Four security-related developments gave pause for thought last week. The first was the discovery of an arsenal of advanced weaponry on a farm in the village of Al-Adliya in the governorate of Sharqiya. The farm is owned by an individual known to belong to a takfiri group and had been rented by a Muslim Brotherhood member. The arsenal contained bombs, missiles, mortars and a missile launching pad. Then the terrorist group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis revealed details of an assassination attempt against Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim. A onetime army officer, Walid Badr, is alleged to have been involved in the failed attempt. On Monday gunmen attacked a police checkpoint in Mansoura, killing three policemen. The attack was carried out in the same manner as the recent assault against the Coptic church in Warraq. The fourth development was the publication of private phone calls between ousted president Mohamed Morsi and the director of the president's office Ahmed Abdel-Atti regarding the channels of communication between them and US intelligence agencies. Bilbeis, in which Al-Adliya village is situated, is practically a military zone. The Air Force College, a military airport and other vital facilities are located nearby. That such an arsenal should exist in such an area is not normal. What is curious about this incident is that although military and security authorities were aware of the movements of local and foreign militant jihadist elements between the Suez Canal and Sharqiya, and in spite of the fact that they knew that these elements possessed farms in the area, which means that they had potential bases for terrorist operations outside Sinai, the discovery of the arsenal occurred by accident. A neighbour had notified police after hearing an explosion at the farm, probably a result of a weapon being tested. The police set off to investigate. According to military experts, the weapons that were unearthed could be used in urban warfare as well as in conventional military engagements. In a meeting with the minister of defence and the president, the minister of interior indicated that preliminary investigations suggested that Anshas military airport was one of the targets of the terrorist cell. Security sources report that the police have succeeded in apprehending 45 members of terrorist cells in six Delta governorates. A third of them have been referred to state security courts. According to sources, some of those arrested had been planning suicide bombings or other terrorist acts to coincide with the opening session of the Morsi trial. General Fouad Allam, former deputy director of State Security, holds Muslim Brotherhood leaders responsible for all these incidents. They — the Muslim Brothers — finance and run these groups, he says, adding that the Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis group is funded and managed by Hamas. Another source told Al-Ahram Weekly, “there are organisations that remain unidentified but that operate in accordance with coded messages sent by Muslim Brotherhood leaders or by international terrorist organisations that are meddling in Egypt. When I was in Gaza, before 30 June, I saw that the newest of these organisations was being trained and equipped to serve as a paramilitary wing for the Muslim Brotherhood. It was called the Al-Aqsa Guards.” However, the source could not state for certain that the groups that he had seen in Gaza were involved in terrorist attacks in Egypt. At the time, which was in May, the groups were only in a preparatory phase. With regard to the failed assassination attempt against the minister of interior, the person identified as Walid Al-Badr had served as an administrative officer in the Armed Forces but was discharged. He then travelled to Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, returning to Egypt at the time of the security breakdown that followed the 25 January Revolution. Investigations suggest he is not the only former officer to sign up with militant organisations. According to the literature of such groups, the situation in Egypt following the “collapse of the Islamist project” compels them to take up arms again and resume the jihad or holy war. The existence of a group called Returnees from Syria came to light when some of its members were apprehended in the course of preparing a terrorist attack in Obour city. A number of experts who have been observing such groups maintain that the International Muslim Brotherhood Organisation is coordinating with Al-Qaeda, in the framework of a temporary “tactical alliance”, to carry out terrorist operations. Two points lend weight to this assessment. Firstly, according to one source, Egyptian security agencies have notified their Yemeni counterparts that the Muslim Brotherhood Deputy Supreme Guide Mahmoud Ezzat is currently in Yemen. Although this is not absolutely certain there are strong indications that it is the case, the source stressed, adding that if Ezzat is in Yemen he could easily establish contact with Al-Qaeda which has a major presence there. There is also a large base of Muslim Brotherhood support in Yemen, particularly in Aden where several pro-Morsi demonstrations erupted after his ouster, as Abdel-Hakim Al-Mayouni, a Yemeni political affairs expert, told the Weekly. The source added that rumours were circulating in Yemen that Ezzat was in the country but that there had been no official confirmation. If the Brotherhood leader has entered Yemen he will certainly have done so illegally. There are also reports that a Muslim Brotherhood International official, Ibrahim Mounir, met with an Al-Qaeda leader in Jordan to discuss the Egyptian situation. According to an informed source, the Muslim Brotherhood leader was soliciting assistance when the Al-Qaeda leader accused the Muslim Brotherhood of having coordinated with the security forces of the Mubarak regime against Al-Qaeda. The source did not know how the meeting ended. Gunmen on a motorcycle assaulted wedding guests at the Coptic church in Warraq: a drive-by shooting was also the method of attack against a police checkpoint in Mansoura last week. According to security affairs expert General Allam, this is the terrorist organisation's favoured means to disrupt security and wreak attrition on the police. The government needs to act urgently in order to address the situation, he said. It must take immediate measures to improve security at checkpoints. In addition, police weapons must be totally upgraded and there has to be a moratorium on the import of Chinese-made motorcycles in light of security reports that these vehicles are being increasingly used to carry out terrorist operations. General Hassan Al-Bardisi, chief of Cairo's traffic department, says authorities are contemplating ways to limit the import of motorcycles. One measure that is being considered is to stipulate higher standards for the imports. More immediately, political and judiciary authorities must take action to ensure all motorcycles carry proper licence plates. A source who works in the anti-terrorism programme says such measures fail to address the root problem. “There has to be a comprehensive survey of all the motorcycles that have entered Egypt, listing their specifications and licences, because they have become a criminal weapon that is not only used in terrorist operations,” he said. Charges that Muslim Brotherhood leaders leaked intelligence to foreign — particularly US — intelligence agencies is particularly sensitive. “What confirmation do we have that these relations have ceased?” asked former deputy chief of the General Intelligence Service General Hossam Kheirallah. There are signs that this intelligence cooperation is ongoing. Referring to the recordings of telephone conversations between Morsi and Abdel-Atti, Kheirallah points out that the most ominous aspect is not cooperation between these parties to advance the interests of the Muslim Brotherhood — “that's familiar history and there is no need to delve into it now in spite of everything that is happening with respect to a range of issues.” “Rather,” he says, “what struck me was the [Muslim Brotherhood] organisation's attempt to establish a relationship with Israel via Turkey or Hamas. Although this appears to have failed it flies in the face of everything the group has tried to market about itself with respect to its history of resistance and jihad. It had branded Arab regimes as proxies and agents, yet all the while it surpassed all expectations and all red lines in the pursuit of its own interests.”
