Egypt’s Mubarak calls on Egyptians to stand behind Sisi

Egyptian citizens should stand behind their leader Abdel Fatah al Sisi, the country’s ousted President Hosni Mubarak said Sunday during a rare phone interview on private television channel Sada El-Balad.

“The sons of the armed forces, with President [Abdel Fatah] al-Sisi at the forefront today, know exactly the meaning of national sovereignty and the sacredness of national territory,” Mubarak said.

“We [Egyptians] should trust our army’s capabilities and stand behind it,” especially in this “difficult, complex stage,” Mubarak added.

Mubarak also stressed the importance of maintaining ties with “Egypt’s friends.”

During the interview, which coincided with the commemoration of the 33rd anniversary of the liberation of Sinai, the former president spoke about the withdrawal of Israel from the tiny peninsula in 1982.

Mubarak, who was ousted on 11 February 2011 following an 18-day uprising, was interviewed by TV host Ahmed Moussa.

Following his ouster, Mubarak was detained pending trial in a number of cases and spent the majority of his detainment in a military hospital in the Egyptian capital.

In November 2014, Mubarak was cleared of charges of complicity in the killing of protesters in the 2011 uprising.
The former president is still serving a separate three-year sentence for embezzlement of public funds.