Special to WorldTribune.com

Egyptian President Abdul Fatah Sisi said regional security is in its “most vulnerable state” and warned that some fighting Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) are “sliding into failure.”

In an interview with The Associated Press after his address to the United Nations General Assembly, Sisi said Egypt is engaged in a “ferocious war” with terrorists in Sinai which required Cairo’s military to be “augmented” in order to win.

“Let it suffice to look at the map and find countries that are suffering from failure,” Sisi said. “There is an increase in the extremist groups. There is the problem of the refugees that are flowing into Europe. With all that in mind, we can sense how difficult and how complicated” the challenge is.

“I don’t want to say we are late in doing what we should have done, but (defeating the threat will require) a lot of effort, and not only a lot of effort but as a matter of fact it entails a good amount of understanding and cooperation from every country … to restore the countries that are now sliding into this vicious cycle of failure.”

Egypt is the midst of “a ferocious war against terrorism and extremism … Increasing the military capability of the Egyptian military means that it can strike a strategic balance” for the region,” Sisi added.

Cairo not only battles insurgents affiliated with ISIL in the Sinai but the threat from Muslim Brotherhood Islamists still reeling over the overthrow of Mohammed Morsi.

“The problem with the Muslim Brotherhood is not a problem between the government of Egypt and these people,” Sisi said. “The real problem is between the Egyptian people and the Muslim Brotherhood” which has given “a very bad impression” and Egyptians “are not able to forgive and forget.”

In the interview, Sisi said Syria should not be divided when hostilities end and warned that the collapse of Bashar Assad’s regime could result in all of its weaponry ending up in the hands “of the terrorists” and would “pose a serious threat to the rest of the region, and this is what we fear.”

Sisi also expressed hope that the Palestinian issue would be resolved and in expanding Egypt’s peace deal with Israel to include more Arab countries.

A Palestinian resolution would “change the face of the region and … bring about enormous improvement to the situation. … I’m optimistic by nature and I say that there is a great opportunity,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supported Sisi’s call for resolving the Palestinian issue. Netanyahu said he also hopes to renew negotiations with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas.

The Egyptian leader also expressed hopes for improved relations with the United States after saying “the last two years were a real test of the endurance and strength” of U.S.-Egypt ties.

  Abdul Fatah Sisi, Egypt’s Sisi warns neighbors are ‘sliding into failure’ amid ‘ferocious war’ with ISIL, Muslim Brotherhood, UN General Assembly, WorldTribune.com