Egypt: French, Belgian, British citizens among al-Qaeda cell arrests
This might be the first terror cell to train in Gaza while intending to commit attacks in Europe.
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Egypt said on Saturday that police have arrested seven members of an alleged Al-Qaeda-affiliated cell over a Cairo bazaar bombing three months ago that killed a teenaged French tourist.
The interior ministry said those arrested over the February attack were a French woman of Albanian origin, a British man of Egyptian descent, two Palestinians, a Belgian man of Tunisian descent and two Egyptians.
"(Police) were able, through information received and surveillance, to identify a group, some of them Egyptians and others foreigners, affiliated with Al-Qaeda... and seven of them were arrested," it said in a statement.
An Egyptian minister had on Monday announced the arrest of suspects over the February 22 attack in the famed Khan al-Khalili bazaar, but gave no details on the number detained.
A French girl was killed and 24 people, mostly tourists, were injured in the bombing, the first deadly attack on tourists in Egypt since 2006.
The ministry said members of the cell, which called itself the Islamic Army of Palestine and was led by two Egyptians living abroad, were found in possession of weapons and explosives.
(..)
The Belgian suspect told police during interrogation that he had been instructed to accompany Al-Qaeda operatives from Belgium to France to launch an attack there, it said.
The ministry said some cell members had travelled to the Gaza Strip through cross-border smuggling tunnels to receive military training there.
Some suspects said they had also been instructed to attack tourist resorts and fuel pipelines in the Sinai peninsula, the statement said.
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"This is a big issue, it's the first time we can say Al-Qaeda is in Egypt," he said.
Montassar al-Zayat, a former Islamist who has represented suspects in terrorism cases, dismissed the accusation of links between the cell and the loose network of Islamist militants led by the Saudi-born Osama Bin Laden.
"Can you say what exactly is Al-Qaeda, to speak of Al-Qaeda links?" he asked.
(more)
Source: AFP (English)
This might be the first terror cell to train in Gaza while intending to commit attacks in Europe.
-------------
Egypt said on Saturday that police have arrested seven members of an alleged Al-Qaeda-affiliated cell over a Cairo bazaar bombing three months ago that killed a teenaged French tourist.
The interior ministry said those arrested over the February attack were a French woman of Albanian origin, a British man of Egyptian descent, two Palestinians, a Belgian man of Tunisian descent and two Egyptians.
"(Police) were able, through information received and surveillance, to identify a group, some of them Egyptians and others foreigners, affiliated with Al-Qaeda... and seven of them were arrested," it said in a statement.
An Egyptian minister had on Monday announced the arrest of suspects over the February 22 attack in the famed Khan al-Khalili bazaar, but gave no details on the number detained.
A French girl was killed and 24 people, mostly tourists, were injured in the bombing, the first deadly attack on tourists in Egypt since 2006.
The ministry said members of the cell, which called itself the Islamic Army of Palestine and was led by two Egyptians living abroad, were found in possession of weapons and explosives.
(..)
The Belgian suspect told police during interrogation that he had been instructed to accompany Al-Qaeda operatives from Belgium to France to launch an attack there, it said.
The ministry said some cell members had travelled to the Gaza Strip through cross-border smuggling tunnels to receive military training there.
Some suspects said they had also been instructed to attack tourist resorts and fuel pipelines in the Sinai peninsula, the statement said.
(..)
"This is a big issue, it's the first time we can say Al-Qaeda is in Egypt," he said.
Montassar al-Zayat, a former Islamist who has represented suspects in terrorism cases, dismissed the accusation of links between the cell and the loose network of Islamist militants led by the Saudi-born Osama Bin Laden.
"Can you say what exactly is Al-Qaeda, to speak of Al-Qaeda links?" he asked.
(more)
Source: AFP (English)
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