Cairo - Egypt's army said on Thursday that a Kuwaiti newspaper “misinterpreted” remarks by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in which he said he would run for president, saying he would announce such a decision only to the Egyptian people.
The Kuwait newspaper Al-Seyassah ran an interview with Sisi on Thursday in which he was quoted as saying he would run in the presidential election due to be held before mid-April.
“What was published by the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah is nothing but journalistic interpretations that are not direct declarations from Sisi,” army spokesman Colonel Ahmed Ali said in a statement.
Sisi's “decision to run or not for the presidency is a personal decision that he will announce personally before... the Egyptian people and not anyone else, through clear and direct words”, Ali added in his statement.
The Kuwaiti report came a week after the country's top military body endorsed the candidacy of Sisi, who ousted democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi in July following massive protests against the Islamist leader. - AFP