Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has addressed suggestions that militant group IS could have been involved in a Russian plane crash over Egyptian soil as "propaganda".
Speaking to the BBC during his first visit to the UK, Sisi said reports that IS militants had claimed responsibility for Saturday's crash which killed 224 people were untrue and aimed at causing "damage [to] the stability and security of Egypt".
He said: "When there is propaganda that it crashed because of IS, this is one way to damage the stability and security of Egypt and the image of Egypt. The plane was at 32,000 feet altitude.
"Believe me, the situation in Sinai - especially in this limited area - is under our full control."
Russian officials have confirmed the first nine victims of the plane crash have been identified but formal identification of all the victims may take several weeks.
