CAIRO: EgyptÂ’s military rulers have warned that the country faces conspiracies that seek to topple the state and spread chaos, in a message intended to undermine activists who plan to mark the anniversary of President Hosni MubarakÂ’s overthrow with anti-army protests.FridayÂ’s statement from the council of generals who took power when Mubarak stepped down on Feb. 11, 2011, came on the eve of a planned general strike aimed at pressuring the military to give up power.
Protest groups have grown harshly critical of the militaryÂ’s handling of EgyptÂ’s transition to democracy, accusing the army of trying to protect its power and committing human rights violations that rival those of MubarakÂ’s regime. Thousands rallied outside the defense ministry Friday to call for the immediate transition of power to a civilian authority.
In a statement read on state TV Friday, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said it would not bow to pressures to accelerate the transition.
“Never will we bow to threats, nor succumb to pressures, nor accept ultimatums,” it said.
The message said the army had played an essential role in Egypt’s transition and warned of plots that seek to strike “a mortal blow” to the revolution by sewing discord between the army and the people.
Without naming any culprits, it said Egypt was facing great threats.
“We face conspiracies hatched against the homeland, whose goal is to undermine the institutions of the Egyptian state and whose aim is to topple the state itself so that chaos reigns and destruction spreads,” it said.
Egyptian officials and military leaders have often blamed unnamed actors and “foreign hands” for fomenting unrest.
In the statement, the generals said they remained bound by the plan to pass executive power to an elected president before June 30.
The generals and the military-backed Cabinet have been critical of the strike call, casting it as another example of foreign attempts to weaken Egypt. The state media and a Facebook page affiliated with the ruling generals accused the US of using local institutions to agitate for the strike.