Sisi said there are those who are trying to thwart Egypt and “will not succeed thanks to the awareness of the people.”

:: Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Friday there was no cause for concern over protests against his rule that are planned for later in the day.

“There are no reasons for concern. Egypt is a strong country thanks to Egyptians,” he told reporters with a smile, shortly after his return from the UN General Assembly in New York.

Sisi said there are those who are trying to thwart Egypt and “will not succeed thanks to the awareness of the people.”

He added that if he asked the public for a mandate, “millions of people would respond by taking to the streets.”

“The case does not deserve all” this attention, Sisi said, adding that calls for protests are “an attempt to create an image that is absolutely not real.”

“Do not listen to what they say. Do not believe them,” he urged, without naming those responsible for calling the protests against him.