21 - 27 June 2001
Issue No.539
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 21 - 27 June 2001 Issue No.539 |
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Gama'a asserts cease-fire position
Osama Rushdi, described by the Interior Ministry as one of its 14 most wanted terrorists, has renewed an appeal for peace between government and militants. Rushdi spoke to Khaled Dawoud at his exile in the Hague
Like all exiled Gama'a Islamiya (Islamic Group) figures, Osama Rushdi insists that he is no longer a leader of the militant organisation, which the government blames for most of the political violence that occurred in Egypt between 1992 and 1997. But experts on militant groups are convinced that Rushdi continues to exercise influence over the decisions of the underground group, and that he is well connected to other banished leaders.
Osama Rushdi
After fleeing Egypt in 1989, taking the same route used by most militants at the time (Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Afghanistan), Rushdi ended up in the Netherlands nearly eight years ago. He is still fighting in the Dutch courts to win residence rights.
Rushdi joined Al-Gama'a in his hometown, Assiut, when he was still a university student. He was among hundreds of militants who faced trial following the assassination of the late President Anwar El-Sadat in 1981. He was acquitted, but lived mostly in hiding until leaving Egypt. He notably served as one of the first spokesmen for Al-Gama'a.
The press picked up Rushdi's name after Al- Gama'a attacked tourists at a Pharaonic temple in Luxor in November 1997, killing 58 foreigners and four Egyptians. The government accused Europe-based militants of backing their colleagues in Egypt. Shortly after the Luxor massacre, the government issued a list of 14 Gama'a and Jihad leaders still at large, describing them as "most wanted terrorists." Rushdi's name was among them. The Egyptian authorities asked the Netherlands government to extradite him for his alleged role in planning several terrorist attacks against tourists and economic targets.
But Rushdi was not tried in absentia, nor included in tens of cases that the government referred to military courts over the past nine years in a bid to deter militant violence. Indeed, Rushdi was one of the first Gama'a spokesmen to deny the group's responsibility for the killings and denounce the murder of innocent civilians. However, one day after the attack, Al- Gama'a issued a statement accepting responsibility.
In response, Rushdi openly accused a hard- line Gama'a figure living in Afghanistan, Rifaie Ahmed Taha, of ordering what he described as a totally irresponsible act that tremendously harmed the group's image. "I strongly condemned the Luxor massacre. It was a horrifying act and could not have resulted in any political gains. It was an act I could never agree with. However, the attack itself was a sign of how frustrated young people can get if the authorities continue ignoring their demands and insist on using force and torture," Rushdi told Al- Ahram Weekly.
This makes sense. A few months before the massacre, Rushdi, together with Cairo-based Islamist lawyer, Muntasser El-Zayat, had pushed for leading Gama'a figures serving life terms for their roles in Sadat's assassination to appeal for a cease-fire. Experts on militant groups considered the Luxor massacre as an announcement by hard-line Gama'a leaders that they rejected Rushdi's plan. Yet, the damage the massacre did to the militant group was grave, and pushed figures like Rushdi and Zayat to renew their efforts to gain support for their cease- fire initiative. In early 1999, the Al-Gama'a finally announced that it would stop anti- government attacks, and called upon the government to respond positively to the initiative.
Rushdi said that a "slight improvement has taken place since we declared our initiative, and the Interior Ministry has been adopting a more rational policy." However, "we are still looking for further measures to maintain the unity of the Egyptian people, especially in light of the current dangers facing our region. We must learn from our enemy (Israel) how to unite while facing what they see as a threat."
In particular, Rushdi demanded "the release of prisoners, especially those who have been held without trial for many years, and others whose release was ordered by courts, but who the Interior Ministry has kept in prison, citing the emergency law in effect since 1981." He added that "the situation can definitely improve if the government agrees to activate the (peace) initiative, and allows Al-Gama'a to perform its role in society. Pressing ahead with attempts to uproot the Islamists can only worsen the situation. The doors must be opened for Al-Gama'a actively to participate in matters of concern to society."
Rushdi denied reports of division within Al- Gama'a's ranks and insisted that "Rifaie Taha only represented himself." When Al-Gama'a declared the cease-fire initiative, Taha announced that he was walking out of the group's collective leadership, known as the Shura Council. However, he continued issuing statements, signed in his name as "one of the leaders of Al- Gama'a", attacking the government and calling for a re- consideration of the cease-fire initiative.
Fuelling speculation of division within the group was a statement issued last year by Al-Gama'a's "spiritual leader," Omar Abdel- Rahman, who is now serving a life-term in New York for allegedly planning a bombing campaign in the US in 1993. Abdel-Rahman said that he backed Taha's view that the initiative should be re-considered in light of the government's "failure" to respond positively.
However, Rushdi said that Abdel-Rahman had issued another statement last month, "affirming support for the initiative." Abdel-Rahman's latest statement, Rushdi added, "means that the Sheikh has been provided with the correct information, and we hope that his words will end the question marks raised by others about his stand on the cease-fire."
Rushdi also insisted that Al-Gama'a has no relations with Osama bin Laden, the Saudi dissident hiding out in Afghanistan, who the US blames for bombing its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. "We give priority to the concerns of our people and their problems. We have no relations with bin Laden," he said.
Reflecting on the seven years of Gama'a violence between 1992 and 1997, Rushdi conceded that the group was in a stronger position before it started attacking the government. However, he denied that adopting violence in 1992 "reflected a new strategy by the group. It was mainly a reaction to what we saw as the suppression and killing of our brothers," he said. He also questioned "many of the statements which came in the name of Al-Gama'a, accepting responsibility for several attacks. I believe that communication difficulties led to a lot of confusion. We were not involved in planting any bombs in public places, nor did we carry out attacks against Coptic Christians."
Rushdi accused Coptic groups in the United States and Canada of "blackmailing the state by making use of the new world order, led by the United States, to seek political gains." He conceded that the United States tolerated Islamist groups in the early 1980s "because it recognised that Islam was a strong and important force in confronting the spread of communism." But he also felt that "The fall of the Soviet Union has caused Washington to re-evaluate its position and to treat the whole world with arrogance."
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