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| Africa: North |
| Tawhid Brigades claim Taba boom |
| 2004-10-08 |
| A previously unheard of Islamist group claimed responsibility on Friday for bombs which killed at least 12 people at three resorts in Egypt near the Israeli border, according to a posting on an website often used by militants. The claim by the pro-al-Qaeda group calling itself the Islamic Tawhid Brigades could not be independently verified and some similar postings have turned out to be false in the past. "Four of your martyrdom-seeking brothers carried out this brave operation despite intensified security measures... and killed dozens of parasites," the statement said in Arabic. The statement praised al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his close aide Ayman al-Zawahri, an Egyptian, comparing them to historic Islamic military commanders. The group said it dedicated the attack to Palestinian militant leader Ahmed Yassin, killed in an Israeli attack in March, and vowed that it was "just the first shot against the Jews because our strikes will not cease until these infidels are thrown out of Islam's lands". It blasted Egypt, one of the few Arab countries with a peace treaty with Israel, as a "regime that committed treason against its own people and religion" and condemned Cairo for allowing "Jews and infidels to dance and indulge in immoral play in the land of Islam". Israel Radio broadcast reports of a claim from a second unheard of Islamic group, which analysts said should be treated with the utmost caution. It said a group calling itself the World Islamist Group assumed responsibility for the bombing. The reports said the group said the bombings were revenge for the deaths of Palestinians and Arabs in Palestine and Iraq and threatened to carry out additional attacks during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which starts in about a week. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |