Sisi urges patience before anniversary of revolt

Egypt's president says that the anniversary of the country's 2011 uprising should be celebrated and that the country is on the right track, although democracy will take time to develop.

Egyptian Defence Minister Abdel Fatah el-Sisi at Almaza military Airbase in Cairo.

In a speech on Sunday, a day before the fifth anniversary of the popular uprising that toppled longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said that "democratic experiences don't mature overnight, but through an accumulative and continuous process".


He added that: "Egypt today is not the Egypt of yesterday, we are building together a modern developed civilian state."

El-Sisi went on to accuse the banned Muslim Brotherhood group of trying to exploit the uprising for personal gain.

A day earlier, el-Sisi vowed to respond firmly to any unrest and to press ahead with the fight against the country's Islamic militants.