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Egyptian
Defense Minister General Abdel Fattah Sissi has warned that the failure to
resolve the political crisis currently gripping Egypt could ultimately lead to
the “collapse of the state.”
Sissi
made the declaration on an official army Facebook page, and said that future
generations could be endangered by the enduring conflict.
His
comments were made as Egypt deployed military troops to cities on the Suez
Canal, a major trading route connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea.
Sissi said that his primary motivation behind the dispatching of troops is the
protection of this key waterway, which allows ships to cross the waterways
without having to traverse all the way around Africa.
“The
army's deployment in Port Said and Suez provinces aims to protect the vital
strategic interests of the state, at the forefront of which is the vital Suez
Canal,” he said.
Egypt
has seen 52 deaths in the past week alone as violent protests erupted in three
major canal cities: Port Said, Ismailia and Suez. Islamist President Mohammed
Morsi responded by declaring a state of emergency in the cities, and imposing a
9:00pm curfew for residents.
So
far, this curfew has largely gone ignored. Shops and cafes remained open in the
three Suez cities, and thousands protested, chanting anti-Morsi slogans
throughout the night. Local media reported that 590 people were injured on
Monday.
Following
the declaration of the state of emergency, the Egyptian cabinet approved a law
enabling President Morsi to deploy the army to “help police maintain security
and protect vital state institutions.” The law instructs the army to operate as
a police force, rather than a military force, and requires that detainees to be
sent to civilian, not military, courts.
The
army will remain a “solid and the cohesive block,” Sissi said, warning that the
political, economic, social and security problems facing Egypt comprise “a
threat to the country's security and stability.”
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