Egypt arrests ex-army officer in connection with Interior Minister attack : Reuters
The former naval officer was previously jailed for taking part in 1981 assassination of Sadat
Reuters, Tuesday 29 Oct 2013
Egyptian authorities have arrested an Islamist militant jailed over the
assassination of former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, for plotting
bomb attacks on behalf of Al-Qaeda since his release from prison in
2012, security sources said on Tuesday.
Nabil Al-Maghraby, a former naval intelligence officer who the sources
said was a key Al-Qaeda operative, was arrested on Sunday. He has been
linked to an ex-army major who tried to assassinate the Interior
Minister in September, the sources said.
Maghraby had been released from jail after serving 31 years for taking
part in the 1981 assassination of Sadat. The Egyptian leader was killed
by Islamist members of the military opposed to his 1979 peace treaty
with Israel.
Since then, Egypt has been highly sensitive about Islamists infiltrating its armed forces, the biggest in the Arab world.
Maghraby was arrested in the northern Delta town of Qalubiya, 35 km (20 miles) from Cairo.
"He has been arrested for being a part of a terrorist organisation and
for planning bomb attacks in the country," one of the sources said.
Authorities believe he was a close associate of former army major
Waleed Badr, who allegedly blew himself up on September 5 in a failed
attempt to kill the Interior Minister in Cairo.
A Sinai-based Islamist militant group called Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis
released a farewell video of Badr urging Muslims to kill government
officials in Egypt, a strategic US ally.
Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militants based in the Sinai have stepped up
attacks on soldiers and police since the army deposed Islamist President
Mohamed Morsi in July amid mass nationwide protests against him.
The majority of the attacks have been carried out in the largely
lawless Sinai Peninsula, but some attacks like the one on the Interior
Minister have raised fears that an Islamist insurgency is taking hold
elsewhere.
Maghraby was released from jail in 2012 after Morsi pardoned about 100 political prisoners, mostly Islamists.
This story has been edited by Ahram Online.
Labels: Al-Qaeda, Egypt, Islamism
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, October 29, 2013
<< Home