'Inviting General Sisi is betrayal of British values'

Ankara

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's invitation of "Egypt's dictator" to the U.K. is a "betrayal of British values," an Egyptian political organization said Wednesday.

In a written statement, the Egyptian Revolutionary Council said though it welcomed the British government's initiative to hold a two-day U.K.-Africa investment summit beginning Jan. 20, it condemned in the "strongest possible" terms the use of the conference to legitimize the military regime in Egypt and its head, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The statement said Africa needs investment, and that in order for the U.K. to ensure local prosperity and job creation, it needed to reforge its trade relations with the world after it left the EU.

"However, neither Africa nor the UK need or can afford that this is achieved by implicit and explicit support for a regime like that of Sisi that stands accused of extrajudicial murder, systemic torture, rape, misogyny, and brutal oppression of basic human rights by all international human rights organisations," the statement stressed.

"PM Johnson's invitation to General Sisi is a betrayal of British values and respect for human rights. It is equally a betrayal of the Egyptian people and of Africa as a whole," it added.

The statement also called on Johnson to refuse meeting al-Sisi.

The Egyptian Revolutionary Council was founded in 2014 by Egyptian political groups outside of Egypt.

Al-Sisi came to power in Egypt after a 2013 coup against Mohamed Morsi, the country's first freely-elected president.