Gunman in Sinai
צילום: אביגיל עוזי
Egypt: No al-Qaeda bases in Sinai
Sources in Egypt deny Israeli claims al-Qaeda holds operation bases in Sinai. 'We are determined to stop terror and arrest all suspects,' a source said
Security sources in Egypt denied Monday claims made by IDF Intelligence Chief, Major General Aharon Zeevi Farkash that the al-Qaeda terror organization has established an operation base in Sinai, which Egypt is reluctant to confront.
In an intelligence summary to the cabinet that was held Sunday, Farkash said that although Egypt is aware of the severity of terror activity in the region, it refrains from taking action against the terrorists for fear such actions might lead to attacks on Egyptian cities.
"Al-Qaeda has no military base in Sinai. We have checked this many times. In the initial stages of the investigation into the terror bombings in Sinai, we ruled out any connection between the organization behind the attacks and al-Qaeda," an Egyptian source said in an interview to the French newspaper Le Monde.
"Yet Israel insists that Bin Laden keeps troops in Egypt," he said
Chief Intelligence Farkash was probably referring to an area in Sinai where a few terror groups have settled, the source suggested, saying that these groups were recently hunted down by the Egyptian security forces.
"Our forces are determined to arrest all the suspects and prevent further attacks or victims of violence," he added.
Terror in paradise
During the recent year several terror attacks took place in Sinai, and two were lethal, claiming the lives of dozens. On October 2004, 34 people, out of which 11 Israelis, were killed in two coordinated attacks in Taba and Ras al-Satan. On July 23rd this year almost 70 people were killed in a terror attack in Sharm el-Sheikh.
The Egyptian authorities claimed that an independent terror group of Palestinians and Egyptian citizens stood behind the bombings in Taba and Ras al-Satan, but Israel believes however that the organization was sponsored by al-Qaeda.
The Egyptians also maintained that the three terrorists responsible for the strike in Sharm were Bedouins who were members of a fundamentalist Islamist cell, whose commander was recently arrested.
