Confusion surrounds the recent announcement that a high-ranking Al-Qa'eda official is in Egyptian custody. Jailan Halawi investigates A man being described as the Al-Qa'eda network's media coordinator is under arrest in Egypt, his period of detention extended by state security prosecutors on Saturday. According to official reports, Mohamed Nagah Abdel-Maqsoud -- whose aliases are Abu- Mos'ab and Reuters -- was allegedly arrested by the UN as he attempted to flee from Afghanistan three days following the 11 September attacks, and was later handed over to Egyptian authorities. Officials said Abdel-Maqsoud was in charge of media monitoring and the publication of a daily newsletter for the Al-Qa'eda leadership. His responsibilities also allegedly included issuing statements which explained the group's position on different issues, and commented on different operations carried out by the group's members, sending all of these to various magazines, newspapers and news agencies for publication. Abdel-Maqsoud's extradition to Egypt was only revealed on Saturday, when prosecutors renewed his detention order for 45 days pending interrogations. The extradition was described by one of Egypt's pro-government newspapers as a "good catch" given Abdel- Maqsoud's weight as an alleged top ranking official in Al-Qa'eda. Other leaked reports indicate that Abdel- Maqsoud was on Egypt's 150 most wanted militants' list, which was issued last year. Unconfirmed information indicates that he was residing in Afghanistan until he was ordered by Al-Qa'eda leaders to escape three days after the 11 September attacks. Islamists in Egypt and abroad, however, are disputing claims that Abdel-Maqsoud had any links to Al-Qa'eda, with some Islamists arguing that he was never affiliated to any of the militant Islamic groups at all. In a telephone interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Islamist lawyer Montasser El-Zayyat denied that Abdel-Maqsoud's name was on any of Egypt's most wanted lists. El-Zayyat said that Abdel-Maqsoud had not been convicted in any of the so-called terrorist related cases. Further, El-Zayyat denied that Abdel- Maqsoud could possibly have any links with Al-Qa'eda because "had there been any suspicion of [him being linked to Al-Qa'eda], he would definitely be at the US military's Guantanamo camp in Cuba." El-Zayyat noted that although Abdel- Maqsoud fought against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, he left the country for Pakistan with his family after he was badly injured -- losing a leg and his sight in one eye -- in the battle. Following his injury, Abdel-Maqsoud sought medical help at a London hospital and returned to live with his family in Pakistan after the treatment was over. Although El-Zayyat is Abdel-Maqsoud's attorney, El-Zayyat has not been able to talk to his client nor attend any of the interrogation sessions. According to security officials, Abdel-Maqsoud was responsible for briefing Osama Bin Laden on media coverage of Islamic groups, especially Al-Qa'eda. Countering this claim, El-Zayyat said that Abdel-Maqsoud issued a news bulletin which actually criticised the Taliban and Al- Qa'eda. Echoing this view, Hani El- Seba'i, a former leader of the underground Jihad group who now runs a research centre in London, said that Abdel- Maqsoud had major conflicts with the Jihad group, and opposed the Al-Qa'eda network and its activities. This conflict in views and ideologies, El-Seba'i added, was evident in articles published on Abdel-Maqsoud's Web site. Another Egyptian exile, Yasser El-Serri, who runs the London-based Islamic Observation Centre (IOC), denied that Abdel- Maqsoud had any links with any militant groups. El-Serri noted that Abdel-Maqsoud's name had only been mentioned once -- on a list issued by the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad in July 1994, when it was pursuing Arabs who took part in the Afghani war against the Soviets. El-Serri himself is on Egypt's most wanted list. He fled the country in 1988, taking a route well-worn by militants through Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Yemen and Sudan. He ended up in England, where he sought political asylum. In 1994, a military court in Cairo sentenced El-Serri -- in absentia -- to death for his alleged involvement in an assassination attempt on former Prime Minister Atef Sidki. He has repeatedly denied being involved in the case. After his arrival in London nine years ago, El-Serri established the IOC, a media centre run from his home through which he receives statements from armed militant groups in Arab countries, Kashmir and elsewhere, and circulates them to news organisations all over the world. Egypt's repeated requests for Britain to hand El-Serri over have been ignored. Like other Islamists, El-Serri denied that Abdel-Maqsoud had ever set foot in Afghanistan after the war with the Soviets, especially because he opposed both the Taliban and Al-Qa'eda, going so far as to publish a book arguing that Bin Laden was using un- Islamic methods. El-Serri said that while residing in Peshawar, Pakistan, Abdel-Maqsoud had applied to the UN Commissioner requesting political asylum, and was granted a residency document that was renewed every year.
