Security operations in Sinai made further progress this week in stemming the spread of jihadist and takfiri ideological instigation against the army and police with the arrest of two extremists. The first, Ismail Abu Shita, a prominent jihadist militant, is charged with planning and executing terrorist attacks against the Armed Forces in the Rafah and Al-Sheikh Zuweid areas of North Sinai. Ismail is from the same family as Hamada Abu Shita, arrested in connection with the kidnapping of the six soldiers who were released in May. The second, Hamdin Abu Faisal, is the founder, self-appointed judge and mufti of the “Sharia law courts”, created during the Mohamed Morsi presidency. The takfiri groups that have proliferated in Sinai recognise neither the official courts presided over by the Egyptian judiciary or the tribal courts that oversee arbitration among Sinai Bedouins. Eyewitnesses say operations to clear the area of militant jihadist and takfiri leaders are proceeding at full steam. Joint army and police units, supported by surveillance helicopters, have succeeded in apprehending another 42 members of extremist organisations. Security agencies have also announced the arrest of two of the chief suspects involved in the attack against the Beir Al-Abd police station and the looting of its weapons store. Samir Ghattas, an expert on extremist groups and director of the Middle East Forum think tank, says the arrest of Abu Faisal is a major achievement. “Abu Faisal had declared he controlled a 600-man militia which executed the rulings of the so-called Sharia Courts. The militia threatened to destroy Sinai tribal structures and undermine the authority and established institutions of the state,” he told Al-Ahram Weekly. The arrest of Ismail Abu Shita, if less significant, is also valuable, says Ghattas. The Abu Shita family, which has turned terrorist operations into a family business, is deeply involved with takfiri and terrorist groups in Sinai. Ghattas warns, however, that Hani Abu Shita, the brother of Ismail and Hamada, is the most dangerous of the lot and still at large. Some media have been promoting the notion that by 6 October Sinai will be declared a “terrorist-free zone”, the announcement timed to coincide with the commemoration of the victory in the 1973 War. Security experts discount such reports as speculation. “We have to let the operations tell us when we can make such a declaration,” says Brigadier General Khaled Okasha. “We cannot be hasty. We have scored a long list of successes, seizing arms depots, taking out central and subsidiary terrorist lairs and arresting the heads of militant takfiri groups. We are also aware that these groups have alternative leaders that can take over command and whose identities are as yet unknown. We know, too, that these groups extend beyond the borders of the state. The capture of the head of an organisation does not automatically imply an end to that organisation.” Okasha sees media rumours that Sinai will soon be declared a “terrorist free zone” as no more than wishful thinking. “We still have a long way to go. True, we have achieved a great deal with regard to the scarcity of field intelligence but we must view this progress in context. Security policies develop in tandem with the development and result of operations on the ground which must be assessed and evaluated by the relevant agencies.” Ghattas revealed information that, if it is true, will shed further light on the relationship between extremist groups in Sinai and Hamas in Gaza. Hamas, he says, has purchased land in the vicinity of Al-Salehiya in Sharqiya governorate in the name of Egyptian citizens. He believes that these properties might be used to shelter extremists fleeing Sinai and that it was therefore no coincidence that terrorist attacks were carried out against the army on the Ismailia road that runs parallel to these areas. “The fear is that some of these groups will be exported out of Sinai [and into the Delta] to carry out terrorist operations,” he says. Okasha told the Weekly he had no information to either confirm or refute Ghattas's claims and that intelligence agencies were undoubtedly investigating whether such property purchases had been made. He did not rule out the possibility that, just as they had arranged alternative leaders, extremist groups will have arranged alternative refuges as clashes with security forces intensified. Hamas has repeatedly denied any connection with terrorist operations against the army and police in Egypt. In statements to the press last week Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy director of Hamas's political bureau, reiterated the denials and insisted that extremist religious organisations such as Al-Qaeda, Jihad and other militant takfiri groups were responsible for the attacks in Egypt. “These Islamist groups took advantage of the security vacuum in Sinai after changing their policy from confronting the Americans wherever they are to confronting the Zionist entity,” he said, adding that he was certain that Israel had infiltrated these groups and carried out the attacks on Egyptian soldiers in Sinai. “We have heard such statements before,” comments Mohamed Gomaa, a Palestinian affairs expert at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. “Ultimately, they are no more than a personal opinion that has no basis in reliable information. Abu Marzouk [who lives in Egypt] was demoted from his post as first deputy in Hamas to second deputy and is solely responsible for media affairs. His comments are an example of the usual reaction which is to cast all blame on Israel.” In a related development, interim President Adli Mansour met with a number of Sinai tribal leaders and sheikhs on Monday in order to hear their views and exchange opinions on how to address problems in Sinai. In addition to security issues, there is the question of judicial sentences against a number of Bedouin tribal members handed down during the Hosni Mubarak and Morsi eras, many of whom were tried in absentia. On the economic and social development needs of Sinai, those attending the meeting discussed the creation of a free trade zone, a national university and the development of the electricity grid and water networks.
