “Assessing the experience of counter-terrorism locally and regionally,” Sisi said that the Egyptian army is the center of gravity in the region, and that the cost of combating terrorism has been great.
He stressed that terrorist organizations have misrepresented all meanings of religious beliefs to twist them into their own interests, and that these terrorist organizations rely on modern technological devices to recruit members.
He continued, saying “So far, we have not dealt with the terrorist cause intellectually…and people think that we are wasting our religion,” asserting that terrorism is a satanic idea which aims at striking against the pillars of religion.
He pointed out that terrorism was a successful means used for achieving goals at very low political, military and security costs, like what happened in the 1980s when the Soviet Union fell as a result of terrorism.
Sisi continued, “The phenomenon of terrorism, unfortunately, is a monster which has gone out of control for those who launched it, especially as there are countries who have worked to build communication with these terrorist groups.”
