El Sisi’s interview with Portuguese state television: Fundamentalist ideology is the single greatest security threat facing the region and the world, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi stressed in an interview with Portuguese state broadcaster RTP that focused on regional politics and human rights. The president suggested that it was this threat that prompted US president-elect Donald Trump to suggest during the campaign that Muslims living in the US be required to register. On Trump’s other policy planks, El Sisi emphasized that Egypt is taking a ‘wait and see’ approach (watch; 18:06).

On regional wars: Addressing the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, El Sisi said the fight against terrorism should be the primary goal for all political actors — it’s the goal that unites all of them. In that spirit, El Sisi said it was essential to end the arms embargo against the Libyan National Army, during a speech in Lisbon Al Masry Al Youm reported.

On Syria, El Sisi justified Egypt’s vote in favor of seemingly contradictory resolutions from France and Russia at the UN, saying both resolutions called for a ceasefire and humanitarian aid, which was his country’s primary concern. On a related note: El Sisi also said in his Lisbon speech that world governments must collaborate to resolve the Syrian refugee crisis if they hope to end illegal immigration to Europe. He confirmed that Egypt is clear of refugee camps and that “[Syrians] live normally among Egyptians and are not discriminated against,” noting that the Egyptian government receives no outside aid to help alleviate the pressures associated with hosting mns of refugees on its soil. Germany and Austria have floated proposals that would see Egypt given economic assistance or other benefits in return for hosting more migrants.

As the conversation shifted to domestic politics, the President rejected the notion that there were thousands of political prisoners in jail. He denied that the case against the head of the Journalists Syndicate was political. “The Journalists Syndicate issue isn’t a case of freedom of thought but a criminal case on charges of harboring suspects and obstructing the law. None of them are being tried for being journalists or for having an opinion,” El Sisi said. He stressed that Egypt is a democratic country with “no more room for dictators,” and that it upholds citizens’ rights to freedom of thought and expression (watch; runtime 2:05).

El Sisi’s next stop is Equatorial Guinea to attend the Arab-African Summit, which is reportedly being boycotted by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, and Morocco for inviting the Polisario separatist group to take part, according to Bahrain’s foreign minister Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, AMAY reports.