Egypt Boosts Security After Saudi Attacks

Egypt’s fears are as obvious as the extra police who began appearing on the streets and bridges and around hotels since terrorist bombers struck in Saudi Arabia. The nine Saudi bombers, who killed themselves and 25 other people in residential compounds housing foreigners in the Saudi capital, have been linked to the radical al-Qaida movement of Osama bin Laden. While al-Qaida’s main targets have traditionally been Saudi Arabia and the United States, Egyptian officials know the terror group could easily turn on them. Al-Qaida has in the past recruited among Egyptians — persuading one to lead the Sept. 11 suicide attacks on the United States. Some of its top operatives have roots in the Arab world’s most populous country. The question is whether al-Qaida has the means and the motive to launch an attack here. “Egypt, the biggest Arab country and one of the oldest American allies, is an important target,” Dia’a Rashwan, an expert on radical Islamic groups at Egypt’s Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told The Associated Press. “But the question is, is it a feasible target now? I believe not.” Rashwan thinks that al-Qaida doesn’t have organizational cells in Egypt, though there are some individuals who share the movement’s hatred of America and governments allied with it — and its goals of ridding the Arab world of what they see as anti-Islamic, pro-Western influence. Full Story