A difficult decision for the devices .. Is Sisi cancel his travel to New York?

Mohamed Seif Eldin-Cairo

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi may cancel his travel to New York to take part in United Nations General Assembly meetings or reduce the duration of the trip in light of current tensions in Egypt over calls for a demonstration on Friday to protest against the policies of the Egyptian regime.

According to the presidential program, Sisi is expected to leave the country on Saturday for New York, to address the 74th session of the UN General Assembly next Tuesday.

However, the website "Mada Misr" quoted three government sources - did not name - that Sisi is considering canceling his travel or shorten the duration of the trip. "The president's travel has not yet been canceled, while Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has been informed of the possibility that he will head Egypt's delegation to the General Assembly," one of the sources told the website.

The same source said that there are discussions in the circle around the president about what it would mean to cancel his travel to New York, where he considered the head of the General Intelligence, General Abbas Kamel, that he may send a negative message.

During the past few days, the Egyptian contractor and actor Mohamed Ali called on the Egyptians to take to the streets on Friday evening to express their rejection of Sisi's policies and demand his departure.

He aired several videos in which he accused Sisi, his entourage, and some leaders of the armed forces of corruption.

A source told Mada Masr that there was a state of anger in the government circles over Mohammed Ali's videos, pointing out that this anger translated in the form of punitive measures against some employees of the information gathering services, the first of which was the summoning of the intelligence liaison officer attached to the Egyptian diplomatic mission in Spain.

It is noteworthy that the contractor Mohamed Ali had left Egypt and settled in the Spanish city of Barcelona.

The same source said that Sisi held a number of high-level security and political meetings to discuss the developments in the country, and review the plan of media action to address what has been described as a systematic campaign aimed at destabilizing and threatening security, the President also met with a number of the most important military, intelligence and security leaders - group and individually - To reassure that no one will come out to the street, and that anyone who thinks to demonstrate will receive a decisive response.

The meetings dealt with the steps the President could take in the coming days, especially if he decided not to travel to New York, including a possible reshuffle, according to the same source.

On Thursday, Sisi presented the funeral of former army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Ibrahim al-Orabi to a crowd of current and former army commanders, which was interpreted as a message of confidence and confidence in control.

Next to Sisi was the current defense minister, Major General Mohamed Zaki, the former head of the Republican Guard who had reservations about the late President Mohamed Morsi during the coup in the summer of 2013, and former Defense Minister Sedki Sobhi and former Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.

Also present at the funeral were the current Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Mohammad Farid Hijazi and the former Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Hijazi.

The e-rage continues
With social media outrage over the past few days against Sisi, and in solidarity with calls for his departure, activists on social media platforms changed the profile of Red as a message of protest and anger.

Several anti-Sisi's tags were topped the day, most notably the "Friday of Fury", which was inspired by Friday 28 January 2011, the "Go" and the Sisi out tag in English.

“People want to overthrow the regime,” yesterday, a phrase that bears witness and memories for those who participated in the January 2011 revolution, which toppled former President Hosni Mubarak after 30 years in power.