Hot on the heels of China’s president Xi Jinping’s triumphant visit to Britain last month, the procession of tyrants through the doors of 10 Downing Street continued yesterday with the arrival of Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
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The two leaders agreed on the necessity to develop an inclusive strategy to combat mistaken ideologies fanned by extremists and terror groups, the spokesman said.
Egypt is “completely ready” to work with its partners to protect foreign citizens and wants normal travel to resume as soon as possible, Mr Sisi said.
July 3, 2013 – Egypt’s military removes Mohamed Morsy from power and reportedly holds him under house arrest.
The thousands-strong populations of the Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda square sit ins – on which the full might of the Egyptian state was to be exacted – were supporters of the deposed president.
Writing in a column for Middle East Eye this week, Asem highlighted findings by monitors like Amnesty global and Human Rights Watch that the mass trial in which she was sentenced was “deeply flawed” and politically motivated. Al Ahram reported that British Ambassador to Egypt John Casson tweeted Wednesday that “Egyptians should “await a surprise” during al-Sisi’s visit, hinting at the possibility of new partnership deals between the two countries”. “I fear for my country and I fear for the United Kingdom, because the existence of such leaders and their support by the global community threatens us all”.
A Downing Street spokesperson has confirmed Cameron had a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the crisis.
They accuse Sisi of crushing all opposition in Egypt and jailing thousands of people, from Islamist Muslim Brotherhood supporters to secularists and leftists.
Around 200 protesters gathered close to Cameron’s Downing street residence on Wednesday, waving banners reading: “Sisi not welcome”, “stop the repression in Egypt” and “No deals with Egypt”.
The Egyptian uprising in 2011 was one of the most inspiring political events anywhere in the world for a generation. “And it is entirely wrong that President Sisi should come here to Britain”.
“Rather than rolling out the red carpet to President Sisi, the Prime Minister should suspend arms exports to Egypt until democratic and civil rights are restored”.
The Daily Telegraph reported that Sisi ahead of his visit called for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation powers including Britain to help rebuild Libya, beset by violence since an uprising backed by the Western military alliance toppled leader Moamer Kadhafi.
Sisi said more also needed to be done to tackle the spread of IS militants in Iraq and Syria. At the moment there is neither a religious or secular opposition in Egypt and restrictions imposed on protest and fiercely enforced by the military are making protest – peaceful or otherwise – virtually impossible.
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But with protests planned throughout the visit, any discussion of Egyptian domestic politics between Sisi and Cameron is likely to take place firmly behind closed doors.
