Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi told German scholars on Wednesday that his defence minister's comment about the collapsing of the state was misunderstood, explaining that what Abdel Fattah al-Sissi meant was that if the political struggle continues, it will lead to the collapse of the state.

"We are at a bottleneck that we must cross without cracking the bottle," Mursi said, insisting that he is studying the situation closely in order to combat the challenges, reported the Middle East News Agency.

Egypt's Islamist president also said that offensive comments he had made before his election on the Jewish people were "taken out of context", explaining that occupation and bloodshed are unaccepted.

He explained that Palestinians have the right to defend themselves and their land and that his past comments were made in light of their bloodshed but were not directed at any one religion for Quran orders the respect of all prophets.