« Australia: Money Worries For Muslim Body |
| Pakistan: Muslim Honor Killings Confronted? »
May 28, 2006
Egypt: Islamist From Sinai Bomb Group Surrenders
Associated Press via the Washington Post reports that on Friday, a 26-year old Islamist suspected of involvement with attacks upon Red Sea resorts in the Sinai, surrendered in Egypt.
The man, Mohammed el-Shenoub, also spelled al-Shnub, was the brother of Salem Khadr al-Shnub, who was shot dead in the Sinai on November 21 last year. Salem had been suspected as the main bomb-maker for the Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity & Holy War) Islamist terror group.
Mohammed al-Shnub surrendered in the town of al-Arish close to the border with Israel in the north Sinai peninsula. This town was the home of Nasser Khamis el-Mallahi, leader of Tawhid, who was killed there in a shoot-out on May 9.
Mohammed al-Shnub, also known as Abu Jihad, was a Bedouin. The Egyptian authorities have been cracking down on the last remnants of Tawhid wal Jihad, whom they say were assisted by Palestinian extremists in Gaza.
We reported on May 19 that the second in command of Tawhid, Arafat Ali was killed when he tried to throw a bomb at police when cornered in the town of Rafah on the Egypt/Gaza border.
Al-Shnub is suspected of masterminding the first of the Red Sea bombings, which took place in Taba and Ras Shitan in October 2004. These bomb attacks, with explosives rigged by his brother Salem Khadr, killed 34 people, many of them Israeli tourists.
The most deadly of Tawhid's attacks came on July 23 last year, at Sharm al-Sheikh. 57 people, mostly tourists were killed, and more than 200 injured. On April 24 this year, 19 people were killed in a bomb attack at Dahab in the Red Sea, a popular diving resort. In total, the bomb attacks which began in October 2004 have killed 117 people.
The surrender of al-Shnub comes after an announcement made by the authorities earlier this month, which said that members of Tawhid wal Jihad would be treated fairly if they gave themselves up. Already around a dozen militants have surrendered.
On March 26, 13 people were charged with the Sinai resort bombings.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 28, 2006 8:32 PM
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)