The Egyptian authorities are investigating the possibility that Hamas
and the Muslim Brotherhood are cooperating on the development of explosive drones, state-run Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram reported Saturday.
Egyptian security forces detained four people and have accused them of plotting to buy fuel for a pilotless aircraft for Hamas, security sources said on Saturday. Two of those detained were members of Egypt's opposition Muslim Brotherhood.
Sources said the two men had given $3,700 to two other Egyptians to buy fuel and a remote control device for a small aircraft. The small aircraft was meant to be loaded with explosives for an attack on an unknown target.
Mohamed Mursi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's governing Guidance Office, said the accusations were "completely baseless" and denied any Brotherhood involvement in such a plan. Spokesmen for Egypt's interior ministry declined to comment.
Security sources identified the two Brotherhood men held in connection to the plane plot as al-Azhar University professor Abdel Hay al-Farmawi and Mohamed Wahdan, a doctor who has been involved in efforts to provide assistance to Palestinians in Gaza.
Two bedouin men from Egypt's northern Sinai Peninsula, not members of the Brotherhood, were also being held in the case, the sources said.
According to suspicions al-Farmawi, and another official at the organization, which has been outlawed in Egypt,
have started working with members of Hamas' military wing the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
Terror organizations operating against Israel
have been making efforts to obtain or build drones in recent years. Three years ago, a Hizbullah UAV infiltrated Israel's airspace, and reportedly collected footage of the towns of Acco and Nahariya before returning to Lebanon.
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