How do you assess Egyptian security’s performance in facing terrorism?
The security services are doing well and they know exactly what they are doing, and they are advancing in terms of information-gathering services at a rapid pace in uncovering terrorists, but everyone has to be responsible.
What do you mean by “everyone”?
I mean the people must be as responsible and cooperate with the army and police in the fight against terrorism to eliminate it.
What are the people required to do, other than their unlimited support for what the security services are doing?
People must cooperate and give information to whoever belongs to terror, or has terrorist tendencies, and not to standby and watch security services. They must be an active party in the equation of the state in facing terrorism
But would that not create a kind of social tension?
There is nothing above the interests, security, and stability of the homeland. I do not think that there is an honourable Egyptian citizen who knows that anyone around them is a terrorist or belongs to terrorist groups, and refrains from reporting them. Security will not reveal the identity of the reporter. They will not follow every report without investigation and verification. This ensures that everyone will be safe, and if they are identified as informants, you should know that we are in this war facing terrorist groups and those behind them.
Who is behind them?
Terrorism in Egypt is supported by foreign intelligence agencies aimed at disrupting the internal situation. The Muslim Brotherhood, who are deployed to recruit followers, are working to achieve their diabolical goals to destroy the country. If you are facing internal and external wars with terrorists, Egyptian attackers abroad and the supporters of those working inside and outside. There is a huge difference between past decades of terrorism and the present-time terrorism.
What is the difference?
Today, whoever is furnishing, financially and geographically, is also training and marshalling weapons and shelters to elements living outside the country. The supplies are sent to elements hidden inside the country under different names, but at the end, they are only the people of the Brotherhood and do not believe that April 6 or the Revolutionary Socialists or the Kifaya movement or the National Assembly for Change are separate entities from the Brotherhood. They are names of factions that always come out from under the mantle of the Brotherhood and move under their direction. Even the human rights organisations and those who call themselves activists are all receiving funding for the destruction of the state in order to destroy the regime and turn Egypt into a scene of chaos and destruction.
But do not you see that the security services lack good coordination?
I can say from the information available and through reading events that there is a full and systematic coordination between different agencies and their responsibilities since June 30, 2013. I can also confirm that there is full agreement on the method and way of working between the armed forces and the police in facing terrorism.
But does not what happened in Al-Wahat tell us of shortfalls that led to the losses incurred by the police forces?
There was not a lack of coordination, but differences in the vision on the battlefield and, certainly, there are investigations into the matter, and who was present on the ground of confrontation is the only one who can tell us if there were shortfalls or not.
We hear about disagreements and conflicts between those who call themselves Jund Al-Islam and the Sinai’s ISIS. Is this true and what is your analysis of this matter?
Of course it is true and proves that there is no belief system for these people. They are struggling to get the most funding and thus impose control and recruit more followers and because they do not have the experience and the wisdom, they reveal day after day that they do not represent Islam and have nothing to do with any religion, their only belief is chaos.
Do you think that security services are aware of this dispute and exploit it on the ground in favour of the homeland?
It is certain that it is aware of and exploits it to its advantage in order to eliminate these terrorist strongholds which have diminished due to the efforts and sacrifices of the army and police. Especially that we have information gathering apparatuses of a high degree of efficiency. This is the testimony of the major and most efficient countries in this field against our men.
How do you explain why terrorist entities have appeared at all times with many names since the start of the terror wave?
There are no new entities and old ones, they are from one cloak, the mantle of the Muslim Brotherhood All of them are paid by the same source and are moving individuals between these entities to show that there is no security in Egypt and that the pace of terrorism is increasing while that is not true. Whenever a division falls by the security services, they say that the situation is not safe for tourism, which is an important source of national income. In fact, all these entities are different aspects of the Brotherhood.
Has terrorism moved from east to west on our borders with Libya?
Of course, there is no terrorist movement, but there is terrorism in the east and there is a danger of infiltration of subversive elements trained in Libya. The danger of the situation on our western border is that it extends across a distance of 1,200 kilometres, a very long distance, but the Libyan army moves consciously to prevent those elements from infiltrating into Egypt and the Egyptian army secures on its behalf and hits anyone who tries to infiltrate to cause sabotage operations in the depth of Egypt. Perhaps what happened in the oases recently proves that the devices are watching that spot well.
You spoke about the fact that terrorist groups and entities that adopt subversive operations have emerged from the mantle of the Muslim Brotherhood and receive funding from them. Does this apply to the group?
Ashmawi and his group calling itself Al Murabitun emerged from the womb of the Muslim Brotherhood/ We can not separate any internal or external terrorist entity that claims to be fighting for Islam from the Muslim Brotherhood. And here I mention again, the strength of vigilance of the security services who forced Ashmawi to seek asylum in Derna, I am convinced that his right arm in that group died in a car that was hit with thermal bombs, which led to smashing the target.
Speaking of the vigilance of the security services, what is your assessment of the ways to secure the security pillars?
Security installations of the literal meaning have fixed locations, and defends themselves by changing their location from time to time to disrupt the schemes of those trying to attack them and the security pillars develop and deepen the ways of securing, which led to the decline of terrorist attacks in Sinai so much that I can confirm that the safety in the areas of confrontation with terrorist groups in Sinai exceeded 90%, knowing that the confrontation areas are located on less than 1% of the total area of Sinai. 99% of Sinai is safe and far from those operations.
You mentioned that there are organs and states that conspire against us and finance those terrorist entities. Can you call them? What are their goals from these schemes?
There are sources such as Qatar, Iran, and Turkey. The head of the snake is Israel, the CIA, and the MI6. Of course, they plan to weaken the Arab forces as they aim to cause unrest and tension in the region and declared a plan to break up the Arab states into 48 states to turn Israel into a superpower in the region that controls these states.
Are you talking about this while there are talks to bring peace and establish a Palestinian state? And there are demands to expand the Gaza Strip at the expense of Sinai to complete the matter while our government refuses?
The establishment of the Palestinian state is mere talk to distract the Arabs from what is planned for them. This is not a conclusion. Rather, it is the plans in the Library of Congress, the archives of the US State Department, and the Eisenhower Library.
As for the expansion of the Gaza Strip at the expense of Sinai, it is unacceptable and it proves that there are subversive schemes to break up the Arab countries, but it is rejected and no wise nationalist Egyptian agrees to abandon a grain of the homeland, especially as it was defended with Egyptian blood.
Are the Arab regimes aware of the planned sabotage?
Of course, they are attentive, but the Americans and the West are feeding the Arab conflicts so that there is an internal rivalry to carry out their sabotage plan during the elimination of the Arabs by their own hands.
You were talking a lot about foreign funding for human rights organisations and saying they are out of the mantle of the Brotherhood, even though they were under Hosni Mubarak and he did not stop them?
Mubarak was pressured by the Americans under the pretext of the Egyptian climate of freedom and at the end of his term, was at odds with the Americans to the extent that he did not visit the United States for five years and was often criticised for the truncation of part of the funds of US aid for those intestines and there was pressure allowed the associations to operate without a license and did not buy it.
What has changed now?
We become more powerful and our decisions are 100% national and have a bias for the national interest and for the Egyptian people and you can continue to see that we gain land day by day, whether in our external or internal interests.
The leadership now knows that if it wants to be strong, it must rely on itself. This is what is happening. The Arabs know that without Egypt, they do not exist. Egypt is well aware of its role and moves with care and patience and helps those who need it according to the national constants.
Do you follow what is happening in Saudi Arabia and do you expect a direct or indirect armed clash with Iran?
What is happening in Saudi Arabia is an internal corrective movement and they are aware of their affairs and the Iranians cannot wage any war without getting a green light from Israel and America. They know that from within, they are relying on one another and are not under the commands of one man.
Speaking of Saudi Arabia, did Al-Adly really go there and work as an adviser to the Crown Prince?
What is said is a rumour that is baseless and its purpose is to cause strife within Egyptian society, which is one of the rumours that aim at the Egyptian internal dilemma. Everyone knows that the west, the Americans, and Israel want evil for Egypt.
The media is very critical of what is happening in Egypt on the issue of terrorism. What are your reasons?
Egyptian media are dealing with information and news related to terrorism that is ignorant and this should not happen as it has a negative impact or ill intent, and this must be addressed and there are those who are aware of this role well and study everything they say before going out on the screen, and this is a good model and space must be provided for him.
Is it possible to conduct a review of the detainees on the issues of terrorism and belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, similar to what happened at the end of the nineties?
The revisions that were made in 1998 are the cause of what we are suffering now from terrorist waves and it was a big mistake committed by Egypt. Terrorism has no mandate, no homeland and no trust. Those who conducted these reviews and showed themselves as if they repented are now financing and leading terrorist operations both inside and outside Egypt, and those are who were standing on stage of Rabaa and threatened the Egyptian people with murder, vandalism, and destruction, that these reviews were representative of their side to limit the effects of legal punishment, even if we repeat what happened, we will pay a very expensive.
