Highlights:
– 29 members and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood were arrested in Alexandria, Egypt, after holding pro-Palestinian demonstrations
– 11 people, including one Syrian, were arrested for having links to “armed groups with jihadist ideology”
– Egypt continues to crack down on oppositional and potential terrorist groups in an attempt to weed out threats to the regime
Throughout the first few weeks of January 2008, Egyptian security forces and government authorities have boosted the level of security crackdowns against the backdrop of regional political affairs and local political elections in April 2008. Muslim Brotherhood members have been arrested in recent days following a number of potential terrorist arrests in Cairo.
Muslim Brotherhood Members Arrested
On January 20, 2008, security forces arrested 29 members and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. The organization conducted three days of demonstrations in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
In the run up to Alexandria’s local elections in April 2008, many Muslim Brotherhood members believe the arrests were made to disable the organization’s chances for running in the elections. Although The Muslim Brotherhood is officially banned in Egypt, it holds more than one fifth of the seats in Egypt’s parliament with its representatives registered as “independents” because of its illegal status (Previous Report).
The Brotherhood has been gaining momentum and support in recent months due to increasing concern among some segments of Egyptian society for the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. However, the government has increased its security presence in the prelude to local elections in Alexandria and in the face of new potential terror threats.
Potential Terror Group Dismantled
Before security forces arrested members from the Muslim Brotherhood, authorities arrested 11 people, including one Syrian student in Cairo, for having links to international “armed groups.” According to Egyptian authorities, the Syrian suspect and two Egyptian students were referred to court on charges of “membership in an illegal organization aimed at overthrowing the regime as well as adopting jihadist ideology.” The 11 members, including the students, are suspected of having ties to terrorist groups in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Security officials believe the students were enrolled at three different Egyptian universities and the Syrian suspect is believed to have been recruiting the students on behalf of armed groups in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to security officials, the Syrian student allegedly planned, “to recruit students to send them to Iraq and Afghanistan,” to fight US-led forces. However, no official links to well known terrorist networks, like al-Qaeda have been made. Historically, the number of Egyptians fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan has been small.
Egyptian authorities have also arrested a number of international terrorists in Cairo in recent years. On December 4, 2006, authorities disrupted a terrorist cell, which included at least 15 foreigners, 11 of whom were European nationals and one American (Previous Report). The terrorists arrested in 2006 were also students, primarily from al-Azhar University, the most prestigious Islamic University in the Middle East. No links between the two cells have been made.
Boosting Security Measures in the Near to Mid-term
In the face of recent threats to the regime and national security, Egyptian forces are likely to increase their presence in main city areas, particularly in Cairo and Alexandria. With neighboring threats from the al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb (AOIM) to attack Westerners in North Africa, Egypt remains concerned over the potential for terrorists to spill over into the country, and increased instability due to ongoing conflicts in the region.
Authorities have grown more intolerant of oppositional groups that may upset the status quo in Egypt. In the months leading up to the April 2008 elections in Alexandria, we anticipate more Muslim Brotherhood members will be arrested, as well as other “independents” running against Mubarak’s ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).
However, the terrorist threat in Egypt will remain constant. Even in the face of increased security, extremists will continue to conduct logistical and financial operations within the country.
