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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 March 1999 Issue No. 421 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 March 1999 Issue No. 421
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Tightening the screws
By Jailan HalawiAn unidentified former Soviet republic has extradited to Egypt a man believed to be a right-hand-man of Ayman El-Zawahri, leader of the underground Jihad organisation, according to Yasser Serri, who runs the Islamic Observatory Centre in London. Before being arrested in London last Monday, Serri said Ahmed Salama Mabrouk "was moving between Muslim states south of Russia" when he was picked up, but could not say which one had extradited him last month.
Mabrouk is one of 107 militants who are being tried by a military court, including 63 in absentia, in a case described by the Arabic-language press as the "returnees from Albania".
Islamist lawyers say another member of Jihad, Mohamed Said El-Ashri, who is being tried in absentia, was handed over to Egypt last month by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Serri said Mabrouk and El-Ashri had not appeared at the trial, despite their capture, and expressed concern for their safety. The indictment bill described Mabrouk as one of the most active Jihad leaders, responsible for recruiting new members for the group's military wing.
El-Ashri was one of three militants handed over by the UAE last month. Serri named the second as El-Ashri's brother-in-law, Ahmed Bilal, but could not identify the third.
Interior Ministry officials would not confirm or deny the reports about the extradition of the militants.
The first 35 defendants on the indictment list are accused of being leaders of Jihad. Mabrouk ranks eighth in the group's hierarchy. He had been convicted for his role in the assassination of President Anwar El-Sadat in 1981 and served seven years in jail. Following his release, he departed for an unnamed Arab country and later went to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Albania and finally Azerbaijan.
During the court hearings, a defendant asked the judge to order Mabrouk and El-Ashri to be brought to court. The judge took note of the request.
According to sources close to the militants, the security authorities obtained information about Mabrouk, El-Ashri and others through confessions made by Ahmed Ibrahim El-Naggar, who was extradited from Albania last year. El-Naggar, who was head of the Centre of Islamic Heritage in Albania, had been sentenced to death in absentia for his role in a conspiracy to blow up Khan Al-Khalili in 1995.
Serri, who lives in London, had a death sentence passed against him in absentia by an Egyptian military court in 1993, for a failed attempt on the life of then Prime Minister Atef Sidki. Serri denies involvement in the assassination attempt.
Several countries are said to have handed over suspected Egyptian militants in the past few months. In January, Serri and the human rights group, Amnesty International, expressed concern for the safety of 15 Islamists who they said had been arrested in Kuwait and turned over to Cairo.
South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Ecuador are among the countries reported to have handed over militants to Egypt.
Meanwhile, the government asked Uruguay last week to extradite El-Said Hassan Ali Mukhlis, who is reportedly an Egyptian militant. Mukhlis, 31, is wanted in connection with terrorist attacks in Egypt, as well as for planning attacks on British embassies in Europe, Uruguayan officials said in Montevideo. He has been held in preventive detention for more than a month, after being arrested for travelling on a fake Malaysian passport.
