Egyptian presidential candidate promises to end Muslim Brotherhood

CAIRO , May 6 (UPI) -- Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt’s former military chief and now a presidential candidate, said the Muslim Brotherhood will be finished if he is elected.

El-Sisi was among those who deposed elected president and Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi in 2013, and now he is promising to finish off the Muslim Brotherhood. Speaking in an interview broadcast on Egyptian news networks, el-Sisi said, “Any responsible patriot has a duty … to come forward and protect this country, and this people.”

El-Sisi, who resigned his military position in March to run for the presidency, is popular among voters supportive of the army’s decision to remove Morsi, and is viewed by some as the strongman Egypt needs to end the turmoil following the uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak’s lengthy one-man rule in 2011.

Islamists regard el-Sisi as the mastermind of the coup that brought down Morsi’s administration, and the leader of a crackdown on dissent.

The election will be held May 26 and 27 and includes several presidential candidates, including Hamdeen Sabahi, another opponent of the Muslim Brotherhood who accused it of being “responsible for bloodshed and sponsoring terrorism in Egypt.” Sabahi added he would abolish a controversial law, supported by el-Sisi, restricting demonstrations in Egypt.