Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi hinted on Tuesday at readiness to accept the presence of the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
"I am ready to accept that a certain group - which does not agree with us - lives among us on condition that they do not harm us or our country," al-Sisi said during a speech in the northeastern Ismailia city.
"Believe what you want but we will not let your beliefs destroy the country," he added, addressing himself to his opponents.
Egyptian authorities have unleashed a sustained crackdown on the Brotherhood since last July's ouster of elected president Mohamed Morsi, a senior leader of the group, by the army.
Hundreds of Morsi's supporters have been killed and tens of thousands said to have been detained in the ongoing campaign.
Last December, the army-backed government designated the Brotherhood a "terrorist organization," blaming it for a string of deadly attacks on security forces. The Brotherhood has repeatedly refused the accusations and condemned the attacks.
Al-Sisi, widely believed to be the chief orchestrator of Morsi's ouster, was announced the winner of the May presidential poll.
During his electoral campaign, the former army chief said the Brotherhood would have "no existence" should he be elected president.
Morsi's supporters, for their part, continue to stage limited protests in several parts of Egypt to protest his ouster, which they describe as a military coup.
