Green Energy
Egypt thwarts plan to attack Israelis at revered rabbi's graveHaaretz:By Avi Issacharoff
Egyptian security forces arrested 23 Egyptians suspected of belonging to a radical Muslim terror group that was planning to attack Jewish worshipers during a pilgrimage to the grave of Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira, who is buried in the Egyptian city of Damanhur, the security forces announced over the weekend.
The suspects, some of whom were arrested several weeks ago, are also accused of planning to blow up American ships in the Suez Canal and carry out terror attacks in Egypt. They are also accused of planning to cripple major banks in Cairo and Alexandria. Advertisement
Various reports indicate that the suspects were caught with a large weapons cache, including warheads for Qassam rockets manufactured by Hamas. Egyptian security forces say they set up training camps where they practiced using explosives.
Egyptian prosecutors have begun investigating the suspects.
Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reports that the alleged terror cell is based on the ideology of Sayyid Qutb, considered the spiritual father of the radical Islamic movements that fought secular rule.
The extensive weapons cache the cell reportedly has violates the commitment that Egypt's major Islamic groups made in the 1990s to disarm and refrain from attacking civilian targets.
Unlike in similar past instances, all the members of the cell are Egyptian citizens, according to the paper, and are not part of a foreign movement like Lebanon's Hezbollah, which planned multiple terror attacks from an operations base in Egypt.
In April, news spread that Egyptian authorities had arrested 49 suspects from several Arab countries who were suspected of belonging to a terror network operated by Hezbollah. They planned to attack sites including those frequented by Israeli tourists.
Egypt suspects that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah activated the cell during a televised speech. The suspects arrested included Palestinians who came to Egypt from Gaza, as well as people from Sudan, Syria and Lebanon. The suspects were trained abroad to learn how to use explosives and entered Egypt with forged documents. They were ordered to rent property from which they could observe the Suez Canal and tourist sites in Sinai, including areas frequented by Israelis. One of the main suspects was Sami Shihab from Lebanon.
Three months later, it was reported that a Gaza Strip resident was leading a cell of radical Islamic operatives similar to Al-Qaida. According to reports from Egypt, the cell was responsible for the death of a French tourist killed in an attack on the Khan el-Khalili market in Cairo and was planning additional terror attacks. The cell members had reportedly undergone training in the Gaza Strip.
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Israel sends 2 warships to Egyptian border
By TIA GOLDENBERG
Associated Press
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel sent two more warships to the Red Sea border with Egypt, the military said Tuesday, part of a military reinforcement there following warnings that...
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Jerusalem Post: Report: Over 400 al-Qaida terrorists now in Sinai By JPOST.COM STAFF 05/30/2011 13:33 Egyptian security official tells Al-Hayyat that Palestinian, Beduin, foreign citizens seeking to carry out attacks, have already attacked. Over 400...
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Front Page Mag: Terror in Sinai Posted by Frank Crimi on Feb 14th, 2011 As the Obama administration welcomes participation by the Muslim Brotherhood in the new Egyptian government to be formed, reports have surfaced that the Brotherhood is now directing...
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Egypt Stops Arab-Israeli Ship Full of Explosives From Eye on the World: (INN) Egyptian authorities stopped a ship from Israel, owned by an Arab and loaded with explosives, The owner of the ship, "Joseph" [Yousef] Botryose El-Gabalwi, was arrested in...
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Egypt Has Arrested Dozens Of Bedouins Linked To Hizbullah - Since 2005
GERTZ: The Bedouins were said to have resided in central and eastern Sinai and allegedly were connected to the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip. Another ..'they'll never work together' story. Egyptian security sources said Hizbullah...
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