-Caveat Lector-
From
http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2000/471/eg10.htm
}}}>Begin
Al-Ahram Weekly
2 - 8 March 2000
Issue No. 471
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875
Egypt
Region
International
Economy
Opinion
Culture
Interview
Features
Focus
Heritage
Travel
Living
Sports
Profile
People
Time Out
Chronicles
Cartoons
Letters 'Albanian returnees' executed
By Jailan Halawi
Two leading figures in the militant organisation Jihad, Ahmed Ibrahim El-Naggar and
Ahmed Ismail Osman, were hanged last Thursday at a Cairo prison. Both, along with 10
others, had been extradited to Egypt by Albania in 1
998. The 12 were put on trial, along with 97 other Jihad members, before a military
tribunal last year in a case dubbed by the local press as "the returnees from Albania".
El-Naggar, a key defendant in the case, was sentenced to life with hard labour, but
had been sentenced to death in absentia in October 1997 for his role in a 1995
conspiracy to blow up Cairo's historic Khan El-Khalili baz
aar.
Osman was sentenced to 15 years hard labour in the "returnees from Albania" case, but
had been sentenced to death in absentia in 1994 for ordering a failed assassination
attempt on then Prime Minister Atef Sidki.
A number of Jihad members are known to be close associates of Saudi dissident Osama
bin Laden, accused by the United States of masterminding the August 1998 twin bombings
of its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Jihad, led
by Ayman El-Zawahri, joined the Front for the Liberation of Islamic Holy Sites set up
in February 1998 in Peshawar, Pakistan, under the leadership of bin Laden.
The confessions of the two prominent Jihad members helped authorities get a better
understanding of how the group is organised overseas, dismantle Jihad cells in Egypt
and arrest members infiltrating from abroad, security
sources said.
Although none of the defendants who faced the death penalty was accused of having
carried out attacks themselves, they were charged with having "headed an organisation
whose aim was to thwart the working of state institut
ions and using terrorism to achieve its aims".
They were also accused of having set up paramilitary training camps and ordering
"insurgency against the government, the tracking and assassination of public figures
and security officials and attacks on public and econom
ic institutions".
Jihad and Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiya have been fighting since 1992 to topple the government
and establish an Islamist state. More than 1,200 people have died in the insurgency,
mostly militants and policemen.
The number of clashes between security forces and militants has fallen steeply since
the November 1997 Luxor massacre which claimed the lives of 58 foreigners and four
Egyptians. The Ministry of Interior has stepped up se
curity measures in line with the preemptive strategy adopted by Interior Minister
Habib El-Adli. This strategy focuses on reining in terrorism while reintegrating
militants into society once they "repent" and are released
.
During the past two years, thousands of detained militants have been released, prison
conditions have been improved and detainees allowed more visits.
The Luxor carnage was followed by a cease-fire declaration from what could be
described as the "moderate" wing of Al-Gama'a's incarcerated leaders. This campaign
was spearheaded by lawyer Montasser El-Zayat who was detain
ed for seven months in 1995 for acting as Al-Gama'a's de facto spokesman. He and
others inside this wing maintain that violence has harmed the group and denied it the
benefits of public activities. The government had tole
rated the group before it took up arms in mid-1992.
Tough state security tactics appear to have broken the power of the
militant groups, whose leaders are mostly dead, in prison or on the
run. Many of the networks they once used to coordinate the flow of
orders, guns and money have folded.
"We are now in a much better situation," a security source, speaking
on condition of anonymity, told Al-Ahram Weekly.
"Contacts between the terrorists abroad and their followers at home
have been cut off almost completely and those hiding in Egypt have
been deprived of their sources of finance and arms. The expatriates
are constantly on the run and do not have the opportunity to
mastermind fresh attacks. However, we will remain alert because we
cannot trust terrorists or their declarations," the source said.
End<{{{
&&&&&&&
From
http://www.emergency.com/cntrterr.htm
}}}>Begin
Excerpted from: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-ERRI Risk
Assessment Services-Tuesday, April 20, 1999; Vol. 5 - 110, 10:32CDT
LEAD FOCUS
COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYSTS TAKE NOTE OF NEW THREATS FROM EGYPTIAN
TERRORIST GROUP
By Steve Macko, ERRI Risk Analyst
UNITED KINGDOM/EGYPT (EmergencyNet News) - This past weekend there
was a report of
interest in the Al-Quds Al-'Arabi newspaper that warned of plans for
a fundamentalist Muslim attack against United States and Persian Gulf
interests. ERRI analysts have several questions regarding the source
and veracity of the report but thought that it was worth mentioning
for a few reasons.
The main reason is because terrorist threats made by fundamentialist
groups that unfortunately turned out to be true in the past have been
reported in Al-Quds Al-'Arabi
and in Al-Hayat. So even though we cannot verify how good the source
of the information is
-- we feel that it cannot just be discounted out of hand.
The second reason is, if one has been following the militant Islamic groups since the
beginning of hostilities in Kosovo and Serbia, one will have seen that these groups
have been extremely quiet for the past month. ERRI
has been reporting on this aspect for the past few weeks. Some counterterrorism
experts may be more optimistic about this lack of militant activity, but others find
it worrying. The "calm before the storm," if
you will.
According to the Al-Quds report that appeared on Saturday, Fundamentalist Islamic
leaders in London on Friday warned of a possible attack on US and Gulf interests on the
eve of the military sentences in Egypt against elements belonging to a fundamentalist
group in the case of the "returnees from Albania."
As was reported by the EmergencyNet News Service on Monday, an Egyptian military court
sentenced to death nine of 107 defendants in the biggest trial of Moslem militants
since those which followed the 1981 assassination o
f President Anwar Sadat.
The case was named "the returnees from Albania," in view of the fact that the
Egyptian authorities received several of the defendants in this case from the Albanian
authorities. They included Muhammad Ibrahim al-Najjar, Shawqi Salamah, Muhammad Hasan
Muhammad, and Ahmad Isma'il 'Uthman. Saudi Arabia also handed the defendant Sa'id
Sayyhid
Salamah, while the United Arab Emirates handed the defendant Muhammad Sa'id
al-'Ishri.Azerbayzhan handed two other defendants; namely, Ahmad Salam Maburk and 'Isam
Hafiz Mabruk.
In a statement to the Islamic Observation Center, which he runs in London, Yasir
al-Sirri, a defendant in the same case, has affirmed that it was U.S. intelligence that
apprehended the detainees in Albania and Baku, the capital of Azerbaizhan, and handed
them
over to the Egyptian authorities.
A key source close to the "Islamic Jama'ah" said that most of the nine men
who received the death sentence, belong to "Jihad" group. The source added that
the Jama'ah is known not to conduct frequent terrorist operations, but prefer bigger
operations, even if they are fewer in number. The source cited as an example the
bombing
of the Egyptian Embassy in Pakistan and the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Replying to a question, the source declined to reveal the nature of the possible
attack. He noted, however, that "the states, which handed over the defendants, will
assume a major part of the responsibility for their execution." It is understood that
Ayman al-Zawahiri, leader of "Jihad" group, a buddy of Usama bin Laden, has the
responsibility for preparing for such armed attacks.
ERRI counterterrorist analysts note that the day before the bombings of the U.S.
embassies in East Africa, Zawahiri issued a statement that said a "message"
would be sent to the United States very soon and it was hoped that the message would be
received loud and clear.
Now, there was another report that came out on Monday, this one in the Al-Hayat
newspaper, that along with the above report, raises the level of concern amongst some
analysts. According to Al-Hayat, the Egyptian militant
group Islamic Jihad has chemical
and biological weapons and it intends to use them against U.S. and Israeli targets. The
source of the information was said to be one of the jailed leaders who was convicted in
Egypt. The weapons themselves are reported to have come from former Soviet Union
countries.
Ahmed Salama Mabruk, who is the head of Jihad's military operations, told Al-Hayat
that the Jihad had drawn up a "plan for carrying out 100 attacks against U.S. and
Israeli
targets and public figures in different parts of the world."
Mabruk on Sunday was sentenced to hard labor for life by Egyptian authorities. He said
the plan was on a computer disk confiscated from him during his arrest by the U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Azerbaijan. The disk was later reportedly handed
over to the Egyptian authorities.
Mabruk said he assumed that, upon learning of his arrest, master terrorist Usama bin
Laden and al-Zawahri would have changed the dates and locations for the attacks
outlined in the plan.
Some analysts may say that Mabruk is just venting his anger for being caught and
convicted. The threat may be nothing more than just bluster. But it most certainly
cannot just be disregarded. The counterterrorism analysts
at ERRI, who watch these events very closely, can only advise awareness and
preparedness. Later in today's daily report,
readers will take note of security preparations for the upcoming 50th anniversary
celebration of NATO in Washington.
� EmergencyNet News Service, 1999. All rights reserved. Redistribution without
permission of EmergencyNet News is prohibited.
Emergency Response & Research Institute
6348 N. Milwaukee Ave. #312
Chicago, IL 60646, USA
(773) 631-3774 - Voice/Messages
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End<{{{
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
is distributed without charge or profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information
for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking
new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust
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"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe
simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not
believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do
not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not
believe in anything merely on the authority of Teachers, elders or wise men.
Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it
agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all.
Then accept it and live up to it."
The Buddha on Belief, from the Kalama Sutta
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A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled
one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller,
German Writer (1759-1805)
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It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that
prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell
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"Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless
of frontiers."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will
teach you to keep your mouth shut."
--- Ernest Hemingway
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