Egypt PM downplays alleged Sisi leaks

Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab on Saturday downplayed alleged leaks broadcast by satellite channels backing the Muslim Brotherhood movement.

He said these alleged leaks would not negatively affect the morale of the Egyptian people.

The Prime Minister's remarks came a short time after a pro-Brotherhood channel broadcast an audio of what it described as a "leak" from a meeting between Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi when he was still defense minister, his current chief of presidential staff Abbas Kamel, who was an army general at the time, and Mahmoud Hegazi, the current chief of staff of the Egyptian army.

In the audio, Kamel allegedly launches into a tirade of insults against some Gulf states.

"Nobody in Egypt believes the channels of the Muslim Brotherhood," Mahlab said.

"They won't be able to change the situation on the ground," he told private Al-Hayat TV.

The Anadolu Agency could not independently verify the audio.

Some of the states of the Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, have been among the staunched backers of the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi by the army in July of 2013.

Morsi was ousted by the army in July of 2013 following mass protests against his government.

The Brotherhood, the movement from which ousted Morsi hails, was declared a "terrorist" organization by the Egyptian government in late 2013.