Jailan Halawi reports on the release of a new batch of Islamist militants following their renunciation of violence The Ministry of Interior this week announced the release of 300 members of the so-called Al-Takfeer Wal-Hijra (Excommunication and Exodus) group, an offshoot of the once aggressively militant Jihad. The releases are reported to have followed a commitment by the group to renounce violence. Sources close to the group say that more than 135 members remain behind bars at the Wadi Al-Natroun prison. Among those released, they add, are group leaders Essam Gabr and Hussein Haridi. The group had initially hoped to reach a deal with the Interior Ministry under which they would renounce violence in exchange for the right to exercise daawa -- to propagate the faith. That request was refused. The majority of the released were detained following confrontations with the security forces in 1990 in which Shawqi El-Sheikh, the group's leader, was killed. More clashes occurred in 1992 during which group members killed a high ranking police officer and two policemen in Fayoum. In 1993, 90 members of the group were tried in a military court. While some defendants received the death penalty, others were sentenced to prison terms ranging between 10 and 15 years. Meanwhile on Sunday Jihad leader Sayed Imam Abdel-Aziz issued a statement from prison calling on Islamist Jihadi movements to reconsider their operations and ensure that they are conducted according to Sharia. Abdel-Aziz is expected to issue a second statement soon explaining the reasons behind his ideological revision. He is reported to be very active among jailed group members in promoting a consensus around his revisions. The release of members of militant groups is not uncommon. Recent years have seen scores of members of Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya and Jihad, Egypt's two leading militant Islamist groups, and of their various off shoots, freed from prison, always following a renunciation of violence. Releases are usually conducted in batches, with a dozen or so prisoners freed at the same time. News of the releases is usually only made public when all designated prisoners are free. Outside prison, they are kept under close surveillance by the security apparatus. Al-Takfeer Wal-Hijra was founded in the 1960s, although it came to public attention only in 1977, when agricultural engineer Shukri Mustafa became leader. Released from jail in 1971, Mustafa worked within the group, promoting a complete break with society, which he deemed heretic. Group members were encouraged to withdraw from everyday life, to the extent of moving to mountainous areas and even living in caves where they hoped to build an alternative community. In 1977 the group embarked on its first terrorist operation when it kidnapped and killed a Muslim cleric. A year later Mustafa was captured and executed, leaving his ideology as a mantra for other groups who view mainstream society as comprising little beyond unbelievers. Though there is little information about the current organisation and hierarchy of the group, it is thought that the name has been used by a number of splinter organisations that embrace the same ideology but act independently of one another.
