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Al-Sisi's newest scandal

February 13, 2015 at 3:36 pm

The leaked recordings of Al-Sisi and his cronies are emerging daily; they show that a gang of thieves is ruling Egypt. It isn’t enough for them to steal and loot Egypt’s countless wealth and bounties; they also resort to the extortion of money from countries that have already spent billions on them to stage a coup against the will of the people and allowed them to take charge. To make matters worse, they are begging in the name of a helpless nation, just like the street gang leaders who employ homeless children to beg and gain the sympathy of the people, but then take the money and fill their own pockets.

This is how the gang leader in Egypt treats the great Egyptian people. Along with his office manager, Abbas Kamel, and army Chief of Staff Major General Mahmoud Hegazy, Al-Sisi made very disparaging remarks about the Gulf States, which are “rolling in cash” while “our people are hungry and suffering”. Al-Sisi then instructed Kamel to get “$10 billion” each from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE, to be deposited in the army’s bank account, along with “a couple of pennies” for the state central bank to complete the 2014 budget.

This is how the coup leader governs a country the size of Egypt; he runs it like a corner shop. Any money that comes in from any country, either in the form of grants, aid or loans, should go straight to the central bank, not to the owner of the corner shop. So where did all this money go? The new recording broadcast this week confirms that Al-Sisi did indeed receive $30 billion from the countries named above; he was counting it with his office manager in such a disgusting manner that it really seemed like he was a gang leader counting the money he had collected from the streets.

Not content with insulting the countries bankrolling his coup government, Al-Sisi also insulted the people of Egypt, as if they are lined up outside begging him for hand-outs. He describes them as if they are his gang members counting the spoils, as if they are the ones who have been stealing his wealth and bounties over the past 60 years of military rule. If the people are actually hungry, as he and his henchmen claim, then it is because those who carried out the coup are stealing the people’s wealth and food.

On top of everything else, Al-Sisi has turned the once-great Egyptian armed forces into a mob of mercenaries for sale to the highest bidder. “We should forget the ideas of nationalism and Arab Nationalism; we need to deal with the Gulf States on a give and take basis,” said Kamel. “We are not going to repeat the experience of Yemen.” He was referring to Gamal Abdul Nasser’s failed intervention in Yemen in 1962.

The gang is taking advantage of the Gulf’s panic and fear of the spread of Iranian influence in the region, so they are offering them the services of the Egyptian military to defend their states, but not out of a sense of Arab nationalism. It’s purely business.

Honestly, is it fitting for the great state of Egypt, the model of civilisation, to be governed by such people? This is a disgrace to the legacy of this great country, but our noble nation will be able to erase it soon and consign it to the dustbin of history. Egypt will not be given to these mobsters on a silver platter, contrary to what Al-Sisi said at the end of the recording; that “the country is ours”. We will not give it to them, and it will soon be restored to us, faster than they expect.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.