What Sisi Told Ammar Ali Hassan in June 2011: Book Review
In June 2011, Dr. Ammar Ali Hassan received a call from Major General Mohamed al-Assar, inviting him to a meeting at the Triumph Hotel along with other public figures. On the way, Dr. Ammar recalled his conversations with the soldiers standing around the tanks in Tahrir Square before Mubarak stepped down. Ammar asks them: What orders did you receive? "To protect vital facilities and citizens." "Do you have orders to disperse the demonstrations by force?" They answer no. "And if you were given such orders, what would you do?" They said quite simply: "We won't carry them out." "Why?" "Because you are our brothers, and we are with you in your demands." At the meeting, Dr. Ammar found Dr. Hossam Eissa and the writer Mohamed el-Makhzangi, and they were later joined by the TV presenter Reem Maged. As soon as he arrived, Major General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told him: "First of all, we will hand over power to civilian...