Egypt prepares to mark five years since revolution

The people of Egypt find themselves nearly at square one five years after a revolution to overthrow an autocratic government.

The ISIS jihadist speaking in the video also urges all ISIS fighters to take action against ISIS’ enemies and claims that the fight against the apostate ruler of Egypt is just one chapter in ISIS’ operations in the last decade.

CAIRO (AP) – Egypt on Monday marked the fifth anniversary of the popular uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak but failed to bring about the goals of democracy and freedom the young activists who spearheaded the “revolution” had espoused.

Sisi, who in 2013 led a popularly-backed coup that swept the democratically-elected Muslim Brotherhood from power, said Egyptians were now led by a state that “respects the choices of the people”.

Under el-Sissi, rights activists say, the country’s highly militarized police have resumed the Mubarak-era practices that played a large part in igniting the uprising, including torture, random arrests and, more recently, forced disappearances.

That revolution, he said, took place to “restore the free will of Egyptians and continue to realize their legitimate aspirations and deserved ambitions”.

In an exclusive statement to Quds Press, Hamas leader Mushir Al-Masri said yesterday: “Hamas has always been neutral about Egyptian affairs, and it keeps the same distance from the various Egyptian sides on the grounds that the matter is an internal concern”. Egyptians under his rule, he boasted, were building a “modern” state that upholds the values of democracy and freedom.

The rhetoric, and insistence that gradual democratisation is key to stability, mirrored that of Mubarak during his 29-year authoritarian rule.

El-Sissi has since 2013 presided over what the human rights group Amnesty International describes as an “unprecedented” crackdown on dissenters.

Liberal and leftist activists, some of whom had supported Sisi’s move to depose the Brotherhood, soon found themselves on the wrong side of the new authorities, which now flag protests against Mursi that began on June 30 as the real revolution.

The run-up to the anniversary saw heightened security in the capital, Cairo, as well as a wave of arrests and security checks.

Administrators of Facebook pages organising protests have also been detained.

El-Sissi supporters, however, say the ex-general has tirelessly worked to spare Egypt the chaos and bloodshed roiling regional neighbors like Libya, Syria and Iraq.