Egypt arrests 118 suspected Islamic militants
- From: "Muslim-News" <editor_@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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- Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 10:56:19 +0100
CAIRO, June 20 (AFP) - Egypt has arrested 118 suspected Islamic
militants, including four British passport holders, a Nigerian and a
Palestinian, charged with trying to reactivate an underground
organisation, a lawyer said Thursday.
The arrests were made in March, said Abdul Moneim Abdul Maqsood, the
lawyer appointed by some of the suspects who were put under preventive
detention.
The state security court's prosecution service this week started
questioning the militants who are accused of trying to reactivate Hizb
al-Tahrir (Liberation Party) and recruiting members, he told AFP.
The lawyer said that none of his clients was charged with links with
terror mastermind Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, during the
interrogations he attended.
Three of the British passport holders are of Pakistani origin, and one
of Japanese origin, an Islamic activist living in London, Yasser Tufiq
al-Serri told AFP.
Abdul Maqsood said "many young students are among those arrested, and
also 63-year-old lawyer Mohammed Abdul Qawi Abdul Guelil, thought to be
the liaison officer between the militants in Egypt and the movement's
leadership abroad."
Hizb al-Tahrir was set up in Jordan in the early 1970s with the aim of
unifying Muslim countries under the authority of a "caliph", through
military coups, according to an expert in Islamist organisations.
The movement has spread to several Arab states, including Egypt where it
staged a failed attempt in the mid-1970s to topple the secular regime.
The group subsequently faced a harsh repression.
Serri said the suspects arrested in March have been charged with trying
to enlist the help of Egyptian political figures in spreading their
ideas.
The dozens of suspects are also accused of having distributed leaflets
in Egypt and through the Internet denouncing the government's economic
policy, he said.
In April, Egyptian police announced the arrest of more than 50 members
of Hizb al-Tahrir suspected of ties with al-Qaeda, including four
British passport holders.
Source: AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
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