El-Sisi Confirms Egypt, Israel Cooperate against ISIS in Sinai
Egypt has reportedly asked CBS not to air an interview with President el-Sisi for 60 Minutes in which he discussed cooperation with Israel in the fight against Sinai militants
IsraelDefense
| 06/01/2019
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (Photo: AP)
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has confirmed that his country is cooperating with Israel in the fight against ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula.
In an Interview with Scott Pelley for CBS News’ 60 Minutes, el-Sisi was asked if this cooperation with Israel was the closest ever between two enemies that once were at war. "That is correct… We have a wide range of cooperation with the Israelis,” he responds.
During the interview, el-Sisi also denied Egypt was detailing any political prisoners and defended a deadly crackdown on protesters in 2013.
Human Rights Watch estimates el-Sisi is holding 60,000 political prisoners. “I don't know where they got that figure. I said there are no political prisoners in Egypt. Whenever there is a minority trying to impose their extremist ideology we have to intervene regardless of their numbers,” he replied.
CBS, which will air the full interview Sunday on its show 60 Minutes, said it had rejected a request by the Egyptian government not to show it. It did not say which part of the president's comments Cairo objected to, but the cooperation with Israel, with whom Egypt has a 1979 peace treaty, appears to be the most contentious part.
Israeli officials have publicly praised security cooperation with Egypt, which has successfully secured Israel's permission to deploy troops, artillery, and helicopter gunships close to the Israeli border to fight the armed groups in contravention of the peace treaty's limitations on the number of troops and weapons Egypt can have in the region.
[Sources: CBS, Al Jazeera]
Egypt has reportedly asked CBS not to air an interview with President el-Sisi for 60 Minutes in which he discussed cooperation with Israel in the fight against Sinai militants
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (Photo: AP)
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has confirmed that his country is cooperating with Israel in the fight against ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula.
In an Interview with Scott Pelley for CBS News’ 60 Minutes, el-Sisi was asked if this cooperation with Israel was the closest ever between two enemies that once were at war. "That is correct… We have a wide range of cooperation with the Israelis,” he responds.
During the interview, el-Sisi also denied Egypt was detailing any political prisoners and defended a deadly crackdown on protesters in 2013.
Human Rights Watch estimates el-Sisi is holding 60,000 political prisoners. “I don't know where they got that figure. I said there are no political prisoners in Egypt. Whenever there is a minority trying to impose their extremist ideology we have to intervene regardless of their numbers,” he replied.
CBS, which will air the full interview Sunday on its show 60 Minutes, said it had rejected a request by the Egyptian government not to show it. It did not say which part of the president's comments Cairo objected to, but the cooperation with Israel, with whom Egypt has a 1979 peace treaty, appears to be the most contentious part.
Israeli officials have publicly praised security cooperation with Egypt, which has successfully secured Israel's permission to deploy troops, artillery, and helicopter gunships close to the Israeli border to fight the armed groups in contravention of the peace treaty's limitations on the number of troops and weapons Egypt can have in the region.
[Sources: CBS, Al Jazeera]
