MP Farid Ismail, secretary of Parliament's Defense and National Security Committee, has praised Egyptian intelligence services for confronting plots against Egypt. “They have exposed those involved in the illegal foreign funding of civil society organizations,” state-run MENA quoted Ismail as saying. Ismail, who is a Freedom and Justice Party MP, attributed the attack on the General Intelligence Services (GIS) to its continuous monitoring of conspiracies plotted against Egypt. “They have thwarted five cases of espionage, in addition to the great role they play in the Palestinian reconciliation,” he added. “This is why they are envied.” The GIS is regulated by law, but traditionally it is referred to as a “sovereign apparatus,” and it has always been removed from parliamentary oversight. Last month, secular MPs attacked the GIS, saying that it should be held accountable before Parliament. Early in January, Mostafa Suleiman, the chief prosecutor in Mubarak's trial, said that the Interior Ministry and the General Intelligence Services, formerly headed by Omar Suleiman, had refused to cooperate with investigations. Ismail has attributed the attacks to foreign agendas and remnants of Mubarak's regime. “And there are those who attack the Egyptian army so as to weaken it against foreign aggression,” he said.
