Handed over?

Militant Islamists, in Afghanistan and outside it, are feeling, and reacting to, the heat of the "war against terrorism". In three separate stories below, Khaled Dawoud reviews some of the developments, focusing on the Egyptian connection
Handed over?
Security sources remained tight-lipped concerning a claim that a leading Islamist militant was handed over to Egypt by Syria
Security sources have refused to either confirm or deny a claim that Syrian authorities turned over to Egypt last month Rifaie Ahmed Taha, a leading figure in the country's largest militant group, Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiya.
On Sunday, Reuters news agency reported that it received a statement from the London-based Islamic Observation Centre (IOC) claiming that Taha was handed over to Egypt in a "criminal act" by the Damascus government.
The hand-written statement said that after Taha had left his hideout in Afghanistan for Sudan, he travelled to Syria, where he was arrested and handed over to Egypt after being interrogated.
The IOC is a media centre run by Yasser El- Serri, an Egyptian militant residing in London for the past eight years. In late October, British authorities arrested El-Serri on suspicion of his involvement in the assassination of Afghan opposition leader, Ahmed Shah Massoud.
After El-Serri's arrest, the IOC site on the Internet was shut down and his statements to news organisations informing them of the extradition of Egyptian militants by various countries came to a halt.
Serri has been remanded in custody pending a trial, which casts doubts on the authenticity of the statement received by Reuters.
Known as a hard-line leader of Al-Gama'a Al- Islamiya, Taha is believed to be responsible for the major part of the terrorist attacks staged in Egypt between 1992 and 1997.
After armed gunmen brutally killed 58 tourists and four Egyptians in Luxor in November 1997, so-called moderate Al-Gama'a leaders tried to disassociate the clandestine group from the attack. It was Taha who came out to confirm that Al-Gama'a was indeed responsible for the massacre, claiming it was part of a struggle to overthrow the regime by drying the tourism income.
Taha has reportedly been living in Afghanistan for the past few years. In February 1998, he was among leaders of six militant organisations who signed a statement declaring war against "Jews and Crusaders." The other signatories were topped by Osama Bin Laden and the leader of Egypt's Jihad organisation, Ayman El-Zawahri.
Taha's signing of the statement and his earlier support for the Luxor massacre reportedly intensified divisions within the ranks of the militant organisation. In mid-1998, sources close to Al-Gama'a said Taha resigned as the group's leader, handing over the post to Mustafa Hamza. The latter was the prime suspect in the failed attempt on President Hosni Mubarak's life in Ethiopia in 1995.
Another reason for Taha's resignation was his opposition to the so-called cease-fire initiative declared by jailed Al-Gama'a elders in early 1999.
After a short period of silence, Taha re- emerged, issuing hard-line statements signed in his name as "one of the leaders of Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiya." In these statements, he urged his followers and the group's spiritual leader, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, to reconsider the cease- fire decision and to resume anti-government armed attacks. Abdel-Rahman has been serving a life term in New York for his alleged role in conspiring to bomb key installations there in 1993. Informed sources close to Al-Gama'a confirm that Taha has close connections to Abdel- Rahman.
Montasser El-Zayyat, a lawyer who defended militants involved in acts of violence over the past decade, denied knowledge of Taha's extradition. "I don't know. I don't have any information," he told Al-Ahram Weekly.
Similarly, the Interior Ministry neither confirmed nor denied the report. However, an informed security source ruled out the possibility that Taha would be handed over to Egypt without an official announcement being made. "Getting hold of Taha would be a great victory for Egyptian security, and there is no reason to keep it a secret," the source said.
He added that he personally doubted that Taha would disappear from Afghanistan for months without his followers knowing his whereabouts. "In case he was handed over to Egypt a month ago, other militants would have definitely announced that. Taha is a key and leading figure and not an average member of Al-Gama'a."
Taha was sentenced to death in absentia by a military court in 1993. The fact that a military court handed down the sentence means he cannot file an appeal in case he is arrested and the sentence will be carried out without a retrial.
Referring to this, the alleged IOC statement issued an appeal for Taha's protection. It also lashed out at the Sudanese government for its alleged collusion with Syria in handing Taha over to Egypt.
The statement did not provide an explanation for Taha's decision to move from Afghanistan to Sudan and thence to Syria.
The Sudanese government has been working hard in recent years to improve its relations with the United States, all the time denying that it supports terrorist groups. Consequently, choosing Sudan as a hideout does not appear to be a wise move by a man who knows full well he is wanted worldwide. Syria is similarly not the most propitious of choices.
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