El-Sissi says he hasn’t decided on presidential bid

CAIRO — Egypt’s army said Thursday a Kuwaiti newspaper “misinterpreted” remarks by Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in which he said he would run for president, saying he would announce such a decision only to the Egyptian people.

Kuwait newspaper Al-Seyassah ran an interview with Sissi on Thursday in which he was quoted as saying he would run in the presidential election due to be held before mid-April.

“What was published by the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah is nothing but journalistic interpretations that are not direct declarations from Field Marshal Sissi,” army spokesman Colonel Ahmed Ali said in a statement.

Sissi’s “decision to run or not for the presidency is a personal decision that he will announce personally before … the Egyptian people and not anyone else, through clear and direct words” Ali added in his statement.

The Kuwaiti report came a week after the country’s top military body endorsed the candidacy of Sisi, who ousted democratically elected president Mohammed Morsi in July following massive protests against the Islamist leader.