Cairo: Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi is leaving Cairo for New York on Sunday to attend the UN General Assembly meetings, marking his first appearance at the annual global gathering since he took office in June.

Al Sissi, an ex-army chief, is to address the forum on Thursday amid concerns in Egypt that backers of the Muslim Brotherhood will hold mass protests outside the UN headquarters to disrupt the visit. Last year, Al Sissi led the army’s overthrow of Islamist president Mohammad Mursi, a senior Brotherhood official.

On Saturday, a group of prominent Egyptian politicians and media people left for New York to join rallies planned in support of Al Sissi. Other groups of supporters are expected to go to New York later in the week.

The Egyptian community in New York has, meanwhile, called on Egyptians staying in the US to “welcome the Egyptian president and foil the Brotherhood’s evil plan,” the official Middle East News Agency reported.

The Brotherhood, which Egyptian authorities listed as a terrorist organisation in December, accuses Al Sissi of staging a coup against a democratically elected president — Mursi — and pursuing a draconian crackdown on its followers.

Several pro-government politicians have already asked Al Sissi not to go to New York, citing concerns for his life. “What are the benefits to be reaped from this risky trip?” said Naji Al Shehabi, the chief of the Generation Party. “Even what is the use of the UN itself that has turned into a tool for the US and its European allies to exploit other peoples and protect Israel?”

Experts disagree, however.

“This UN forum will be an opportunity for the president to meet with leaders of the world, who are eager to know firsthand this man, who aborted the Brotherhood-American plot to fragment the region,” said Emad Jad, an analyst at the state-run Al Ahram Centre for Strategic Studies.

“The president is going the UN, not to the US. So, it is not important if he does not meet Obama. What matters are his [Al Sissi’s] meetings with other world leaders, as this general has preceded all others in fighting terrorism.”

Ties have strained between Egypt and the US since Mursi’s removal amid accusations in the Egyptian media that Washington is taking the Brotherhood side. The US has repeatedly criticised the post-Mursi government for alleged human rights abuses.

However, there has been a thaw in their relations in recent weeks as the US is trying to cobble together a global coalition to fight the radical Isil that controls large swathes of Iraq and Syria.

US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Cairo last week as part of a regional tour to drum up support for the coalition.

Egypt, locked in a deadly fighting against Islamist insurgents, has requested that the US-led military campaign against Isil be expanded to include other radical groups.

In his address to the UN, Al Sissi will highlight steps taken by Egypt for democratic transition and his view of fighting terrorism, according to the Middle East News Agency.