There is no relationship between the Shura Council of the Islamic Group and the organization responsible for the publication calling for an Islamic state in Sinai, distributed earlier this week, said Safwat Abdel-Ghany, a member of the Shura Council. The publication was not issued by Al-Qaeda, as it claimed, since Egypt does not harbor any active Al-Qaeda organizations, Abdel-Ghany told Youm7. He added that only four or five people issued the publication. The publication could be a secularist tactic, executed to raise Egyptian fears and anxieties of an Islamist takeover, particularly in light of last Friday's demonstration, which called for the implementation of Islamic Sharia, Abdel-Ghany added.
