Defence Minister and First Deputy Prime Minister General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said, in a speech on Thursday during the graduation ceremony of a new cohort of non-commissioned officers, that Egypt is capable of fighting terrorism as long as the Egyptian military is there. Al-Sisi added: "Do not to let the current events de-motivate you. We are on the path of righteousness; if you want to reach liberty and stability, you need to have faith in Allah, your military and the civilian police and rest assured that we are capable of getting Egypt to cross to safety and progress." At the end of his statement, Al-Sisi reassured the Egyptian people that the Egyptian army will not allow any harm to be inflicted on the Egyptian people and that the culprits will not be left unpunished. Al-Sisi asserted that the goal of the Egyptian military is to attain prosperity, not to kill and hurt Egyptians. The ceremony was attended by the commanders of the main military forces, the families of the Non Commissioned Officers, along with a number of university students, according to the official facebook page of the military spokesman. Mohamed Abdel Latif, Secretary General of Al-Wassat Party and member of the Anti Coup Alliance, commented on General Al-Sisi's speech: "Righteousness is abiding by justice and committing to human rights, and the current situation in Egypt is the complete opposite of that." He added that the killing of innocent people, whether protesters in Nahda and Rabaa or police officers, who are killed daily in Sinai, are all victims of "civil turmoil", which he implied was the responsibility of General Al-Sisi. Last Wednesday the cabinet officially listed the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation.
