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Note: The following text is a quote: 09 July 2009 EGYPT ARRESTS TERRORIST CELL OF 25 MEMBERS CAIRO, July 9 (Xinhua) The Egyptian authorities have arrested a terrorist cell of 25 members, 24 Egyptians and one Palestinian, for plotting to carry out terrorist attacks in Suez Canal, Egyptian Interior Ministry said in statement issued on Thursday. According to the statement, the members of the cell who believe in Jihad (Holy War) were located in Cairo, Alexandria and Daqahlia governorates and communicated through internet with other terrorist groups outside Egypt. The cell's members, mostly engineers, were developing high-tech and electronic devices...

Egyptian authorities said they arrested 25 radical Islamic terrorists who were planning a terror attack at the Suez Canal. The chief of the crew is a member of Al-Qaida, security officials said, while the rest were Egyptian citizens. Most were technicians and engineers. Authorities say the group was planning to remotely set off explosives on ships plying the canal, using cell phones. They were also planning to damage or destroy oil pipelines running beneath the canal. The group had undergone intensive training in terrorist tactics and fighting, including learning how to build car bombs.

Excerpt - An Egyptian security official says Al Qaeda members have revealed the head of the group in the country has fled for the Gaza Strip. The official says the arrested members have revealed during interrogation that Khaled Mahmud Ahmed escaped to Gaza when Egyptian authorities began arresting members of his group in April. ~ snip ~

A leader of an Egyptian militant group denied Sunday that it had joined Al Qaeda saying the majority of its members are sticking by a truce they declared almost a decade ago. "Al-Gamaa al-Islamiya is strong and solid and not affected at all by nonsense here or there," Karam Zohdy, one of the group's most senior leaders, said on Al Jazeera news network. "What Ayman al-Zawahri has said is sheer fabrication and lying." In a statement posted on al-Gamaa al-Islamiya's Web Site on Sunday, the group said it "flatly denies what Ayman al-Zawahri had said about it joining Al Qaeda."...

Al-Qaida's No. 2 Welcomes Egyptian Group CAIRO, Egypt Aug 5, 2006 (AP)— Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader said in a new videotape aired Saturday that an Egyptian militant group has joined the terror network. It was the first time that al-Qaida has announced a branch in Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation. The Egyptian group, Gamaa Islamiya, is apparently a revived version of a militant group of the same name that waged a campaign of violence in Egypt during the 1990s but was crushed in a government crackdown. "We announce to the Islamic nation the good news of the unification...

Today's announcement by Al Qaeda second in command Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri that the multinational terror conglomerate has been joined by a portion of the Egyptian group "Jamaa Islamiya" is both puzzling and not surprising. It is unclear how large the faction is from Jamaa Islamiya that is aligning itself with Al Qaeda. Neither Zawahiri nor Mohamed Khalil Hukayma, who made the announcement for Jamaa Islamiya, was clear about how many members were involved in the merger, although Zawahiri did refer to of the large crowd and the majority of Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya, in the following statement: Abu Jihad Al-Masri, Mohamed...

Al Qaeda's No. 2 leader announced in a new videotape aired Saturday that an Egyptian militant group has joined the terror network. The Egyptian group, Gamaa Islamiya, is apparently a revived version of a militant group that waged a campaign of violence in Egypt during the 1990s but had largely been suppressed by a government crackdown. "We announce to the Islamic nation the good news of the unification of a great faction of the knights of the Gamaa Islamiya ... with the al Qaeda group," Ayman al-Zawahiri, the deputy leader of al Qaeda, said in the videotape aired on the...

Egyptian forces say they are fighting the “Tora Bora Battle of Sinai” against a new al Qaeda mountain stronghold. Our military sources reveal the battle is raging on Jebel Magharah, 22km SW of El Arish and west of a former al Qaeda base on Jebel Hilal (alt. 654 meters). The fortified al Qaeda stronghold on Jebel Magharah is beating back an Egyptian assault on the mountain site. Signals passed among the troops describe the operation as the “Tora Bora of Sinai,” naming it after the fierce epic US-al Qaeda engagement in Afghanistan three years ago. Both sides have sustained casualties....

AQ Kills Muslims In Egypt, Belies Iraq As Cause Al-Qaeda took responsibility for the horrendous coordinated series of bombings in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh yesterday, killing 83 and wounding hundreds. The suicide car-bomb attacks targeted Egypt's tourist business, which hoped to recover from the Luxor bombings in 1997 and a series of attacks last year: The attacks dealt a fresh blow to the tourism industry so crucial to Egypt's economy, which was still recovering from the fallout of last year's bombings. There have also been several attacks in tourist areas in Cairo in recent months, as Egypt prepares...

CAIRO, Egypt - A group citing ties to al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the bombings that killed at least 62 people Saturday at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The group, calling itself the Abdullah Azzam Brigades in Syria and Egypt, made the claim in a statement posted on an Islamic Web site. It said its "holy warriors targeted the Ghazala Gardens hotel and the Old Market in Sharm el-Sheikh." The authenticity of the statement could not be immediately verified.

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A Lebanese newspaper published on Friday a statement purportedly from al-Qaida claiming responsiblity for deadly bombings in Egypt's Sinai peninsula. It was the fifth separate claim in the attack and could not be verified. The statement, allegedly issued by al-Qaida's media office and signed "International Islamic Front," was e-mailed Thursday night to Sada al-Balad, an independent newspaper, which published it on the front page Friday. At least 34 people died when car bombs targeting Israeli tourists in Egypt exploded Oct. 7 at the Taba Hilton and two bungalow campgrounds on the Sinai Peninsula, across the border from...

TABA, Egypt - Rescuers Friday dug through the debris of a luxury hotel for victims of a series of bombs at resorts in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula that are popular with Israelis. At least 27 people were killed, with more than 100 wounded, and officials feared the death toll would rise. Israel's intelligence chief told Cabinet ministers Friday that the bombings at Egyptian resorts were most likely carried out by al-Qaida. The intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash, made the assessment at an emergency Cabinet meeting convened a day after the deadly bombings, which wounded more than 120. Thousands of frightened...

<p>CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Egypt acknowledged for the first time Thursday that it is holding Mohammed al-Zawahri, the brother of al-Qaida's No. 2 man.</p> <p>Al-Zawahri had been believed to be in Egyptian police custody for at least three years, but the government never acknowledged it. He was sentenced to death in absentia for his role in Islamic Jihad attacks inside Egypt.</p>