|
Egypt to try 43 Islamists for plotting to attack Israeli interests
Middle East Online Forty-three Islamists are to go on trial in an Egyptian military court for an alleged plot to attack the US and Israeli embassies in Cairo, a lawyer said on Thursday. Muntasser al-Zayat, who represents Islamist defendants, said military prosecutors had decided to put on trial the suspects, whose arrests were announced in early January, in a month's time after the end of questioning. Oooh. Sounds painful. A whole month of truncheons and giggle juice... More truncheons than giggle juice, in Egypt. The government daily Al-Ahram has said the suspects rounded up in the Delta north of Cairo were members of the armed Egyptian group Al-Jihad, which is led by the Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is regarded as Osama bin Laden's lieutenant. Interesting throwaway there. Jihad was folded into al-Qaeda and Ayman became Binny's Numbah Two. Now things are tough for Qaeda and Jihad is back in business. Is this sloppy reporting, or is Ayman on his own again? But Zayat said that while accused of planning attacks on the US and Israeli embassies, they were "linked to no organisation." They had tried in vain to slip into the Palestinian territories to fight Israel after they were "shaken by the images of the massacre in Jenin", the paper said. "Just some gullible local boyz, led astray by Zionist perfidy..." The daily said that after they failed to join the Palestinians, the group started planning attacks against interests of Western countries, which are accused of supporting Israel. "Yar, Mahmoud! We gotta attack somebody!" "Yeah, Achmed! Workin' for a livin' would never get us anywhere..." Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-01-24 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=9532 |