Sisi’s US media interviews highlight Egypt’s role in combating terrorism

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has conducted three interviews with American media outlets during his latest visit to New York, during which the focus of his arguments has remained the international fight against terrorism – as was the focus of his addresses before the United Nations’ General Assembly this week.

Speaking in Arabic during his interviews with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), the Associated Press (AP), and the Cable News Network (CNN), Sisi sought to promote his administration's fight against terrorism and religious extremism – while painting a picture of the Egyptian state as an indispensable partner in the global war against terror. 

In his interview with AP on September 27, Sisi argued that a "ferocious war" is being waged in Egypt. He added that worsening acts of terrorism might result in some Middle Eastern states "sliding into failure."

Speaking to AP, the Egyptian president claimed, "It is sufficient to look at the map and find countries that are suffering from failure. There is an increase in the extremist groups. There is the problem of the refugees that are flowing into Europe. With all that in mind, we can sense how difficult and how complicated."

Sisi called for a joint efforts on the international level, stating that this would not just require “a lot of effort, but as a matter of fact, entails a good amount of understanding and cooperation from every country ... to restore the countries that are now sliding into this vicious cycle of failure."

In this interview, Sisi also argued that the Egyptian military needs to be "augmented" in order to defeat terrorists operating in the Sinai Peninsula and the Western Desert.

Sisi also told the AP that relations with the United States “are improving,” and that the bilateral ties between Egypt and the US are both “strategic and stable.”

The US government had initially halted the deliver of military aid to Egypt, following Sisi’s ouster of the elected Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in mid-2013. However, the flow of this American military aid has largely resumed since mid-2014.

Speaking on the News Hour show broadcast on PBS through an interpreter on September 24, Sisi commented that Egypt's latest anti-terrorism laws and crackdowns on insurgents are "undoubtedly" decreasing the insurgent's operations, even though terror operations have, over the past two years, spilled over from the Sinai Peninsula into mainland Egypt.  

According to the PBS transcript of this interview, Sisi argued, “We need to focus on the real threat, the extremism and terrorism and its negative ramifications and the huge instability that can dominate the Middle East and can spill over to other regions as well.”

When asked about the Egyptian Armed Forces’ intervention in Libya following the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians, Sisi told PBS that “Egypt is one member of the coalition” fighting affiliates of the Islamic State group in that country. “It has been very clear since the onset of the coalition that the Egyptian role is confined now in fighting terrorism in Sinai and on the borders with Libya that extends over 1,200 kilometers,” the president said.

In this interview with PBS, Sisi did not mention the role of Egyptian forces in fighting within the ranks of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

In his PBS interview, Sisi was asked whether US-delivered Apache helicopters and Hellfire missiles were being used beyond counter-terrorist operations, and “are vaporizing entire villages in Sinai, the attack on the Mexican tourists in the Western Desert.”

Responding to the question about the killing of 12 Mexican tourists and their Egyptian guides, along with the injury of 10 others in the Western Desert at the hands of Egyptian security forces, Sisi argued “That was a mistake.”

The president went on to justify the actions of his security forces, saying “They were in an off-limit area very close to the border area with Libya, dangerous areas, where smugglers used to infiltrate with weapons and foreign fighters. As for Sinai, I want to assure you that Egypt will never use weapons or force against innocent civilians, because we will not allow ourselves to kill innocent civilians.”

However, a detailed report published by Amnesty International cites the destruction of 3,255 residential buildings, commercial stores, and other real estate – along with large areas of agricultural land – from mid-2013 to mid-2015, while thousands of local residents have been displaced in the course of the state’s counter-terrorism efforts.

In an interview on CNN’s "Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer on September 28, Sisi was asked if the military aid Egypt was receiving was sufficient in order to combat terrorism. The president replied saying Egypt requires additional equipment.

Regarding the threat of the Islamic State group to Egypt, the president claimed that security forces were exerting a lot of effort to combat terrorism, not only with security solutions, but also through religious discourse.

"It will take several years," said Sisi, who also argued for non-military means through which to confront the Islamic State.

Sisi told Blitzer that Arab states are participating in the international alliance against the Islamic State group and its affiliates, “but in this stage, Egypt is fighting terrorism in its territories.”