WATANI International
30 January 2011
Investigation of the Alexandria New Year Eve bombing
Egypt##s prosecutor-general Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud last Monday banned media reporting on the investigation into the deadly New Year Eve bombing at the Church of the Saints in Alexandria, which left more than 24 dead and some 90 injured. Mahmoud said revelations could hinder the work of investigators.
The ban came a day after Interior Minister Habib al-Adly made an announcement accusing the Palestinian militant group, the Army of Islam, of carrying out the bombing with the help of a local accomplice. A spokesman for the Army of Islam, which considers al-Qaeda leaders its spiritual mentors, denied any involvement in the deadly attack but at the same time praised those who carried it out. Simultaneously, it blamed the Israeli Mossad for the bombing.
Suspect
Al-Adly said an Egyptian had been arrested linked to the Army of Islam who confessed to having been contacted by the group which asked him to help its members sent to carry out the attack. Ahmad Lutfi Ibrahim Mohamed, a university graduate and native of Alexandria born in 1984, had admitted in writing to his involvement.
A statement by the Interior Ministry said that Mohamed, who was arrested and is currently in detention, admitted in writing that he sneaked in to the Gaza Strip in 2008 after subscribing to the ideologies of al-Qaeda and deciding to take part in Jihad, or holy war, for which the group calls.
During his stay in Gaza, Mohamed got in touch with the Palestinian Army of Islam and its members convinced him that targeting Christian and Jewish places of worship is part of the Jihad he is seeking to take part in.
Last October, Mohamed suggested to members of the group two churches next to where he lives, one of them was the Church of the Saints. The statement said he also suggested a synagogue, also in Alexandria. The group asked Mohamed to find accommodation for members of the group who would come to Alexandria to carry out the operation and to provide them with a car.
In December, the group contacted Mohamed and told him the militants who were to carry out the operation were ready. The head of operations in the Palestinian Army of Islam later called him and congratulated him after the bombing took place and thanked him for the role he played.
The fact that the group recruited someone from Egypt means that it managed to infiltrate the country and form terrorist cells there.
No interference
On national TV, President Mubarak said that: “Egypt’s Constitution has laid out principles of citizenship as the basis for equality of all Egyptians in their rights and duties. “I say to those, some from friendly countries, who call for the protection of Copts of Egypt, I say to them that the time for foreign protection and tutelage is gone … We will not accept any pressure or interference.”
The Palestinian group accused of perpetrating the attack is a small outfit that espouses Salafi ideals, an austere form of Sunni Islam that seeks a return to the practices of the faith##s early days.
No one had claimed responsibility for the Alexandria church attack, which followed threats to Egypt##s Copts from the al-Qaeda-linked group in Iraq that claimed an October 31 attack on a Baghdad church. Early last week, however, a group which calls itself the Fighting Salafi Group in Mesopotamia claimed responsibility for the attack and promised more to come. In a statement announced by the Iraqi news agency Waae, the group said it had not announced its part any earlier, but finally decided to make its role public because of what it said was “the harm the tyrant regime in Egypt is inflicting upon Muslims”.