Country Reports on Terrorism 2008 - Egypt

While there were no attacks by foreign terrorist groups in Egypt, the smuggling of humans, weapons, and other contraband through the Sinai into Israel and the Gaza Strip has created criminal networks that may be associated with terrorist groups in the region. The apparent radicalization of some Sinai Bedouin may possibly be linked in part to these smuggling networks and Egyptian efforts to dismantle them.

The Egyptian and U.S. governments maintained a strong dialogue and shared information on a broad range of counterterrorism and law enforcement issues. In 2008, Egypt hosted the fourth annual session of the U.S.-Egypt Counterterrorism Joint Working Group.

In the past six years, Egypt has tightened its terrorist finance regulations in keeping with relevant UN Security Council resolutions. Egypt strengthened its anti-money laundering legislation by specifically adding terrorism financing to the list of punishable crimes. The Government of Egypt also maintained open lines of communication with U.S. officials concerning terrorist finance information. The Egyptian government regularly informed its own financial institutions of any individuals or entities that are designated by any of the UN sanctions committees. A team from the UN Counterterrorism Committee Executive Directorate visited Egypt to review efforts to implement UN Security Council resolutions on counterterrorism.

Egypt maintained its strengthened airport security measures and security for the Suez Canal, and continued to institute more stringent port security measures.

The Egyptian judicial system does not allow plea bargaining, and terrorists have historically been prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Terrorism defendants may be tried in military tribunals or emergency courts. Many of the Egyptian president's far-reaching powers in the realm of counterterrorism come from Egypt's Emergency Law, which has been in force since 1981, and was renewed by Parliament for two years in June. President Mubarak has pledged to lift the Emergency Law and has called for new counterterrorism legislation to replace the Emergency Law, noting that Egypt should follow the example of other countries that have recently passed comprehensive laws to combat terrorism. Such legislation reportedly has been drafted but not yet submitted to Egypt's Parliament.

The imprisoned former leader of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Sayid Imam al-Sharif, issued a sequel to his 2007 critique of violent jihad. His critique, while not a rejection of the concept of violent jihad, attempted to establish "rules of engagement" and also suggested non-violent alternatives.