A foreign power is conspiring against Egypt with the intention of destabilising public opinion and heightening suspicion about the current government, according to a full report published by state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram on Sunday based on “informed sources”.
According to the report titled “Imposing a siege on Egypt”, there is a plan tailored by foreign powers following Egypt’s success in facing the threat of the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as its success in refuting international claims that attempted to distort Egypt’s image.
Al-Ahram said in its report that the number of articles published in foreign media outlets that were loaded with violent speech and relied on sources working against Egypt has significantly increased over the past few months.
The newspaper published a report in August, accusing the BBC and CNN of conspiring against Egypt and working against the flourishing of the tourism sector. Though Al-Ahram often criticises some of the government’s actions to enforce credibility, it never touched upon anything pertaining to President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, except for citing him and reporting his activities.
In its recent report, Al-Ahram cited informed sources saying that this foreign power plans to increase the rate of terrorist attacks in North Sinai in order to further distract security and military forces. However, the report added that the Egyptian political leadership is aware of all these conspiracies.
Other plans on the part of the alleged foreign power are attempts to increase the rate of lawsuits filed against Al-Sisi by Brotherhood members.
The international reports that Al-Ahram cited include The Economist’s two latest reports. The first criticised how Egypt tackled the wheat problem, describing this as “a stupid policy from an incompetent government”. The second report heavily criticised Egypt’s economic situation.
Another report was published by Bloomberg which said that Al-Sisi and its government are the reason behind the economic turmoil in Egypt.
Al-Ahram’s report was built on informed sources and mentioned the recent accusations and criticism that Egypt has received, though nothing concrete or confirmed was reported.
Political leadership and state-owned media outlets in Egypt have always mentioned conspiracy theories without detailing who was actually doing the conspiring. In his speeches, Al-Sisi always refers to “forces of evil” who are conspiring against Egypt, yet never details the identity of these entities.
The state has become so deeply invested in these conspiracy theories that it increased its crackdown on the political opposition. It also targeted those who are not engaged in political activities but voice their rejection of the state’s policies. Harassment of foreign reporters and journalists has also increased, as they are deemed to be “spies” who are also conspiring against Egypt.
