Egypt's president says he supports 2-term limit

CAIRO – Egypt's leader says he is not in favor of amending the constitutional provisions barring the president from staying in office beyond two, four-year terms.

Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi was elected to office 2014, a year after he led the military's ouster of an elected but divisive president, the Islamist Mohammed Morsi. He has strongly suggested he would seek a second term in office in elections next year, but he has yet to make a formal announcement.

Speaking to CNBC television in an interview, el-Sissi said: "I am with preserving the (clause on) two, four-year terms and not change it." It was his first public comment on the issue, raised by several pro-government lawmakers and media figures who wanted the constitution amended to allow el-Sissi to stay in office beyond eight years.