Security forces say they have prevented Al-Qae'da from gaining a foothold in Egypt, reports Jailan Halawi The cease-fire initiative declared by Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiya and Jihad, the militant groups behind the wave of attacks that plagued Egypt in the 1990s, did not mark the end of the terrorist threat facing Egypt. Between 2004 and 2007 the Sinai peninsula witnessed a number of bombings, and there were also incidents in Cairo. Yet recent attacks pale in comparison compared to the bloody days of the 1990s. Political analysts discount any possibility of a come-back by Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiya and/or Jihad and have tended to write off incidents as the work of "amateur" groups, though the security apparatus, on the whole, has preferred to remain silent. The customary "no comment" from security forces was abandoned in February, following the explosion of a bomb in Khan Al-Khalili that left a French schoolgirl dead and injured 24 others. Suddenly the press was rife with leaks, attributed to unnamed security sources, all hinting that a major breakthrough was in store. In May 2008, when a Christian jeweller was killed along with four of his workers, reporting of the incident was muted. A year later security forces began releasing reports that they had foiled an attempt by Al-Qaeda to establish a foothold in Egypt through an affiliate group, a cell of the Gaza based Palestinian Islamic Army, which was planning to carry out attacks in Egypt and France and is believed to have been behind the Khan attack. Twenty three members of the group were arrested, including Egyptian, Palestinian, Belgian, British and French nationals. This week security sources have confirmed that the group was, indeed, behind the Khan Al-Khalili bombing, and that it was planning a series of further attacks on historic mosques and churches as well as tourist sites. The leader of the cell has been identified as Khaled Ahmed Mustafa, aka Abu Mohamed El-Ansary. It is alleged that he was instructed by Al-Qaeda to join the Palestinian Islamic Army in Gaza where he met Egyptian national Ahmed Mohamed Seddik, aka Abu Mos'ab El-Masry, and the Palestinian Momtaz Mazloum. They received paramilitary training, including instruction in bomb making and urban warfare. Security sources say the group intended to recruit new members who would then cross the border to Gaza to receive training before returning to Egypt to launch attacks. Undercover investigators managed to infiltrate the cell, monitoring its sources of finance, training bases and communication networks. A second group, the Zeitoun cell, also thought to have links with Al-Qae'da, has been blamed for the robbery of the jewellery shop. The cell's alleged leader, Ahmed El-Shaarawi, was arrested when he returned from Saudi Arabia in June 2008. Two of his associates, Mohamed Khamis Ibrahim and Mohamed Fahim Hussein, were subsequently detained and are reported to have made full confessions. The group had attempted to set up a cell-based organisation, the Egyptian Mujahideen Army, that would dispatch members to fight in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. Founded in 2007, the group based its ideology on Al-Da'wa Lilmoqawama Al-Islamiya (An invitation to Islamic Resistance), written by Sheikh Omar Abdel Hakam, aka Sheikh Abu Mos'ab El-Soury, a leading Al-Qae'da figure currently in prison in the US. The book outlines the ideology, strategy and techniques of resistance needed to establish an Islamic Caliphate. The group had planned a series of armed robberies to finance their activities, beginning with the Christian owned jewellery shop. While most detainees have confessed they did so, says their lawyer Montasser El-Zayyat, under duress. El-Zayyat complains that he has been denied one-on-one access with his clients. State Security Prosecutor Hisham Badawi has referred all the suspects to medical examiners to ascertain whether or not they have been mistreated. Meanwhile, the trial of 22 suspected members of a third cell, linked to Hizbollah, isvexpected to begin on 23 August.
