Osama bin Laden
Photo: AP
Report: Al-Qaeda planned to attack Israel from Egypt
Local security sources tell Al Jazeera 14-member cell comprised of engineers, army officers planned to launch attacks against Israel with the use of an unmanned plane, rockets
About two months ago Egyptian authorities arrested a 14-member terror cell comprised of engineers and army officers that were planning to carry out a series of al-Qaeda-linked terror attacks against Israel, Al Jazeera reported Saturday.
Quoting local security sources, the report said the cell members - 12 engineers and two officers in the Egyptian army - were planning to assemble an unmanned aircraft to attack targets inside Israel.
The report said the cell manufactured rockets similar to those being used by Palestinian terror organizations, which were meant to be launched toward Israel from inside Egyptian territory.
The report quoted the local security sources as saying that the cell's commander, an engineer at Alexandria University, had visited Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where he met with Afghan nationals with apparent links to al-Qaeda.
The security sources told Al Jazeera as saying that the cell members planned to overthrow President Hosni Mubarak's regime.
The lawyer representing the alleged terror cell told AFP that all of the arrests were made during November in the municipal areas of Alexandria and Cairo.
A source familiar with the investigation said incriminating documents were found in the suspects' homes. Their lawyer claimed that the evidence against them was insubstantial.
Egypt released details of the arrest just three days ahead of President George W. Bush's scheduled visit to Cairo, apparently in an effort to show the US that is was combating terror.
In recent years dozens of people have been killed in terror attacks on tourist centers in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula; most of the attacks were carried out by Egyptians with ties to al-Qaeda.
