Last update - 00:00 15/07/2007
Egypt arrests group of suspected terrorists
By The Associated Press
Authorities have arrested 35 men described as members of
an al-Qaida inspired group that was planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Egypt, police said Saturday.
The suspects, all of whom are Egyptian, were secretly arrested in April and are currently being investigated by the State Security Court, said a police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to
speak to the media.
The men are suspected of joining a radical group that aimed to topple the Egyptian regime and carry out terrorist attacks financed by a militant organization in Iraq affiliated with al-Qaida, he added.
They were captured in two groups, one in the country's northern Qalyoubiya province and the other in the southern Beni Suef province, the official said.
Police arrested the suspects after receiving a tip that the group was promoting its goals through its Web site, but the leader of the group fled to a neighboring country before the operation, according to the official.
Citing an official close to the case, the independent Egyptian newspaper al-Masry Al-Youm reported Saturday that the group had established a Web site, Saut Alkhelafah meaning Arabic for Voice of the Caliphate, to broadcast news of militant operations and promote Jihad, holy war, by recruiting fighters and training them how to handle explosives.
The latest posting on the Web site included statements from militant groups claiming responsibility for attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces. It also included a picture of bereaved U.S. troops crying and hugging.
One of the first postings from mid-2006 included a video bearing the group's logo, two crossed swords, in which a man wearing a black ski mask and ammunition belt praised slain al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as
"the courageous leader".
Al-Zarqawi was known for describing American forces in the country as wolves and Shiite-led Iraqi forces as dogs.
Egypt has suffered a series of deadly attacks in recent years against the Sinai resort towns of Sharm el-Sheik, Taba and Dahab that killed 125 people.
President Hosni Mubarak had blamed the attacks on local extremists in an attempt to deflect concerns about al-Qaida, which could damage Egypt's vital tourist industry.
In April 2006, Mubarak received parliamentary approval to renew the emergency law he imposed when he took power in 1981 after the assassination of Anwar Sadat.
The law gives authorities broad powers of arrest and detention that the government says are needed to combat terrorism. Human rights groups have said it is widely abused.