Al-Sisi dismisses director of intelligence after leak scandal

Egyptian political sources have confirmed that President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi made major changes to the intelligence agency, which included dismissing the director of the agency, along with other intelligence officials and officers.

The anonymous sources reported, “Al-Sisi dismissed Director of the General Intelligence Directorate, Khaled Fawzy, from his position and replaced him with his deputy, Major General Ibrahim Abdel Salam until a new director is officially chosen”, according to Kuwait’s Al-Jarida newspaper.

The sources linked the dismissal to the recent leaks published by The New York Times and broadcasted by Mekameleen television channel. These leaks reveal an officer from the military intelligence agency giving instructions to journalists to incite against Qatar and Kuwait, as well as convince the Egyptian public opinion to abandon Jerusalem.

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The leaked recordings also include a recording of officer Ashraf Al-Kholy using offensive language against the general intelligence agency. This is considered dissatisfaction with Fawzy and his men’s policies by the agency most loyal to Al-Sisi, i.e. the military intelligence agency.

The major changes are a part of the current restructuring process carried out by Al-Sisi ahead of the presidential elections next March, amid presidential fears of developments or changes taking place that would impact Al-Sisi’s chances of being elected for another presidential term.