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Country Reports on Terrorism 2007 - Egypt

There were no successful terrorist attacks in Egypt, due mainly to the vigilance and effectiveness of Egypt's security services. The Egyptian government's active opposition to terrorism, and effective intelligence and security services, made Egypt an unattractive locale for terror groups. Nonetheless, Egypt's northern Sinai region remained a haven for smuggling weapons, explosives, funds, and people between Egypt, Gaza, and Israel. Criminal networks that smuggle weapons and other contraband through the Sinai into Israel and Gaza may be associated with or used by terrorist groups in the region. The apparent radicalization of some Sinai Bedouin may be linked in part to these smuggling networks and to the Bedouin's long-standing complaints of discriminatory and heavy-handed treatment by the central government.

In the past four years, Egypt has tightened its terror finance regulations in keeping with relevant UN Security Council Resolutions. Egypt passed anti-money laundering legislation in 2002, established a financial intelligence unit in 2003, and ratified the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. The Government of Egypt kept open, regular lines of communication with U.S. officials concerning terrorist finance information. Egypt maintained its strengthened airport security measures and security for the Suez Canal, and continued to institute more stringent port security measures.

The Egyptian judicial system does not allow plea bargaining, and terrorists have historically been prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Terrorism defendants may be tried in military tribunals or emergency courts.

Many of the Egyptian president's far-reaching powers in the realm of counterterrorism come from a decades-old Emergency Law, which was renewed by Parliament for two years in 2006. President Mubarak has pledged to lift the Emergency Law by June 2008 and has called for new antiterrorism legislation to replace the Emergency Law, noting that Egypt should follow the example of other countries that have recently passed comprehensive laws to combat terrorism. Such legislation was being drafted by a governmental interagency committee at year's end.

The United States hosted the third session of the United States-Egypt Counterterrorism Joint Working Group.

The imprisoned former leader of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Sayid Imam al-Sharif, issued a detailed "revision" of his previous ideology of violent jihad. His revised approach to jihad did not amount to a rejection of the concept, but an attempt to establish "rules of engagement" for conducting jihad, while also offering non-violent alternatives. He also denounced AQ's agenda and verbally attacked AQ's leaders Usama bin Ladin and Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Topics: Terrorism, Counter-terrorism,