A source close to Egyptian presidential candidate Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has disclosed details of two failed assassination attempts against the former army chief in the weeks that followed the ouster of elected president Mohamed Morsi last July.
"The first attempt came a few days after the army ousted Morsi on July 3 and installed head of the Supreme Constitutional Court Adly Mansour as interim president," the source, who asked not to be named, told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.
"Al-Sisi [then defense minister] was on his way to meet the interim president at the Ittihadiya presidential palace when his advance security team discovered a booby-trapped car set for remote detonation," added the source.
He said the security team handled the situation and changed the convoy route.
The second attempt, the source added, came two weeks later and also involved an explosive-laden vehicle that was set to be detonated by a mobile phone as al-Sisi was heading from his home in eastern Cairo to the Defense Ministry headquarters.
The car bomb failed to go off due to the jamming of cell phone services done by the security entourage when the convoy was passing through the area, the source added.
During a TV interview aired late Monday, al-Sisi revealed there were two assassination attempts on his life. But he gave no details about them.
The source told AA that the National Security Agency later arrested three terrorist cells and during interrogations, the suspects confessed to planning to assassinate the former military chief.
Al-Sisi is widely seen as the driving force behind Morsi's overthrow following mass demonstrations against the latter.
He immediately became a hero in the eyes of Egyptians who had supported the army's decision to unseat the Islamist president.
Al-Sisi, however, is reviled by Egyptians who oppose the ouster of Morsi as a military coup.
The former army chief remains the frontrunner in the upcoming presidential elections, scheduled for May 26-27.
