Sisi meets Ban Ki-moon in New York

Egyptian President and ex-army chief Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York yesterday amid protests against him by Egyptian Americans.

The meeting lasted 20 minutes and addressed a number of issues, including the latest developments in Iraq and the potential Egyptian role in the international alliance against Islamic State (ISIS), Anadolu reported.

Al-Sisi is scheduled to deliver a speech before the Arab Group regarding the negative consequences of climate change.

During the meeting, dozens of Egyptians organised a protest in front of the UN headquarters against Al-Sisi, who came into power after an election that followed his military coup against the freely elected President Mohamed Morsi.

The protesters, who called themselves “the free Egyptians in New York and New Jersey”, waved pictures of Egyptian women who are behind bars as well as pictures of Al-Sisi with an “X” on it and with a caption reading “”anted”.

Meanwhile, pro-Sisi Egyptians gathered in front of the UN headquarters waved pictures of the president and Egyptian flags and sang the national anthem.

The counter protests lasted for three hours and were marred by verbal skirmishes.

Al-Sisi is scheduled to deliver Egypt’s speech at the 96th meeting of the UN General Assembly on Thursday.

The Anti-Coup Alliance, the flagship opposition alliance against the military coup, announced that it rejects Al-Sisi’s representation of Egypt at the UN, and called for protests under the slogan “He does not represent Egypt”.

“Allowing the leader of the military coup to speak at the UN while the President of the Republic Dr Mohamed Morsi is still abducted constitutes a crime against the Egyptian people and their free will and a violation of the principles which the UN sought to enshrine, including upholding freedom and the people’s right to choose their rulers,” the alliance said in a statement yesterday.