Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2015 Part 18-9-EgyptBy Capt (Ret) C de Waart, feel free to share: in Confidence

Al Zawahir: "the road to Jerusalem passes through Cairo."

Previous, 18-8-Egypt "We are now in the retaliation phase. They Sisi’s government must taste pain, because there are traitors. My message to the Egyptian people is this: Stand firm and be ready for all sacrifices and prices to be paid. "All foreign companies operating on Egyptian soil have an opportunity until February 20 to withdraw all their franchises from Egypt and cease their operations." If they do not do so, the group threatens, "all their projects may be targeted by the rebels." This follows the call for “long and unrelenting jihad” that the Brotherhood published on their Arabic website last week.

In the south-east; “It is only a matter of time” before the radical Islamic State jihadist organization attempts to “employ its significant military capabilities” against towns and cities that straddle the border with the Sinai Peninsula. And west; President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said Egyptians would be airlifted out of Libya

Israel and Egypt forewarned of synchronized ISIS-Sinai assaults in both countries. Intelligence gathered by Egypt and Israel attest to the former Ansar Bait al-Maqdis - now reborn as the Islamic State’s operational arm in Sinai – being well into advanced preparations for a large-scale terrorist offensive targeting Israel forces manning the Egyptian frontier, along with a string of Egyptian targets across Sinai up to and including the Suez Canal and Cairo.

• Why is the Egyptian army failing to address terrorism in Sinai? I respect and [through whom I] see a future for Egypt, can understand that if he does not pay enough attention to what is taking place in Sinai, Egypt will fall and it will be the 1967 Six-Day War all over again.” He said that the failure was due to the Egyptian army's traditional and routine strategies, which are unsuitable in a fight against a terrorist group that knows Sinai like the back of its hand.

• “The leaders who are planning the war on terrorism in Sinai do not know much about the area on the demographic level, and this will result in drowning the peninsula.”

After the January 2015 el-Arish attacks, Sisi authorized the formation of what he called “the unified command of the east of the canal,” under which both the second and third field armies will participate in the anti-terrorism mission in Sinai, instead of the second army alone.

• “The problem is in changing the mindset of people in the development of professional strategies to tackle terrorism, by relying on the speed of understanding what is going on in Sinai before it is too late. …

• “The old military mentality will only drag us into the same situation as Iraq or Afghanistan or Syria.

• In addition, we must immediately abandon systemic warfare in an urban area where terrorists know exactly how to move and where to hide.” Activists and individuals concerned with the Sinai issue believe the Egyptian government needs to reconsider its war strategies if it wants to stop breeding extremism and eliminate an enemy that is destroying a land that dreams of stability.

A number of Egyptian Coptic Christians were kidnapped in two raids in Sirte, Libya, in December and January. A statement from the office of Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said a special committee was closely following events in order to "clarify the situation and learn the truth". President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said Egyptians would be airlifted out of

Libya, state-run news agency Mena said. The militant group said the Egyptians had been recently kidnapped to avenge the fate of Muslim women "tortured and murdered by the Coptic church of Egypt".

13 Feb, Israel Radio on Friday quoted a senior officer serving in the IDF Engineering Corps as saying that the military spent the past year preparing for anticipated hostile actions from armed Islamists. While most of the worst attacks have hit Sinai, a remote but strategic region bordering Gaza, Israel and Egypt's Suez Canal, smaller blasts and attacks have become increasingly common in Cairo and other cities. Israeli military officers believe that “it is only a matter of time” before the radical Islamic State jihadist organization attempts to “employ its significant military capabilities” against towns and cities that straddle the border with the Sinai Peninsula.

13 Feb, Egypt has offered to evacuate its citizens from Libya after Islamic State (IS) released photos which it says show 21 Coptic Egyptians kidnapped there. President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said Egyptians would be airlifted out of Libya, state-run news agency Mena said. The pictures of the hostages were released in the latest online edition of IS magazine Dabiq. A number of Egyptian Coptic Christians were kidnapped in two raids in Sirte, Libya, in December and January. A statement from the office of Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said a special committee was closely following events in order to "clarify the situation and learn the truth".

Egyptian army struggles to address terrorism in Sinai

February 11, 2015 EL-ARISH, Egypt — With terrorist attacks on the rise in the Sinai Peninsula — most notably the targeting of the Egyptian army's Battalion 101 and the Karam al-Kawadis military base — concerned parties are raising the question: Why is the Egyptian army failing to address terrorism in Sinai? This question comes a year and a half after the army announced its war on terrorism, and the Egyptian government is not providing any real answers. The issue cannot even be discussed in the Egyptian media, since the ruling authorities have imposed such strict censorship on the media that they are now just tools of the army, incapable of uttering the truth. Following each terrorist attack, soldiers appear on media outlets as experts and analysts, justifying security failures and portraying these lapses as victories for the Egyptian people, only to be surprised by the death of dozens more soldiers in other violent attacks. Gathering facts and information to answer this question amid tight security measures is very difficult. However, Al-Monitor succeeded in contacting an officer who participated in military operations in Sinai. He said that the failure was due to the Egyptian army's traditional and routine strategies, which are unsuitable in a fight against a terrorist group that knows Sinai like the back of its hand. The officer told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “When I came to Sinai, I did not know anything in particular about the place, and everything I knew in advance, I had studied at the military college about questioning the patriotism of Sinai’s residents. I was surprised to find out after several months that without the people of Sinai, we cannot accomplish any military achievement in a desert whose details we have yet to discover. “I’m only talking because I fear for my country, which I have sworn to protect. I am speaking in complete honesty so that President [Abdel Fattah] al-Sisi, whom I respect and [through whom I] see a future for Egypt, can understand that if he does not pay enough attention to what is taking place in Sinai, Egypt will fall and it will be the 1967 Six-Day War all over again.” To further illustrate the reasons behind the security failure, the officer said, “The first and most important reason is that we lack information that is supposed to be an important element of the intelligence services. From my experience, it

seems that the intelligence officials are working on gathering information by staying inside their air-conditioned offices.” He referred to “the daily routine practiced in military campaigns,” saying, “We go out and move with heavy military equipment used in systemic wars among civilians, and this is forced labor, like homework. After each daily campaign, we have to go out and report to the leaders to demonstrate the continuity of our movement. We are forced to burn the nests [huts made of reeds and palm leaves where the poor live or that are used by tribal leaders as councils], which we call terrorist hotbeds, burn cars and motorbikes and make random arrests in targeted areas in Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah. This is where terrorists hide, and this is routinely published on the military spokesman’s page.” “The third reason stems from having to put pressure on detainees and subject them to severe torture to get any information, and this leads to the gradual loss of loved ones’ sympathy for the army, especially since the majority of detainees are innocent,” he said.

Regarding the military’s achievements in eliminating terrorists, the officer refused to make any additional comments. However, a Sinai sheikh who is close to the intelligence agencies told Al-Monitor that the real results are not satisfactory. “The army has the determination and ability to cleanse Sinai in a record-breaking period of time, but the bureaucracy and the inadequate identification of the problem by some leaders who are not professional enough to understand the reality of Sinai make the army’s task in eliminating terrorism almost impossible,” he said. “The leaders who are planning the war on terrorism in Sinai do not know much about the area on the demographic level, and this will result in drowning the peninsula.” In October 2013, Gen. Ahmed Wasfi, then-commander for military operations in Sinai, told the Egyptian newspaper Al-Watan that military operations had ended successfully and that the army had taken control of Sinai. After this announcement, he was cast as the lion of Sinai, a hero saving Egyptians from terrorism despite the continuing terrorist attacks. In March 2014, the army leadership appointed Maj. Gen. Mohammed el-Shahat as commander for military operations in Sinai instead of Wasfi. Shahat tried to avoid making the same mistake as Wasfi, but he also exaggerated the extent of the army's control over the situation in Sinai and the progress of the war on terrorism, publishing figures on said accomplishments that Sinai residents described as imaginary. Despite military statements claiming progress in eliminating terrorism in Sinai, observers were surprised to see a major spike in terrorist attacks. After the January 2015 el-Arish attacks, Sisi authorized the formation of what he called “the unified command of the east of the canal,” under which both the second and third field armies will participate in the anti-terrorism mission in Sinai, instead of the second army alone.

An expert on Sinai affairs told Al-Monitor that the solution is not about changing people. On condition of anonymity, he said, “The problem is in changing the mindset of people in the development of professional strategies to tackle terrorism, by relying on the speed of understanding what is going on in Sinai before it is too late. … Since the beginning of the war on terrorism in August 2013, dozens of leaders and officers in charge of Sinai were changed. Whether they were high-ranking leaders or field campaign leaders, the mentality of implementation is one, and it will certainly result in failures and increasing grievances among civilians. “The old military mentality will only drag us into the same situation as Iraq or Afghanistan or Syria. Therefore, if the current political leadership wants to eliminate terrorism and eradicate it from its roots, we first must immediately stop tampering and increasing grievances among the innocent, since grievances represent the largest breeding ground for terrorism. Second, we must gain the confidence of the people of Sinai and give them real guarantees for the recognition of their state and their right to citizenship and development, as well as involve them in finding solutions to the problem. Third, we should

authorize professional forces from the army and police to fight terrorism, such as the police’s international anti-terrorism units, the Thunderbolt teams [naval forces] and the army’s special forces. In addition, we must immediately abandon systemic warfare in an urban area where terrorists know exactly how to move and where to hide.” Activists and individuals concerned with the Sinai issue believe the Egyptian government needs to reconsider its war strategies if it wants to stop breeding extremism and eliminate an enemy that is destroying a land that dreams of stability.

“There should be no compromises, especially with half-states,” Mr Sisi’s chief of staff 1, Abbas Kamel, allegedly says, dismissing concerns by a Gulf state that there be some measure of accountability for aid payments to Egypt. “I have a hungry people living in very awful conditions,” he allegedly says. “[The Gulf Arab rulers] are living their life to the fullest and their money is piled up. And every prince has hundreds and billions.” The mysterious leaks, posted to the internet and broadcast on pro-Islamist television channels, have rattled Egypt’s rulers. Koert DeBeuf, a Cairo-based analyst and author of a book on the Arab revolts, said the leaks, if real, show the frustration of the Egyptian army. “They feel humiliated being forced to ask for money from the Gulf while looking down on them,” he said. “Without the Gulf money Egypt is broke, and they know it. It will take a lot of diplomatic massage to get this straight again. Because, whether the leaks are real or not, they must upset the Gulf states, after all the billions they gave and still will pay to Egypt.” Perhaps most explosively the recordings allegedly show Mr Sisi proposing to divert aid from those countries into accounts controlled by the military, although there is no suggestion he sought to benefit personally from any money. “We need 10 [from Saudi Arabia] to be deposited in the army account,” the man described as Mr Sisi is heard to say in reference to billions of dollars in aid. "Then we need 10 from the UAE and 10 from Kuwait, Moreover, a couple pennies dropped in the central bank so then you could complete the 2014 budget.” “He will faint,” Mr Kamel purportedly says, laughing, without identifying the presumed interlocutor. “Man, [the Gulf Arabs] have money like rice,” the man described as Mr Sisi replies. (C if fake, it is a near brilliant attempt to isolate Sisi and its government members. If true besides the bad mouthing to the other states, it shows their need for cash urgently prevent the country from being broke, and…. for the army currently deep involved in counter terrorism operations and more. The next phase could be imploding economy2 and destabilization, but also trouble to sustain the current CTO’s. The MB and likely AQ lays in waiting. More over the question regarding timing: President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is proud to be hosting the Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC) in Sharm El-Sheikh on the 13-15th March 2015)

8 Feb, Cairo: Russian President Vladimir Putin is due in Egypt on Monday for his first visit to the country in about 10 years, for talks expected to focus on closer economic and military cooperation. Ties between Cairo and Moscow have improved remarkably in recent months. In August, Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi visited Russia and met with Putin. Last year, the two countries signed a multi-billion arms deal. The rapprochement is seen as a Russian bid to counter-balance Western influence in the Middle East. “Egypt seeks to revive its Soviet-era cooperation with Russia in order to ease the frequent pressure from the West, especially the US, on its human rights record,” Salah Al Hadi, a political expert, said. “For its part, Moscow looks forward to new allies after the recent strains in its ties with the West over Ukraine,” he added. “Russia, the heir of the Soviet Union, wants to restore its weight in the

1 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fbe57902-af8a-11e4-b42e-00144feab7de.html2 http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2015/02/08/economy-needs-investments-counter-unemployment-pepsi-regional-manager/

Arab world, taking advantage of West’s confusing political stances on the region’s problems. Stronger relations with Egypt can open the door for Russia to achieve this.”

8 Feb 3, If you're branded an enemy of the state in Egypt, you may never get the chance to defend yourself in a justice system racking up convictions in lop-sided mass trials. That's the united view of legal observers and human rights groups, who look with dismay on the growing use of mass sentencing of opponents of the military-backed government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. The former army chief is unrepentant, arguing that human rights sometimes must come second to economic and security needs in a country where many thousands face prosecution after years of unrest. Two mass convictions in the past week — of 183 suspected Muslim radicals sentenced to death and 230 secular anti-government activists sentenced to life in prison — featured an openly pro-government judge defending his blanket approach to convictions, and defense lawyers complaining that individual clients had never received a fair hearing. Critics of the crisis-driven measures accuse the government of undermining faith in the rule of law and radicalizing its citizens against the state, exactly the fate el-Sissi is striving to avoid. El-Sissi, who led the 2013 overthrow of the Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, told the nation in a televised address last month that Egypt faced a long war against homegrown extremists,

Egypt “censurably” followed the reactions of countries, governmental and non-governmental regional and international organisations on the life sentences handed down to 230 defendants in the cabinet clashes trial. The foreign ministry condemned the “unacceptable interference in the Egyptian judiciary and lack of respect for its provisions”. The reactions are a “serious breach of the fundamental principles of any democratic system, particularly the principle of powers separation”, said a Friday ministry statement. The European Union, Freedom House, and local rights organisations condemned the life sentence handed to activist Ahmed Douma and 229 other defendants on Wednesday. They were fined in total EGP 17m. Also, 39 minors received 10-year prison sentences. “The reactions also reflect a great deal of double standards and selectivity under international suspicious silence about the countries that brag about democracy, yet continue to detain people for many years without trial, without allowing them to defend themselves and without even stating the charges against them,” the statement added.

Israel and Egypt forewarned of synchronized ISIS-Sinai assaults in both countriesDEBKAfile Exclusive Report February 9, 2015 Intelligence gathered by Egypt and Israel attest to the former Ansar Bait al-Maqdis - now reborn as the Islamic State’s operational arm in Sinai – being well into advanced preparations for a large-scale terrorist offensive targeting Israel forces manning the Egyptian frontier, along with a string of Egyptian targets across Sinai up to and including the Suez Canal and Cairo.According to DEBKAfile’s counter-terrorism sources, the Islamist group was so elated by the outcome of its multiple attacks on Jan. 29, which left at least 40 Egyptian soldiers dead and more than 100 injured in Sinai and Suez towns, that it is determined to keep going. Using different types of rockets, including Grads, as well as mortars and car bombs, terrorist squads then broke into military bases in four cities in Sinai and two on the Suez Canal and set them on fire. Others killed all the personnel aboard military and police convoys before putting them to the torch.The ISIS Sinai arm is planning to target Israeli forces with a similar type of multiple offensive. Appropriate precautions for fending off this attack are in place.Cairo banned Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, as a terrorist organization in the wake of the support the Palestinian extremists extended to ISIS for this wholesale assault, supplying the

3 http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/blind-justice-egypts-mass-trials-place-state-security-28811827

terrorists with rockets and intelligence.In addition to Hamas, DEBKA’s sources report that Ansar Bait al-Maqdis has entered into operational collaboration with a newly-established Egyptian Islamist group, which calls itself “Agnad Misr” – Soldiers of Egypt. This group first broke surface on Jan. 24 with a communiqué bearing the motto “Retribution is Life.” It turns out to be made up of Salafi extremists mixed with former members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, one of the forerunners of the original Al Qaeda. Its terror agenda focuses on Cairo and its environs.

Regards Cees

Remember: a 3 Oct 2012, video entitled "Days with the Imam 4" in which he recalls Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri declares that the founder of al Qaeda had been a "member of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Arabian Peninsula" before he was evicted in the 1980s. He was expelled because of his insistence on fighting alongside the mujahidin in Afghanistan while the Brotherhood allowed him to bring aid to Pakistan but didn’t want him to go any further. Zawahiri’s claims seem to have caused some embarrassment among the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), judging from how quick MB spokesman Mahmoud Ghozlan was to refute them. One reason for the embarrassment may be that, with a Muslim Brotherhood president recently elected in Egypt, the organization is eager to reassure the West of its moderate Islamist orientation and is therefore afraid of anything associating it with al Qaeda or jihadism. Yet Zawahiri’s declarations shouldn’t be seen as too problematic in this respect, since they portray the MB as an organization unwilling to let its members take part in physical jihad, even against the Soviets in Afghanistan at a time when the issue was far less controversial than it would later become. A more likely reason for the Brotherhood’s distress, however, is that Zawahiri reveals what among Saudi Islamist insiders is an open secret but remains little known outside those circles: that there exists a Saudi Arabian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. --- All three of Al Qaeda’s leaders 5, Osama bin Laden, Saif al-Adel and Ayman al-Zawahiri were members of the Muslim Brotherhood or one of its arms. Al Qaeda’s greatest strategic thinker who has moved it into “lone wolf” terrorism, Abu Musab al-Suri, was another Muslim Brotherhood member. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the worst mass murderer in Iraq after Saddam Hussein and the murderous leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq was pardoned by the King of Jordan as a gesture toward the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Muslim Brotherhood 6 - 7 was founded in Ismailia, Egypt by Hassan al-Banna in March 1928 as an Islamist religious, political, and social movement. The motto of the Brotherhood was traditionally "Believers are but Brothers". That was expanded into a five-part slogan: "Allah is our objective; the Qur'an is the Constitution; the Prophet is our leader; jihad is our way; death for the sake of Allah is our wish." The Brotherhood's stated goal is to instill the Qur'an and Sunnah as the "sole reference point for ... ordering the life of the Muslim family, individual, community ... and state."

The following is the official document from a 1991 meeting which outlines the Muslim Brotherhood's strategic goals for North America. The document was entered as evidence in the 2008 Holyland Terror Funding Trial. ( -8-) Among others – see note

“The process of settlement is a ‘Civilization-Jihadist Process’ with all the word means. The Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood] must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers…”

“[W]e must possess a mastery of the art of ‘coalitions’, the art of ‘absorption’ and the principles of ‘cooperation.’”

4 http://foreignpolicy.com/2012/10/03/osama-bin-laden-and-the-saudi-muslim-brotherhood/5 http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/dgreenfield/every-al-qaeda-leader-was-a-member-of-the-muslim-brotherhood/6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Muslim_Brotherhood_in_Egypt7 http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=319938 http://www.clarionproject.org/Muslim_Brotherhood_Explanatory_Memorandum