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UAE stresses support for Egypt after audio leak

Xinhua, February 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) stressed Tuesday its continued support for Egypt after a leaked audio recording purported to show Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and his senior aides being derisive of some Arab Gulf states.

"Egypt has done a lot of efforts for the Arab world and it is the biggest Arab country by population," UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan said at a government summit in Dubai.

The audiotape, whose authenticity was not confirmed, seemed to have been recorded before Sisi came to power when he was the country's defense minister.

It was first aired on Saturday by the Egyptian satellite TV channel Mekameleen, based in Turkey.

In a phone call on Sunday, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Minister of Defense Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan assured Sisi that the UAE backs Egypt.

Following the leak, President Sisi called a number of Arab Gulf leaders, including those in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait.

These Gulf leaders have assured the Egyptian government that their support for Cairo was unchangeable.

On Tuesday, Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb said the recordings are "fake.'' He also accused the Muslim Brotherhood group of fabricating the recordings in order to drive a wedge between Egypt and its partners in the Gulf region.

Since Sisi toppled Egypt's former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, Gulf Arab countries have pledged some 12 billion U.S. dollars in aid to Egypt. Endit