CAIRO: Reports on Tuesday allege a pamphlet being distributed to residents in Egypt's Northern Sinai city of al-Arish are calling for an Islamic state. Disturbingly, the pamphlets are being reported to be from the international terror group al-Qaeda. Egypt's youm7.com reported that the document, titled “A statement from al-Qaeda in the Sinai Peninsula” includes verses of the Qur'an and argues that Islam is the only religion of truth and “should be pursued.” The leaflet goes on to criticize the Camp David treaty, which disarmed Sinai and established peace between Egypt and Israel. The statement questioned the role of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to suspend drug smuggling to Sinai. It also said the discrimination against Sinai's Bedouins and the theft of Sinai's wealth should be fought against. The reports of the letter come only days after masked gunmen launched an assault against a local police station in Arish, leaving at least three people dead, including a 13-year-old boy caught in the crossfire. It heightens the growing fears sprouting up across Egypt that Islamic conservatives are playing a larger role in determining the political and social future of the country. Last Friday, some one million Islamists converged on Cairo's Tahrir Square. Their main theme was that Egypt was an “Islamic state.” BM
