| Africa North |
| Wanted Gamaa Islamiya leader detained at southern border |
| 2014-07-15 |
[Al Ahram] Five Islamist figures have been tossed in the slammerDon't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! while attempting to flee Egypt via the southern border, a military front man announced via Facebook. Former Shura Council member and head of Gamaa Islamiya's Building and Development, Safwat Abdel-Ghani, was among those arrested late on Sunday. Meanwhile, ...back at the game, the Babe was wondering why the baseball kept getting bigger and bigger. Finally it hit him... the pro-Brotherhood National Alliance to Support Legitimacy (NASL) said security forces have arrested Nasr Abdel-Salam, acting head of the Building and Development Party. Last year, prosecutors ordered the arrest of Moslem Brüderbund Supreme Guide Mohammed Badei and nine Islamist figures, including Abdel-Ghani, for allegedly inciting violence at the Republican Guard headquarters. Gamaa Islamiya was responsible for the liquidation of president Anwar Sadat in 1981. It also allegedly murdered 58 tourists and four Egyptians in an attack in Luxor in 1997. The group formed a political party after the 2011 revolution and won 13 seats in the Shura Council election of 2011-12. It has played a key role in the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy, which calls for the reinstatement of deposed president Mohammed Morsi and the 2012 constitution. Some critics say the group, along with the Brotherhood, has been involved in recent terrorist attacks across the country. |
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| Africa North |
| Egypt Arrests Pro-Morsi Leaders ahead of Anniversary |
| 2014-07-02 |
[An Nahar] Egyptian police placed in durance vileDrop the rod and step away witcher hands up! Tuesday five Islamist leaders who back Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Timeprinciple, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... , two days ahead of protests their alliance has called to mark the first anniversary of his ouster, officials said. Since the military deposed Morsi last July 3, the authorities have waged a brutal crackdown on his supporters that has seen more than 1,400 people killed in street festivities and over 15,000 placed in durance vile Book 'im, Mahmoud! . Magdy Hussein, a leader of the Anti-Coup Alliance that has spearheaded protests demanding Morsi's reinstatement, was arrested at dawn at his house, the security officials said. He faces charges of inciting violence and threatening national security and stability. Also detained was Nasr Abdel Salam, head of the Building and Development party, the political arm of Gamaa Islamiya, a former Death Eater group that has since renounced violence. Two other leaders of the party, which is part of the Anti-Coup Alliance, were also arrested. |
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| Africa North |
| Egypt seizes Bröderbünd leaders assets |
| 2014-01-01 |
| Egypts interim government has ordered the assets of more than 500 Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist leaders seized including those of the countrys ousted president as part of an ever-tightening crackdown on the group, senior judicial and security officials said Tuesday. Abdel-Azzem El Ashri, a Justice Ministry spokesman, said that a ministerial inventory committee ordered the movable and immovable properties of 572 Muslim Brotherhood leaders seized. Another Justice Ministry official said leaders on the list included toppled President Mohammed Mursi and his family, as well as provincial Brotherhood leaders and members of its General Guidance Bureau, which is the groups executive body. A security official said the list also included female Muslim Brotherhood members like Azza El Garf and wife of leader Khairat El Shater and his daughter. He said other Islamist leaders include Assem Abdel-Maged, the leader of Gamaa Islamiyah, which waged an anti-government insurgency in 1990s against autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The two officials said that the list includes those indicted in cases of inciting violence and those are under investigation or could be investigated. The order is part of a wider state crackdown on the Brotherhood, first banned by a court order in September and declared a terrorist organisation by the military-backed interim government last week. The court order allowed the government to form the committee that inventoried of the groups finances and ordered its confiscation. The government made the terrorist designation by linking it to a wave of recent militant attacks targeting security forces without publicly presenting any evidence backing its claim. The move signaled a new era of zero tolerance of the group and ended any reconciliation efforts. |
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| Africa North |
| Police hunt for veteran Islamist in southern Egypt |
| 2013-09-19 |
 Police hunted a veteran member of a former militant group in southern Egypt on Tuesday, security officials said, after he fled a town where the army and police deployed on Monday in an attempt to reimpose state authority. Assem Abdel Maged of the Gamaa Islamiya is among several dozen Islamist activists sought by the police in Minya province after their operation on Monday to restore control over the town of Delga, some 300 km (190 miles) south of Cairo. |
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| Africa North |
| Gamaa Islamiya to withdraw group member from Egypt's Luxor governorship |
| 2013-06-23 |
| [Al Ahram] Egypt's hardline Islamist Gamaa Islamiya says it will withdraw Adel El-Khayat from the governorship of the ancient touristic city of Luxor following uproar over his appointment by President Morsi |
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| Africa North |
| Pro-Morsi protester dies after being shot by opposition: FJP |
| 2013-06-23 |
 [Al Ahram] The Moslem Brüderbund's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) said on Saturday that a Gamaa Islamiya member has died from gunshot wounds in Egypt's central Fayoum governorate, pointing finger at opposition forces for his death.The FJP said in a statement that Mohamed Said El-Shalakany, 35, was shot by "thugs" of the National Salvation Front (NSF), the main opposition umbrella group, and proponents of the anti-Mohamed Morsi Rebel campaign during a rally supporting the president on 16 June. "The party condemns that criminal act, and offers its condolences to the martyr's family. His blood will be a curse on those who incite violence," the FJP added. Ahmed Ibrahim Bayoumi, a member of the Moslem Brüderbund higher board, stated on 17 June that the Fayoum festivities involving the supporters and opponents of Morsi were instigated by "remnants" of the former regime and not by anti-government 'Rebel' campaigners. El-Shalakany, a father of four, was a tourism worker. He was a member of the hard-line Islamist Gamaa Islamiya group, according to the Brotherhood's satellite channel. |
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| Africa North |
| Anger in southern Egypt over Islamist governor |
| 2013-06-17 |
| Egyptian tourism workers and residents of the ancient city of Luxor are voicing anger after an Islamist linked to a former Islamic militant group that carried out the city's deadliest terrorist attack, killing nearly 60 tourists in the 1990s, was appointed governor of their province. Workers and Luxor politicians said Monday they plan to seal off the office of the governor to prevent Adel el-Khayat from entering. El-Khayat belongs to the Construction and Development party, the political arm of Gamaa Islamiya, which waged an armed insurgency against the state in the 1990s, attacking police, Copts and tourists. In 1997 the group killed 58 tourists visiting Luxor's Hatshepsut temple. The group has since forsworn violence. El-Khayat was appointed Sunday by Islamist President Mohammed Morsi among 17 new governors. |
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| Africa North |
| Egypt protesters breach palace barricade as Morsi supporters mass |
| 2012-12-12 |
| [Dawn] Thousands of protesters breached a barricade outside the Egyptian presidential palace in Cairo on Tuesday, as even more supporters of President Mohamed Morsi massed just a few kilometres (miles) away. There were fears the rival rallies could mix, sparking festivities like those seen outside the palace last week, when seven people were killed and hundreds injured in a melee between mobs wielding metal bars, petrol bombs and handguns. Troops have orders from the president to use police powers to protect "vital state institutions". Morsi is determined to press ahead with a referendum next Saturday on a controversial draft constitution drawn up by a panel dominated by his Islamic allies and bitterly opposed by his mainly secular opponents. There was no immediate violent confrontation as anti-Morsi protesters pulled apart a high metal gate and toppled concrete blocks, forcing hundreds of soldiers to pull back closer to the walled presidential palace compound where six tanks were stationed. At the counter-demonstration, the huge crowd held up banners saying: "Yes to the constitution," and waved Saudi and black Islamic flags as well as the national emblem. "There's a war against religion," said one participant, Mohamed Shehata. "We must vote yes for the referendum as it is the best written constitution in our history," said Ahmed Youssef, a council member of the fundamentalist Gamaa Islamiya party. Many of the pro-referendum demonstrators were bussed in from the provinces, AFP correspondents reported. The military has vowed to carry out its duty to maintain stability within democratic rules. |
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| Africa North |
| Gamaa Islamiya's Front Party to join Friday rally |
| 2012-11-07 |
| [Al Ahram] The Building and Development Party -- the political wing of Egypt's Gamaa Islamyia movement -- announced on Tuesday that it would take part in a planned Friday protest to demand the application of Islamic Law in the country's new constitution. "Gamaa Islamyia calls on whoever believes in God, Islam and Prophet Mohamed to support their law, as Egypt's secularist forces are working to eradicate the presence of Islamic Law in the constitution," read the statement, which went on to urge Egyptians to participate in the planned demonstration. The protest -- organised by several political Islamist groups, including Gamaa Islamiya and the Salafist Calling -- had initially been planned for 2 November, but was delayed by one week in order to mobilise more participants. Hundreds of Islamist supporters nevertheless gathered in Tahrir Square last Friday to stage a preliminary rally. According to the group's statement, protesters will demand a major role for Islamic Law within Egypt's new national charter by including a constitutional article stating that Islamic law constitute "the main source of legislation." The issue has provoked a heated dispute among Islamist and non-Islamist members of the Constituent Assembly (tasked with drafting a new constitution), with 'civil' -- i.e., non-religious -- forces calling for the article in question to remain unchanged from the 1971 constitution. The previous charter had stated that only the "principles" of Islamic Law should represent the main source of legislation in Egypt. Implementation of Islamic Law in Egypt's constitution has been a primary objective of several Islamist parties and groups in the wake of last year's Tahrir Square uprising. At a panel discussion held in Alexandria on Monday, Salafist preacher and Salafist Calling member Abdel-Moneim El-Shahat vowed that the Salafist Calling "would not compromise" on the issue of the implementation of Islamic Law. "We're going to mobilise the streets," said El-Shahat. "Every Egyptian who cares about their religion will demand that Islamic Law be fully -- not gradually -- applied under the terms of the constitution." |
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| Africa North |
| Sadat assassination mastermind now free in Egypt |
| 2011-12-05 |
| Aboud al-Zumour is one Egyptian prisoner over whose long incarceration by the Mubarak regime few human rights groups or American diplomats shed a tear. Convicted of masterminding the assassination of the late President Anwar Sadat, he was a close friend of Ayman Zawahiri, the man now leading al-Qaeda. He still speaks with admiration of his former cell-mate, who he says is a "very kind and nice man". He backs "resistance" against the "occupiers" in the Middle East - America and Israel. In his ideal Egypt, the sale of alcohol would be banned, beaches would be segregated and thieves would have their hands cut off - though, he says "it would not happen because no-one would steal". Until last week Islamists like him were at the radical fringe, but the first results from last week's election have shown a staggering success for Islamist parties like Mr Zumour's. Anxious liberal candidates are so worried the hardliners are now heading for a landslide that they are now making desperate appeals to Egyptians to support them in the next two rounds of voting. Only about eight million votes have been cast so far, and the final result will not emerge for several weeks. What has been counted so far amounts to a crushing blow for the middle-class revolutionaries, both Christians and Muslims, who filled Tahir Square in January and February to force former president Hosni Mubarak from power. They wanted more freedom, yet are now faced with the prospect of newly-confident Islamist parliamentarians determined to enforce Sharia, ban alcohol, and banish many of the rights Egyptian women take for granted. The cause of their fear is men like Mr Zumour, no longer just another militant but one of a string of Islamist radicals once banned and jailed who have thrown themselves into electoral politics. The radicals' success showed they can no longer be deemed marginal figures. They now seem certain to play a role for good or ill in the new, hopefully democratic Egypt - and they are becoming deeply divisive figures, although Mr Zumour insists he is ready to share power. "We want to join a coalition," he told The Sunday Telegraph in an interview at his modest apartment not far from the pyramids of Giza. "People must learn to trust and be comfortable with our Islamic vision, and know that we value peace and mercy and justice and development." "And killing Juice and infidels." Mr Zumour spent 30 years in prison for the Sadat killing before being released after the revolution that toppled Mr Sadat's successor, Hosni Mubarak. He is now on the council of Gamaa Islamiya, another militant group previously responsible for numerous murderous attacks on tourists and civilian targets that has, like him, "gone straight". He estimates it will win seven per cent of the seats in the parliament for which elections began this week. In results declared late on Friday from the first third of seats, the Freedom and Justice Party, created and backed by the Muslim Brotherhood, won more than 30 per cent of the vote in two regions, beating even their expectations. The brothers were banned and persecuted for decades, yet even when they were underground they became part of the mainstream, winning massive popular support with social programmes. Gamaa Islamiya's allied party Nour, representing Salafis who follow the puritan Saudi-style version of Sunni Islam, won more than 20 per cent of the vote. It was not clear how much of the vote Gamaa Islamiya had won last night but it appeared to be on course to win several seats. Together the hardline parties beat the liberal Egyptian Bloc into third place, a result profoundly depressing to secular and Christian Egyptians. If those results are repeated in the next two rounds - as most expect - the Freedom and Justice Party could theoretically form a sweeping Islamist coalition with its radical rivals, something that would send shivers of fear through western capitals. For all the Islamist parties' professed commitment to peaceful means, co-operation against terrorism with the United States and certainly Israel, subject of vicious Islamist attack, would almost certainly never be the same again. At home the Brotherhood has sought to portray itself as moderate and committed to personal choice, saying it would not enforce the hijab - the Muslim headscarf for women - or other hardline social codes. But that does little to reassure secular Egyptians. For Mr Zumour, the election marks an unexpected political renaissance. Although he did not fire the gun that killed Mr Sadat in 1981, he was the mastermind of Islamic Jihad's revolutionary strategy. He has been quoted as saying he voted within the group's council against the attack; less widely publicised is his addendum that this was because he had decided that 1984 would be a better date, because by then plans would be in place for a full-scale revolution. He now says he regrets the killing - but only because it brought Mr Mubarak to power, who he says was worse than Mr Sadat because he was both despotic and corrupt, rather than just despotic. He also says that while he disapproves of killing civilians, Islamist militants across the Middle East, from Palestine to Afghanistan, are fighting "occupiers". "If the Americans leave this region, there is no reason for the struggle," he said. "By staying they are creating the struggle, along with much suffering." In 1984, Zawahiri, his Islamic Jihad colleague, and other members were released early, a decision which has spawned numerous conspiracy theories. They went on to join the fight against the Russians in Afghanistan and then to the international jihad, eventually joining forces with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda. "He is a very kind and nice man. He fasts and prays and has a merciful heart and wrote poetry," Mr Zumour said of his old friend now. "But I also advise him publicly, and urge him, against attacks on civilians and tourists. I suggest to him that that is wrong completely." Mr Zumour was offered deals by the former regime but refused them. Nevertheless, since walking free and joining the newly re-formed Gamaa Islamiya, he has begun to say he would not break the peace treaty with Israel signed by Mr Sadat in 1979 - though like other Islamist parties he would seek to renegotiate trade terms, probably leading in practice to a freezing of most ties. The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party has hinted it is more likely to do deals with middle-of-the-road liberal-leaning parties, than the Islamic radicals. But even so, the popularity of these groups remains alarming to many. Mr Zumour combines what he says is respect for personal and political choice with views that sound extreme to western ears. "It is not acceptable for women in bikinis to be walking around with men not their husbands," he said. "I would have closed beaches for women only. "Alcohol in Islam is forbidden - it's not a choice. People can drink in their own houses but I wouldn't give out licences to sell to them, or allow alcohol in hotels." As for cutting off the hands of thieves, he said it would hardly be necessary because once the threat was available theft would stop. "If we had this policy, would Mubarak have stolen so much?" he said with a laugh. Christians, Mr Zumour said, would be better protected by the rights accorded them by Sharia than democracy which could theoretically vote to remove them. "The Islamic vision preserves minorities as a right not a gift," he said. "In France democracy banned the niqab (full-face veil) - but here we could never ban priests or nuns." Egypt's Christians themselves, beleaguered by a string of lethal attacks both before the revolution and after, mostly beg to differ. They were urged by their priests to vote for the liberal Egyptian Bloc put together by the country's best-known Christian businessman, Naguib Sawiris, owner of Orascom, a gigantic business conglomerate. As the scale of the disaster at the polls became clear, the Egyptian Bloc ran large, and rather desperate sounding, advertisements in newspapers. "Don't soften your support for the civil, moderate current to achieve a balanced parliament that represents the Egyptian people, and do not give up your rights," one read. In Tunisia, the Islamist Ennahda Party swept to victory in elections on an impeccably moderate manifesto that stressed economic policies and refused to countenance social controls that would affect the country's tourist industry. But since then, radical parties energised by the revolution have staged aggressive rallies against television stations and universities deemed to have offended them, including over mixed classrooms. In Egypt, even if the Freedom and Justice Party shuns them, it is hard to imagine Salafi and radical parties that may gain up to 25 per cent of the votes settling into quiet opposition. And after 30 years in prison, from which he was once told he would never be released, it is hard to see Mr Zumour going quietly either. |
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| Africa North |
| Egypt's mass demonstrations target new rulers |
| 2011-07-09 |
[Emirates 24/7]  Thousands of people erupted into the streets across Egypt on Friday to defend the uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... , directing their anger at the new military rulers over the slow pace of reform. In the capital, rows of worshippers sat in Tahriri square -- the epicentre of protests that ousted Mubarak in February-- to listen to the Mohammedan Friday sermon. Tents were pitched in the middle of the square, and a large sun shade covered the centre, providing relief from the scorching sun and temperatures of 37 degrees Celsius (about 99 Fahrenheit). "Our revolution continues," read one banner on the side of the square. Holding a large sign, one man complained: "We haven't felt any change. We removed Mubarak and got a Field Marshall." He was referring to Hussein Tantawi, the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces which took power in February and has vowed to pave the way for a democratic system. But the armed forces, hailed as heroes at the start of the uprising for not siding with Mubarak, have come under fire from local and international rights groups for alleged abuses. "The revolution has brought some freedom, but we need more," said Mohammed al-Sayed, 20, a student at Cairo University. "Nothing has changed," said Mohammed Abul Makarem, 18. "Change takes time, but there are reforms we can do now." Tarek al-Kholy, a leader of the April 6 protest movement that helped launch the January uprising, said the revolt's slogan "Change, Freedom, Social Justice" still applied today. "We want the cleansing of all state institutions of former regime members, including the universities and the judiciary. We want a reform of the interior ministry" Kholy told state TV. "Five months after the ouster of Mubarak, we have not achieved our goals," he said. Thousands also turned out in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and hundreds protested in the canal city of Suez. The powerful Moslem Brüderbund, which at first dissociated itself from the rallies, announced at the last minute that it would be joining. But the smaller Gamaa Islamiya said its members would stay away from the protests. "The goal right now is to transfer power from the military to a civilian government. We do not support any act that will delay that process," Assem Abdel Maged told state TV. Among the key demands at Friday's protests are the end to military trials of civilians, the sacking and trying of coppers accused of killing protesters, and the thorough and transparent trials of former regime officials. Activists have repeatedly denounced the handling of legal proceedings against security forces who used violence in the uprising that toppled Mubarak, killing 846 civilians. Pro-democracy activists say police officials responsible for repression before and during the revolt are still showing up for work. Security forces on Friday were watching the rally from a distance, with police and army vehicles stationed in side streets, away from the view of protesters in the square, an AFP correspondent said. Pro-democracy youth groups who called for the protest were in charge of security at the entrances to Tahrir, searching anyone heading into the square and demanding to see two forms of identity. On Wednesday, the government urged those taking part in the demonstrations to "maintain the peaceful nature of the protest" warning against "plots aiming to incite chaos in order to tarnish the country's image." |
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| India-Pakistan | |||
| Dupe URL: The great debate: is violent jihad against Islam? | |||
| 2011-04-17 | |||
Egypt passed through a violent phase in the 1990s when the government made all-out efforts to dismantle jihadist groups in the country. The Mubarak regime had filled up the prisons with thousands of suspects. Although rejection of violence by the Muslim Brotherhood had shrunk the space for violent actors in Egyptian society, the discourse facilitated among captive members of the Islamic Group (Gamaa Islamiyah) and Al Jihad, the two main jihadist groups in Egypt, on the issue of the legitimacy of pursuing a violent path, contributed much towards countering violent ideological tendencies. The debate was initiated among thousands of imprisoned members of the Islamic Group and questioned the justification of violence for achieving their stated goals. After the discourse, reading and furtive conversations, the detainees came to feel that they had been manipulated into pursuing a violent path. Although it was difficult to start the debate as initially it had faced strong opposition both inside and outside the prisons, at some point the imprisoned members of Al Jihad, the most violent group in Egypt and led by Ayman Al-Zawahiri, also began to express an interest in joining the non-violent initiative. But Dr Fadl, the architect of Al Qaedas ideological paradigm, was the man who turned the initiative into a great debate. Fadl, an Egyptian physician and scholar, was one of the first members of Al Qaedas top council and proponent of the literature that Al Qaeda used for indoctrination. His book Compendium gave Al Qaeda the licence to murder all those who stood in its way. Al-Zawahiri had declared the book a victory from God. Later, Fadl accused Al-Zawahiri of adding new chapters to his book and rephrasing it in parts, which caused a rift between the two. Al-Zawahiris amendments to Fadls work provoked a debate among the imprisoned leaders of the Islamic Group in the late 1990s. They started to examine the evidence and felt that they had been manipulated into pursuing a violent path. In 2001, Fadl was arrested in Yemen and handed over to Egypt. Fadl joined his former colleagues in prison and started revising his previous work and came up with a title Rationalising Jihad in Egypt and the World. This new book attempted to reconcile Fadls well-known views with sweeping modifications from Compendium. Apart from covering many critical issues including the conditions for jihad in foreign lands and the killing of innocent civilians, Fadl critically examined the question of takfir and observed that there were various kinds of takfir, and that the matter was so complex that it must be left to competent Islamic jurists, and that members of the public were not qualified to enforce the law. He cautioned that it was not permissible for a Muslim to condemn another Muslim. The debate provided an opportunity to Islamic Group and Al Jihad members to review their strategies and give up violence. At the same time, on a societal level, it helped to strengthen non-violent narratives. One has not even heard echoes of such a discourse in Pakistan, although the dire need for that cannot be emphasised enough. Religious scholars in Pakistan have issued more than a dozen conditional religious decrees against suicide attacks, stating that there is no justification for such attacks on Pakistani soil. However, in the decrees they have not failed to mention that terrorist attacks are a reaction to the governments policies. There has been intentional evasion of talking about extremism mainly on the ideological front. This attitude of putting the entire burden on the state and shirking ones own responsibility has almost become the norm in Pakistan. Fear for personal security, as much as any other factor, has hindered the initiation of a debate on such sensitive issues. A number of religious scholars from all schools of thoughts hold contrary views on the militant discourse but these views either do not have support within their sectarian domains or the scholars do not want to expound their thoughts vociferously for fear of risking their lives. Very few scholars have been willing to speak out in the face of personal threats. Allama Javed Ghamdi is one such scholar who has been the voice of reason in the ideological proliferation in Pakistan. But the clergy in Pakistan does not accept his narrative because of his modern credentials. There is an urgent need to find the voice of reason among the clergy, which has an influence in the militant circles and can courageously initiate debate on critical issues. In this context, one example is a young Deobandi scholar, Muhammad Ammar Khan Nasir, son of Maulana Zahidul Rashidi, who wields influence in the Deobandi school of thought and is well respected even among militant groups in Pakistan. Nasir, in his newsletter, Al Sharia, has declared that it is not permissible on religious grounds for non-Afghan Muslims to fight against international forces in Afghanistan. He has argued that Pakistan is in agreement with the international community in Afghanistan and if the government supported the Taliban it would be going against the principles of Islam.
The debate initiated by Ammar Nasir has formed the basis for an intellectual discussion among Deobandi scholars. This is a ray of hope that the intellectual discourse is still intact in the religious community in Pakistan. But the crucial question is: can these discussions be transformed into something close to the great debate in Egypt? The writer, Muhammad Amir Rana, is editor of the quarterly research journal Conflict and Peace Studies. | |||
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