Egypt's Salafist Shura Council member, Ahmed Al Sharif said Friday a large number of the Sinai-based jihadists had close links to Al Nour Salafist Party, Al Bawaba News reported. "They swerved away from the moderate Salafist ideology and decided to combat the state," Al Sharif was quoted by Al Bawaba as saying. The Salafist-Jihadist understanding was best manifested in the abduction of seven Egyptian conscripts in the restive peninsula May 2013, during ousted president Mohamed Morsi's presidency, the Salafist senior figure added. News reports said Galal Murra, Secretary General of Al Nour Party played a mediating role to release the then-seven abducted conscripts. Al Sharif denied any current contacts with extremists in Sinai, indicating the two sides were at odds on the back of Al Nour's support of the MB rule's ouster July 2013. A Egyptian court announced last week that Ahmed Al Malah, Al Nour party member, has been involved in the consecutive terrorist attacks in Sinai against security personnel. Al Sharif stressed that Al Malah had been sacked from the party two years ago.
