An aide to former Egyptian presidential hopeful General Sami Anan has said that the ex-military commander is in possession of “dangerous” top secret files kept outside the country that would be released if he is harmed.

Anan had announced his candidacy last month, but mysteriously dropped out of the race along with all other serious challengers to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Hisham Genena, a former prosecutor and state auditor and a leading member of Anan’s short-lived campaign, said he fears for the ex-general’s life.

Genena told HuffPost Arabic in an interview published on Monday that a “sovereign agency” within the Egyptian security apparatus is leading a violent crackdown against dissidents, including an “assassination attempt” against Genena last month.

He said Anan has a “well of secrets and documents and evidence” that would “implicate many people” in the deadly events that have unfolded in Egypt since 2011.

Genena was fired from his job as auditor in 2016 after making public complaints about corruption.

Anan has been detained over “breach of the laws of military service” because he did not inform the army’s command before announcing his presidential bid, even though he was no longer a part of the military.

Anan was the second-ranking member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which ran the country after a popular uprising toppled president Hosni Mubarak early in 2011.

After president Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood was elected in 2012, he announced the retirement of Anan and other top military officials in a move seen as an attempt to loosen the military’s grip on power after the country’s first free election.

Morsi was overthrown by the army the following year, and then-commander Sisi went on to become president in 2014.

The Egyptian army reacted quickly to Genena’s comments, vowing to take “legal procedures” against the ex-auditor.

“The armed forces will make use of all the tools guaranteed by the constitution and the law to protect national security,” army spokesperson Tamer Rifai said in a statement in response to Genena’s allegations.

He called Genena’s statement a crime that aims to cast doubts on the state’s credibility and its institutions.

[Source: Middle East Eye]