The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs organised several meetings with diplomats in Cairo to provide the state’s account of the latest acts of violence gripping Egypt since Wednesday.
Nasser Kamel, the foreign minister’s deputy for Arab Affairs met on Monday with Arab ambassadors in Cairo to express the gratitude of the Egyptian state and people to all Arab states which firmly confirmed their support to Egypt at this “historic moment”, according to a statement released by the ministry.
Kamel thanked the states which voiced their rejection of any interference in Egypt’s affairs, especially Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and Palestine. He also applauded the supportive stance adopted by Morocco in the Security Council and that taken by Algeria in the African Union’s Peace and Security Council.
Kamel assured the parties present that Egypt is moving towards stability, stressing the country’s commitment to the roadmap announced by General Commander of the Armed Forces Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi.
“We are keen, despite all that happened, on not excluding anyone who is not complicit in acts of violence or terrorising citizens,” Kamel said.
Kamel presented the Arab ambassadors with what the ministry’s statement described as “acts of organised violence” which targeted public institutions, police stations and houses of worship.
For their part, the Arab ambassadors stressed their countries’ support for procedures taken by the Egyptian state, emphasising their utter rejection of any intervention in Egypt’s domestic affairs.
On Tuesday morning, the ministry followed up with a meeting between Egypt’s ambassador to Sanaa Ashraf Aql and Yemeni foreign minister Abu Bakr Al-Qorabi. Aql delivered a message from Egyptian foreign minister Nabil Fahmy to his Yemeni counterpart regarding bilateral ties.
Aql told Al-Qorabi the international media coverage on Egypt is “biased”.
Al-Qorabi expressed his concern regarding the situation in Egypt, stating that “Egypt’s security and stability is an indivisible part of Yemen’s”, according to the ministry’s statement. The Yemeni foreign minister said he was “confident the Egyptian leadership” would pass through the current crisis, hoping that “dialogue” will be the method for such passage.
Hisham Badr, deputy foreign minister, met on Monday with ambassadors to the ten non-permanent member-states of the United Nations Security Council in Cairo. The meeting highlighted what the ministry described as “criminal acts” exercised by armed groups.
Badr “highly” criticised the international community’s silence instead of condemning such criminal acts, adding that this silence further encourages such “terrorist groups”.
The deputy foreign minister stated that it is the responsibility of any government which “respects its people” to provide citizens with security and enforce general order within a legal context.
The ambassadors in turn stressed their countries keenness on supporting Al-Sisi’s roadmap, the ministry statement read.
Taher Farahat, foreign minister’s deputy for American affairs, summoned the acting Argentinean ambassador in Cairo on Monday as well to express the Egyptian state’s “wonder” at the statement released on Egypt by the Argentinean foreign ministry. The Argentinean foreign ministry had in a statement referred to a crackdown on peaceful protesters in Egypt, which Farahat said does not reflect the reality of the situation.
He added that the sit-ins faced by the security are “non-peaceful”.
The ministry echoed the same rhetoric in separate meetings. On Monday, deputy foreign minister for Asian affairs Salwa Mofeed told Asian ambassadors in Cairo security forces took all professional measures during the dispersal of sit-ins, adding that the dispersal was conducted in the presence of several civil society organisations and media outlets.
Human Rights Watch released on Monday a report about the dispersal of the pro-Morsi Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in. HRW accused security forces of excessively and unjustifiably using lethal force against mostly-unarmed protesters.
Violence which has gripped the country since Wednesday left at least 830 people killed, according to official sources. An independent count done by Wiki Thawra, a website dedicated to documenting the Egyptian revolution, put the death toll at 1666.
