Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Friday dismissed a call for a second weekend of protests as "no reason for concern", with hundreds already arrested in an intensifying crackdown on a rare show of discontent on the streets.
Last week's open defiance of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi -- triggered by viral videos from exiled Egyptian businessman Mohamed Aly -- has surprised observers in a country where opposition of all stripes has been severely curtailed.
Elected president in 2014 after pushing predecessor Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood from power the previous year, Sisi is seen by many as one of the most authoritarian figures in the Middle East.
Construction magnate Aly has called for a "million-man march" to take place Friday and a "people's revolution" to unseat the uncompromising head of state.
But after he arrived home from the UN General Assembly in New York, Sisi on Friday insisted there was no cause for alarm.
"There are no reasons for concern. Egypt is a strong country thanks to Egyptians," he told reporters with a smile.
"The case does not deserve all" this attention, Sisi said. "It is an attempt to create an image that is absolutely not real."
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