CAIRO – Militants who have vowed allegiance to al-Qaida attack securityforces in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula close to Israel and enjoyunchallenged control of two border towns. Radical Islamists inCairo chant anti-US slogans and dream of turning the most populousArab country into a religious state. With their scourge — ousted President Hosni Mubarak —out of the way, the most extreme fringe of Islamists is flexing itsmuscles, adding a potentially destabilizing layer to Egypt'smultiple political troubles ahead of presidential elections laterthis month. The emergence of the militants comes at a time when securityremains tenuous 14 months after Mubarak's fall. Security officialsreport thousands of weapons, including rockets, machine-guns,rockets and RPGs, flooding the nation from neighboring Libya andsome 4,000 inmates, including convicted militants, are on the runafter the mass prison outbreaks of the early days of theanti-Mubarak uprising. Worries over the radical fringe have risen at a time when tensionsare growing between the generals who succeeded Mubarak and otherIslamists over a host of issues — including the fate of themilitary-backed government, a court case looking into thelegitimacy of the Islamist-dominated parliament and the selectionprocess for a 100-member panel that will draft a new constitution. "The dreams of the revolution are fast disappearing and, inresponse, extremist groups are emerging," said Khalil el-Anani, anexpert on Islamic groups from Britain's Durham University. "Thoseextremists follow al-Qaida's ideology but are not organizationallyaffiliated with it." The militants, believed to be followers of former jihadist groups,lie at the outer edge of the Islamist movement. More mainstreamIslamists gained instant empowerment when Mubarak's regime wastoppled by a popular uprising. Led by the powerful MuslimBrotherhood and the ultraconservative Salafis, these Islamists longago abandoned violence and supported peaceful change toward anIslamic state. The Brotherhood and the Salafis now combine for more than 70percent of all seats in parliament, making them the dominantpolitical force in the country. Talk of increasing radicalism could play into the stormy politicalsituation. El-Anani said media loyal to the military could bedrumming up the potential threat to justify a military crackdownthat could even sweep up more mainstream groups. Or the warningscould steer some popular support toward presidential candidatesseen as more favorable to the military. Concerns about the fringe groups were hiked by reports that somemade an appearance among a weeklong protest by several thousandSalafis camped near the Defense Ministry in Cairo to protest thedisqualification of an ultraconservative lawyer-turned-preacherfrom the May 23-24 presidential election. Wearing beards and long robes — hallmarks of militant Muslims— they waved the black banners of al-Qaida and chantedslogans against President Barack Obama and praising al-Qaida's lateleader Osama bin Laden. In their midst was Mohammed al-Zawahri,brother of al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri and himself a veteranof the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Residents of the area where the sit-in was staged reported ominousbehavior by the protesters that was in stark contrast to the mostlypeaceful methods used by the millions who took part across thenation in last year's 18-day uprising. "They carry black banners and chant 'blessed be jihad'," said EssamBekheet, a driver who lives near the Defense Ministry. Anotherresident, Sami Mahmoud, said the militants roamed the streets atnight shooting in the air and at balconies while chanting "AllahuAkbar," or God is great. On Friday, army troops moved against the protesters when several ofthem attempted to march on the Defense Ministry, using watercannons, tear gas and live ammunition to disperse them. At the end,the troops arrested more than 300 people, including 50 capturedinside the nearby Al-Nour mosque, frequented by Salafis. Securityofficials claimed a cache of firearms was seized in the mosque. Witnesses said armed men fired at the troops from the mosque'sminaret on Friday and, on Monday, the director of the militaryhospital where the wounded from the clashes were taken said some ofthe troops treated there suffered gunshot wounds. The radicals at the protest "were a small minority," said AssemAbdel-Maged, a senior leader of the Gamaa Islamiyah, a formerJihadist group that took part in the 1981 assassination ofPresident Anwar Sadat but later disavowed violence and has enteredpolitics since Mubarak's fall. "They defended al-Qaida, but only by chanting slogans." Abdel-Maged said his group will "reject" the result of the upcomingpresidential election if the winner is "feloul", the Arabic wordmeaning "remnants" that Egyptians use to refer to figures of theMubarak regime. "That can only be the result of a rigged election.The people will reject them and there will be a second revolution,"he warned. Mubarak's longtime foreign minister Amr Moussa and Ahmed Shafiq,the last prime minister to serve under the authoritarian leader,are among the front-runners in the presidential race. The clashes on Friday came two days after the ruling generalsdelivered a stern warning to the protesters not to move toward theministry. The crackdown on the protesters proved divisive, withlawmakers at odds over who to blame for Friday's violence nearlycoming to blows on Sunday during a nationally televised session ofthe legislature. The threat of the jihadist militants is far more real in Sinai,where they challenge the state's authority in the northern parts ofthe peninsula, launching almost daily attacks on security forcesand enjoying near complete control over the towns of Rafah andSheikh Zweid. Elsewhere in Sinai, they have taken advantage oflongstanding grievances by the area's Bedouin inhabitants overservices and development to recruit and whip up anti-governmentsentiments. The violence in Sinai harks back to the low-intensity insurgencywaged by militants against Mubarak's regime in the 1980s and 1990sthat targeted security forces and foreign tourists, leaving wellover a 1,000 people killed and prompting authorities to detainthousands of suspected militants. The militants in Sinai have swiftly moved to exploit the securityvoid that came with last year's Jan. 25-Feb. 11 uprising, whenpolice melted away in yet-not-fully explained circumstances. Thepolice have since partially gone back to the streets but not withthe numbers and effectiveness of the pre-uprising days. In February last year, several militant groups joined forces inSinai and nine months later declared in messages posted on militantwebsites the creation of an Islamic emirate in Sinai and statedtheir allegiance to al-Qaida and its leader, al-Zawahri. Their new alliance was swiftly bolstered by dozens of convictedmilitants who escaped from their jails to join their comrades inSinai, according to security officials in Sinai, who estimated thenumber of active militants there at about 500, includingPalestinians, Yemenis and Lebanese. They spoke on condition ofanonymity because they were not authorized to share the informationwith the media. I am an expert from chinadrillingequipment.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Drilling Accessories , China Top Head Drive Drilling System, Core Drilling Rig,and more.
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