The main reason behind al-Sisi’s apology for not attending the Arab League Summit in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, was uncovering an assassination attempt of al-Sisi during his presence there, reported Al-Masry Al-Youm, an Egyptian privately-run newspaper.
According to Al-Masry Al-Youm, sources, which preferred to remain anonymous, said that confirmed reports reached the Egyptian presidency that al-Sisi would be exposed to an assassination attempt during his presence in Mauritania.
The sources also said that this was not the first time that this was not the first attempt against Al-Sisi during his foreign tours, indicating that according to these reports it was decided that Al-Sisi would not participate in the Summit which starts on Monday.
It was reported that al-Sisi had met Prime Minister Sherif Ismail on Sunday, where they discussed several external and internal issues, particularly the Arab League Summit. In this context, al-Sisi assigned the prime minister to lead the Egyptian delegation to the summit.
In response, the Egyptian presidency spokesperson Alaa Youssef denied that a suspected assassination attempt was behind Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s absence from the Arab Summit in Mauritania, adding that the reports published by Al-Masry Al-Youm were “not true”. However, Al-Youm Al-Sabi’, an Egyptian privately-run newspaper that is close to the regime, also reported the same news on its Monday issue.
