Egypt army, police to be purged of religious personnel

By Mohamed Mahmoud

CAIRO (AA) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Thursday that he would not allow anyone "with religious inclinations" to serve in Egypt’s military or police apparatus, threatening to expel those who were found.

Al-Sisi made the remarks at an army-organized symposium in eastern Cairo held under the banner, "Confronting terrorism: A nation’s will".

"There are some individuals with such [religious] inclinations, but this will not be accepted by the army or police," he asserted.

"We will expel anyone with such inclinations," he said, adding: "This has been the case for the last 30 years."

Al-Sisi came to power following a bloody 2013 military coup against Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first freely elected president and a leading member of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood group.

Since then, the al-Sisi regime has waged a relentless crackdown on Morsi’s supporters and Brotherhood members, killing hundreds and throwing tens of thousands behind bars.