Ansar Beit Al Maqids : The real Terrorist Group stands up

Some tweep said that militant Jihadist Ansar Beit Al Maqids group was jealous from the Muslim Brotherhood as the later was designated officially as terrorist organization by the Egyptian government on Wednesday despite the Sinai militant group claimed responsibility for the bombing of Mansoura security directorate and so we had Thursday’s Nasr city homemade bombs.
Of course no one has claimed responsibility for the bombs of Nasr city which injured 5 citizens badly yet.
Well the Sinai based militant group whose operations shocked the Egyptians whether in Sinai or Cairo or Ismailia or Mansoura  released a new video representing themselves to the public again as if it feels offended on how it was ignored by the government.
It is typical Jihadist video , the narrator speaks in Non Egyptian accent Classical Arabic and if I am not mistaken he is not an Egyptian. You got the same rhetoric of Jihadists that considers the army as infidel and agent.

Ansar Beit Al Maqdis’ message to the Egyptian people

Interestingly there is a historical mistake in this video that the army used to launch campaigns against Jihadists during the time of Mubarak , well according to my knowledge it was the police as the army was not allowed to go that deep in Sinai in this way. The video claimed that Beit Al Maqids used to blow the gas pipeline in Sinai during the time of Mubarak , again as far as I know it started to blow up on a regular basis in 2011 after the revolution. 
A friend of mine also noticed that the verses of the Quran read in the introduction of the video was actually related to praying teachings in war time not actually Jihad related verses.
Some experts in Islamist and Jihadist groups say that this was one of the weakest videos ever produced by the notorious group.
The militant group started to target the army and police after what they called “El Sisi’s coup”
The video allegedly also accused Morsi of not raising the Islamic banner slamming the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Nour party , I am not surprised actually because in the end Ansar Beit Al Maqids is a Jihadist group that considers anyone that gets engage in the democratic process an infidel.
The Pro-Military supporters and media claim that Ansar Beit Al Maqids is a MB subsidiary. There is no official proof about this except bunch of untrusted statements and leaks about prosecution’s investigations in our mainstream tabloid media.
It is more complicated than that from I read , heard and know about that group from experts in Sinai affairs and Islamist movements. Even the possible relation between that Salafist Jihadist group with the Brotherhood is complicated as you can see in the video.
Personally I believe that it is not about the Muslim Brotherhood or Morsi’s presidency or even about Rabaa massacres’ victims just it is not about the struggle in the occupied territories in Palestine.
The Pro-Muslim Brotherhood supporters and media claim that Ansar Beit Al Maqid is a fake group created by the army and intelligence to justify the crackdown against the Islamists , it is not.
Ansar Beit Al Maqids group is a real Jahidist militant group and unfortunately Siyad Qutb’s radical bloody though plays an important role in its doctrines. Unfortunately the radical doctrines and thoughts of Qutb are finding their way among the Islamist youth which no longer believe in democracy.
Of course the Muslim Brotherhood leaderships whether inside or outside Egypt “the free or detained” can end the argument of the MB and Ansar Beit Al Maqids by issuing an official statement condemning and attacking the actions of that militant terrorist group explicitly.  
Speaking of Ansar Beit Al Maqids , I can not ignore how TV channel and News website Sada El Balad claimed that the Sinai based militant group declared on twitter that it was not responsible for the blast on Thursday. Luckily the website showed a screenshot for the alleged tweet and account and so as social media junkie , I went to check it. I did not expect to see twitter’s blue verification sign and I did not expect either to see a private account !! Oh yes the alleged Ansar Beit Al Maqids’ account on twitter is private except for few including the journalists in Sada El Balad news website and channel !!
Using bad Arabic language that does not suite an ultra-conservative Jihadist Salafist group , the account amazingly says that it is an official page for Ansar Al Maqids but it follows them !!!!!
By the way there are no rebels in Sinai , there are radical Jihadist groups. Yes there are human rights abuses in Sinai and yes we need news policies whether security policies or political policies to save Sinai before it is too late but there are no rebels in Sinai. Unfortunately the people of Sinai are stuck between a government that does not learn from its mistakes and heartless terrorist group as well smugglers and arms dealers.
What I see now that the army is achieving victories for extremely high price “ its relation with the locals in Sinai” versus the terrorists whose operations reached to the valley boldly. I do not know anything but I would say we need a new intelligence plan that minimizes casualties as well human rights abuses and yes you can achieve it.
In real civilian democracies all the officials responsible for national security , terrorism , intelligence and defense are seriously questioned by the parliament’s national security committee whether publicly or secretly in order to see the progress of the counter-terrorism operations and how effective its progress is.
Since August 2012 and the murder of our soldiers and even before that the locals in Sinai were warning from the Salafist Jihadists but no one was listening. We need to know what happened since August 2012 for real , I do not want lies and cheap propaganda. I know I speak in vain but it is better than being a silent devil if you know what I mean.
As long as there is no true accountability , we will never admit our mistakes or even try to mend them.

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And It snowed in Egypt

And it snowed in Egypt for the first time since decades and here we are not speaking about hail or snow in Sinai or Saint Catherine Mount. No we are speaking about snow in Cairo outskirts.

It is freezing right now. Almost raining from time to time. Alexa is not fooling around. It is extremely cold. The storms in Alexandria led the authorities to close the ports. It is extremely cold and one can imagine how the poor in shanty towns and street children. Sports centers and mosques as well churches should be opened for those but whom shall we address !??

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#Sinai : Abu Draa is not a terrorist

Yesterday we had other alarming news that should you make wonder where Egypt is heading to and here I am not speaking about the terrorist attack against the minister of interior , I am speaking about another news.
Sinai based and international award wining journalist Ahmed Abu Draa has turned to be arrested by the army since last Wednesday and will be referred to a military trial.
 People found out the shocking truth when the photo of Abu Draa was published in Al Youm News website among other detainees labeled as a terrorist !! He is the man wearing white shirt and Jeans.

Like a criminal , Abu Draa stood in white shirt and jeans

Ironically Youm 7 had published from couple months a report with a picture for Ahmed Abu Draa after receiving a Samir Kassir Journalism Award for 2013 for his report about human trafficking in Sinai.

Now and then

Abu Draa is also from the well known reporters in Egypt to work with international news corporations and agencies.
Here is Abu Draa speaking in a video about his important that exposed how the security authorities are involved in the human trafficking in Sinai.

Abu Draa speaks about Samir Kassir award and how he got it.

On Thursday we knew that Abu Draa was being accused of spreading false claims about the army and was referred to a military trial. Abu Daraa was also being detained 15 days pending investigations.
Some say that the false claims are the report of Abu Draa in Al Masry Al Youm and ONTV about the strikes of the Egyptian army in North Sinai earlier this week. The official spokesperson claimed that the army killed and injured in air raids about 23 militants and destroyed some warehouses used by those militants.
In his report Abu Draa said the army’s Apache attack injured only 4 and destroyed houses and a mosque in that air raid.

Abu Draa was not the only reporter from Sinai to deny what the official army spokesperson claimed , other reporters “including reporters I trust like Mohamed Sabry and Mostafa Singer” and other citizen journalists confirmed what he said and even went and took photos from the area that was attacked by the army !!!!
According Mostafa Singer , the famous and trusted journalist in Sinai Abu Draa was arrested when he went to the security HQ in Al Arish in order to seek the release of one of his relatives who had arrested from couple days ago. Abu Draa was transferred later to Ismailia.
Mostafa Singer and other journalists in North Sinai are trying their best to release their colleagues. Already these journalists are having an independent News Facebook page called “Sinai Now TV Channel” about the news of governorate. It is very important and active. Abu Draa was a member in the page that is going to be turned in to a full News portal soon.

Abu Draa in Tahrir square when it used to mean something

The page announced that it will suspend its work till the release of Abu Draa.
Ahmed Abu Daraa is the correspondent of ONTV and Al Masry Al m newspaper , both are in good terms with the army especially ONTV which many consider as the morale department’s official TV channel more than National TV !!
Of course none of them spoke about him up till now. Only other journalists including the journalists from Sinai were the ones who brought up the matter.
As we live in time Senator McCarthy would be proud of , you will find people attacking anyone speaks about how Ahmed Abu Daraa is not a terrorist by claiming that we know nothing and the Egyptian government knows best plus the army is fighting war against terrorism !!
Journalist and reporter Ahmed Abu Daraa is the second Egyptian journalist from Sinai to be referred to military court after journalist and dear friend Mohamed Sabry. Sabry’s military trial was the first military trial in time of ousted President Morsi. It has been adjourned for months now. Next court session should be next month.
I can not also forget that there are other journalists who are currently detained in jails , of course most of them are accused of being members in the Muslim brotherhood including Al Jazeera English reporter Mohamed El Shami.
I can not also forget the fact the people of North Sinai are speaking about the return of the arbitrary arrests campaigns in that war of terrorism there where innocent people are arrested and referred to military trials while they are not the real terrorists.
Ahmed Abu Draa is not a terrorist and regardless of what he has done , he should stand in front of his judge , a civilian judge and a civilian prosecution.
By the way the military trials for civilians article is untouched in the upcoming constitution , it was not amended by the 10-members technical committee.

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#Sinai : Save the #Dahab Coral Reef

This is a must watch video report by Ahram Online's Mayada Wadnomiry about the efforts of Egyptian divers in Egypt to save the coral reef in the red sea starting with Dahab. Despite it is a short clip yet it is very informative.The video is in English.

I fully support the suggestion to stop diving for one month in each diving location.
Here is the Facebook page of the iDive Tribe.
I believe we need to make noise about the initiative.
By the way,those small initiatives and those small groups trying to make a change on the ground even if it is a small change give me huge promise in that depressing time in Egypt. Big things always have small beginnings.
I know that some will say that it is not the prefect time when we got a war on terrorism in Sinai , well I will say when we will have the prefect time to save our environment then !! There is always time

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My two Cents on The Military intervention in #Syria and Its impact on #Egypt

So it seems that there will be a foreign military intervention in Syria so soon , may be with in days or even days.
I believe that a direct foreign military intervention in Syria is the last thing Egypt really needs now. Oh yes the direct foreign military intervention in Syria will make the public demand a military rule willingly to protect Egypt from the foreign conspiracy going after the strong Arab armies in the region. “Yes there is a deliberate misleading info in the media that the Syrian Arab army is extremely strong army and that it is the second strongest Arab army in the region after Egypt”
Thanks to the Egyptian media people began to support Al Assad and his regime as well his army against the Islamists above them the Muslim brotherhood and Al Qaeda. There is a deliberate misinformation when it comes to what is said and how it is said about Syria in the Egyptian mainstream media.
The Nasserites already support El Assad despite their idol Nasser used to curse his father and Baathist altogether. Of course these are the Neo-Nasserites.
The Egyptian people believe that Egypt will be the next after Syria and Iraq. Simply Now Egypt has got the true remaining army in the Arab world thus it will be the target after Syria and Iraq. General El Sisi seems to be the upcoming president of Egypt  with no competition what so ever now as a military man can protect the country in that critical time in the eyes of many Egyptians especially with the fiascoes of the first elected civilian president aka Morsi.
With the rising nationalism in Egypt and how the majority of people believe conspiracy theories now just like their belief in God , I fear that the military intervention will make them believe that the whole world especially the West is truly plotting against Egypt
The latest conspiracy theory supported by the state “through its official newspaper Al Ahram” now is how the West or the US was planning to divide Egypt starting with the independence of Upper Egypt through the Muslim brotherhood. The military action and what will follow in Syria will support this theory.
Anyhow what alarms me not only the rise of Nationalism/military rule in Egypt but the fact that Egypt is facing a challenge in Sinai called Jihadists and we may find ourselves in front of another wave of Jihadists who fought in Syria and want to return back will find no welcome from the regime or the public.
Informed sources once told that the army had to move against Morsi and Muslim brotherhood when he stood in June 2013 and declared that Jihad was OK in Syria. It was and is still a national security nightmare for Egypt because Jihadists are more radical and dangerous than the Muslim brotherhood.
This scenario of course depends mainly on the possibility that the military intervention succeeds in bringing not only Al Assad’s regime down but also the Jihadists. "So far all sources speak about short strikes to cripple Al Assad only"
 It will be like Afghanistan déjà vu once again. It will be like living a mix of the 1960s and 1990s at the same time !!
As I said above those Jihadists will not be received as heroes from the public or the army and now the Islamists or Jihadists can not stomach the army after happened in June 30th thus I fear the army will not face Jihadists only in Sinai but rather will face them from the West , from Libya. It is worth to mention that mainly Jihadists that fought in Libya went to Syria to fight there including Al Qaeda militants.
Anyhow I wonder many times why God made Egypt in the middle of the Middle East. It is as if fate and all forces of nature are just against having a true democratic transition in Egypt like any other country. Internal factors are not only against having a true democratic transition but also external factors.
I am sorry if I am seemed to be selfish and speaking about my country now.

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You are not Getting #Morsi back by terrorizing Christians

 Last Friday Pro-Morsi supporters mainly from Islamists had marches all over the country especially in Cairo.  One important thing they allegedly left from trace was the offensive and provoking graffiti on the walls and doors of churches and Cathedrals they passed by.

Islamic in reference to Islamic State on the doors of Church in Heliopolis

This is the tip of the ice berg when it comes to harassments and attacks against Christians in Egypt since July 3, 2013.
The Muslim brotherhood members and their supporters from supporters are inciting hate in Egypt whether online and offline.
Now since July 3, 2013 Christians in Upper Egypt have been a subject of continuous attacks by Islamists in North Sinai, Assuit , Minya and Sohag where people were killed and houses were torched. There is no police protection what so ever for churches or even for Christian populated areas in Upper Egypt.

Boycott the Christians graffiti in Assuit

Islamic , Christian + Thug : 30 June -Another graffiti in Assuit

The human rights organizations like Egyptian Initiative for personal rights warned the authorities, but no one cared to listen on July 10,2013 but no one cared to listen. Instead,there has been a huge systematic attack against human rights organizations in Egypt accusing of them of defending the MB’s supporters and protesters.
EIPR and other human rights organizations issued late last month a joint statement telling the Muslim brotherhood to stop inciting sectarian violence.
What puzzles me is the absence of the police in Upper Egypt and how it does not protect the Christians An evil part of my mind says that like in the time of Mubarak the authorities are leaving the Islamists to harm the Christians in this way in order to use this image abroad. Another part of my mind says that this is the usual Egyptian police action , they do not give a real damn for citizens outside Cairo. “Or even inside Cairo, they only care for buildings”
Still what really annoys me is how the big clans in Upper Egypt completely are totally ignoring what is taking place. You see there is a different social system in Upper Egypt than in Nile Delta or Cairo , clans got the final word there. There is also coordination between the clans and the security forces when they want to. I just do not understand.
Many Egyptians are wondering why the international media does not cover the attacks against the Christians in Egypt in order to show the other face of the Islamists. Of course it is not about international media but rather the media in general. A Christian friend explained to me that as a journalist should found out that Christians in Upper Egypt fear to speak to the media about the attacks more openly because they are afraid of retaliation. In the end journalists in Cairo do not understand that we are speaking about rural areas where everybody knows everybody and unfortunately there is no police protection.
Many Islamists if not most of them believe that the Church played a direct role in ousting Morsi in coordination with the army. The appearance of Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria in the video of El Sisi’s speech on 3 July enforced this belief.

Tawadros the dog , a graffiti seen frequently in Cairo

The appearance of Pope Tawadros in the speech and his meeting with El Sisi along with Sheikh Al Azhar was indeed a clever political move, but it had a price in extreme polarized society that suffers from sectarian tensions from time to time.
Of course the Muslim brotherhood’s leaderships were using the same old sectarian rhetoric against the Christians accusing them of standing with the old Mubarak regime against Morsi in the past year in a disgusting way.
We have enough of sectarianism in Egypt to increase it like this and in this sick way. 
The attacks against Christians should be stopped immediately, and the ministry of interior should do its job for real.The Muslim brotherhood should order its leading figures and speakers to using a sectarian talk to mobilize their supporters in this way.
Mohamed Morsi will not return back by killing Christians or torching their houses.

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3 Dead and Dozens Injured in Another Terrorist Attack In #Sinai “graphic”

It has become a daily routine in Sinai to read that security checkpoints and army patrols are being attacked. It is not a shock anymore to read that someone is killed there from security forces. It also had become a norm to read that Christians in North Sinai not only are being attacked but also to be kidnapped and beheaded.

Today we woke up on horrible terrorist act where a bus carrying workers in Al Arish was targeted by RPG missile. According to the Egyptian armed forces spokesperson the unknown terrorists hit the bus by mistake as their main target was a police patrol. 3 workers were killed and more than 16 have been injured. Yes 3 were killed and not 20 as it had been spread like fire.

Dear friend Mohamed Sabry tweeted from there and covered the attack. Here is a Storify report from there. You can read it after the break.

By the way the MB media is circulating a video for one of the survivors claiming that the bus was hit by shelled by an air jet. Well if it were an air strike ,the survivors would have survived nor would the bus

Who is running the show in Sinai ?? No one has claimed responsibility so far directly.

Nevertheless the Muslim brotherhood is the primary suspect especially you got what El Beltagy had said earlier last week.

ElBeltagy on 7 July About Sinai and Morsi.

This video is like a proof in any court that what is happening in Sinai is connected directly to Morsi and his supporters.

Of course the MB is now trying to distance itself now from these accusations. Today we find Essam El Arian speaking about the terrible terrorist act accusing intelligence indirectly of standing behind it to defame the peaceful protesting.

There are no news on the progress of the current security campaign against those terrorists ,what we read most of the time is that the army managed to destroy more tunnels between us and Gaza. We need to know more about those terrorists and who they are. Yes we need to know the truth to put an end to all the lies and fears spread.

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Fishing in Ras Mohamed caught on Camera

This shocking video clip was filmed last 30 May 2013 in Ras Mohamed area in Sinai. Nearly 20 fishing boats were fishing in the restricted area. The clip is filmed by Denis Zorzin

Fishing boats in

Where are our coast guards ?? 20 fishing boats are more of organized operation. I can not believe that no official could not see them.
In May 2011 the South Sinai governor then issued a decision to allow fishing there but had to cancel the decision due to the huge opposition. I do not know if the decision is back or not but we should scream to remind the world that there is no fishing in Ras Mohamed.

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And The Soldiers Are Back and Free

From four hours ago the official spokesperson of armed forces announced the end of the hostages crisis in Sinai with the following message : 

The 7 kidnapped soldiers are in their way back to Cairo after they are being released thanks to the efforts of the military intelligence with the help of the tribes chieftains and honorable people of Sinai. 

I think my predictions were right.
After an honor we found that the soldiers would arrive to Al Maza Military airport where President Morsi , minister El Sisi of defense and PM Qandil were waiting for them.

Morsi, El Sisi, Qandil and Ibrahim at Al Maza airport 

During that time the soldiers were being prepared to show  up shaved and wearing their uniform. The soldiers look even younger and distraught.

 

President Morsi spoke during the reception and sent several messages :

• He supports the army. 
• He calls the opposition for dialogue. 
• He is open to reconcile with Mubarak's era investors. 
• We are ready for elections.

The official spokesperson of armed forces will hold a presser to discuss what happened. The Presidency will hold a presser too as well.
Rafah crossing is now open.  
Now on social networks Egyptians believe the kidnapping was more of a charade to raise the popularity of Morsi !!
Here is a cartoon by Andeel that summarizes this view.

El Sisi to Morsi : Why nobody is buying this ? JF Andeel

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Sinai’s Hostage Crisis Day#7: Statements and Conferences

On Tuesday we found the admin of the official FB page of SCAF “Do you remember him !?” posting a very interesting Wall post about the latest developments in Sinai. The post’s title was “The last message” and it was more of warning.

Up till this moment , I repeat till this moment we respect the Egyptian blood despite how awful the terrorist act but our answer will be quick and touch. It will be devastating and we will not have mercy on the terrorists or those who will help them by protection or shelter.

This page is from the official FB pages following the Egyptian armed forces last time I checked.
Amazingly the Salafist Jihadist group in Sinai issued a statement on the same day. First the group holds the presidency , the ministry of interior and the commandership of the army the responsibility of what happened. Neglecting the demands of the detainees families and torturing one of the detainees “Hamda Abu Sheita” till he lost his sight led to what we see from what I understood in the statement. This makes me wonder whether the unidentified group was related to the families. Also how the group  knew about this.
Second the Salafist Jihadist group wonders why there are large military deployments in Zone “C” of Sinai and why Israel approved that. They believe it could be for another goal approved by Sinai. That goal of course is getting rid of them.

The statement copy from Walid

Third the Salafist Jihadist group’s main is Israel and the Egyptian army knows that but the group will not leave the detainees alone. Still the group will take calculated steps to help those detainees.
Fourth the Salafist Jihadist group warns the Egyptian army from any move against the group claiming that it will be for the benefit of Israel.
This statement indicates the trap I fear the Egyptian army is being led to.
Then the President’s advisor for Media Ayman Ali and the spokesperson of the ministry of interior “Where is Colonel Ahmed Ali of the armed forces ??” had a meeting with the journalists and TV hosts. Ali said that there are no negotiations and there is no military operation because we are not facing enemy army.The MOI spokesperson says that the kidnappers are known to the ministry and they are criminals “who they are ??” 
In the evening Abu Sheita clan has held a press conference in Al Arish to defend itself.The clan found itself in the center of the accusation. The kidnapped soldiers mentioned the name of Hamda Abu Sheita in particular in the shocked video released on Sunday.
Also the his brother Hany Abu Sheita was accused by the media of leading the operation of kidnapping the soldiers by name. Hany was already in his home when major newspapers in Cairo claimed that he is on the run.
The clan refuses all the accusations to the family and it is saying clear that it refuses the release of Hamda in return of the release of the hostages. They are also stated their support to the efforts of the state to free the hostages. Nevertheless they did not forget their son. They demanded an investigation in the incident of torture Hamda Abu Sheita.
Yesterday I spoke on the phone with Mrs. Hamda Abu Sheita and she denied that the family was involved in the kidnapping.

If any man was involved in the kidnapping , all the men in the clan would have been arrested

She said adding that she was supported the hostages. She accused the ministry of interior of standing behind the kidnap to cover the torture of her husband.

Stating the name of my husband in particular from all the Sinai detainees makes me believe that kidnappers are not from Sinai , if they were from Sinai then they will mention all the detainees not to single out Hamda from them.

Of course in the video the “Sinai political detainees”term was mentioned but the name of Hamda was singled out. Already I want to know who the Sinai political detainees are that this unknown group wants to swap with the hostages.
Just like the elderly of the clans , the wife as well the cousin of Abu Sheita is insisting his innocence claiming that he was framed by the MOI. She was also angry from the claims in the media about him. From two days ago some so-called security experts said that he was a Jihadist as well a Mossad agent.
She does not like President Morsi and believes that his days are much worse than the old Mubarak days considering the alleged torture her husband had been through.

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To Negotiate or Not to Negotiate , To Attack or Not Attack , The Options currently in #Sinai

We have got a national security crisis in Egypt , the recent kidnapping of the soldiers in Sinai is a huge challenge for the Egyptian state whether for the Presidency “as in Morsi’s administration” or the army or the police.
The presidency and the army are in extreme critical position with not much options. All the options come with the price especially we are speaking about Sinai.
Sinai and its tribes got its own share from neglect and security mistreatment especially in the last ten starting with Taba explosives and what followed it from random arrests by state security. We are not speaking the tamed Nile Valley but a tribal environment with people of high dignity.
After speaking to several people from Sinai in the past two years I can say the locals especially from tribes did not forget what the ministry of interior. “We will not allow the old days of El Adly and Mubarak to return back” this phrase I heard from locals in Sinai too many times including today.
I believe the army and the police understand this very well especially the military intelligence that runs the show in the North and the South. Thousands of men were arrested randomly whenever something happens in Sinai and some of them were badly tortured by security forces. They can’t forget the humiliation they faced.
Another important thing , while talking to people from Sinai over the last two years I found that people there have been warning that Jihadists were roaming around there with the authorities knowledge . Some say that if the ministry of interior and the State want to purge Sinai from all the criminal spots , it will be done in no time.
By the way people of Cairo and Nile Delta will not understand what I am speaking about as they got their own negative perception about the Bedouins.I believe that the people of Upper Egypt will understand what I am speaking about here clearly after all the major clans in Upper Egypt got their own tribal system.
Now for the Egyptian state, there are two options and each with a price.

- Negotiating with the kidnappers fulfilling their demands  :

Negotiating with the kidnappers and even fulfilling their demands will shake the state’s image. It will make the state look weak so that kidnappers are twisting its arm. If the State fulfills the demands and they are simply to release “Sinai’s political detainees” , everyone will kidnap soldiers and officers. In other words it will be  like “the terrorists have won”
The kidnapped soldiers will be released but on the expense of the State’s authority and image.
Despite the Presidency and army denied that there are negotiations with kidnappers , I am sure that there were and there are still talks through some channels. Otherwise how the state knew the demands of the kidnappers including the transfer of prisoners from one prison to another.
In hostage situation there must be negotiations stage because actually this stage gives the authorities an opportunity to collect information and assess the whole situation. In fact I will bet the military intelligence will open a channel because it will help other security forces to locate the kidnappers.
Unfortunately the Egyptian state whether in time of Mubarak or Morsi used to negotiate with kidnappers whether in North or South of Sinai. It was a norm actually in the past years where the tribes , groups and militants kidnap tourists in the south and security forces in the north to get what they want. Most of they want from the Egyptian state is to release their relatives from prison. By the way the military intelligence is responsible for negotiations in these cases.
Here is extreme short list for previous kidnapping cases that ended by negotiations : “Thanks to dear friend Ahmed Ragab”

• In 2008 during the iron fist era of Habib El Adly , not less 51 policemen including a major were kidnapped. The kidnappers from tribesmen were demanding the trial of a police officer accused of killing a member from their tribe in order to release them.
• In February 2012 Chinese workers were kidnapped in North Sinai by some angry locals and were later released after negotiations with military intelligence aka the army in the media.
• In March 2013 a militant group in North Sinai kidnapped British tourists and then released them after negotiations with the military intelligence.

What we see now is not something new but it is rather a norm , the kidnappers used to get what they wanted after talks with the authorities. This is an important fact we are deliberately forgetting for some unknown reason beyond me.

- Attacking the kidnappers :

The other option in to attack the kidnappers. To launch an operation in Sinai against the unknown kidnappers bearing the heavy price of consequences. Some say that the special forces “777” and “999” are capable the whole issue in few minutes, well I am sure they can considering they are highly trained but historically and internationally such operations included losses in life , the kidnapped lives to be accurate. Already some Skeptic Egyptians fear from the curse of Larnaca airport operation and Malta operation.
These two operations are actually classical example for what I mean about high risk of losses when you use force in liberating hostages.
Even the army is very cautious for real when it comes to this option. It does not want this option actually , not because it is weak on the contrary but because it does not want to get involved in another trap in Sinai. A trap in Sinai starts with fighting unknown Jihadist groups in very difficult areas , if you face enemy like this soon the fighting will spread to include the locals and the tribes. You also got old bad memories when it comes to State Vs. Sinai locals with highly armed society in an area with bad record of wars , I fear we may lose Sinai and the army as well.
I am not in not the conspiracy theories about MB and Hamas are behind because MB is in deep shit but I look from different perspective.
Fighting terrorist groups was and is the mission of the ministry of interior and it has got teams trained for this and yet strangely the army seems to be involved completely in the picture. Unfortunately after the horrifying video released on Sunday most Egyptians support military operation option.
By the way all leaks about the military operation in North we find in the newspapers and news websites are part of a psychological warfare in my view. On one hand  you scare the kidnappers and on the other hand you send a message to the public that your armed forces are there as the strong shield of the state. If there is a true military operation , it will not be announced in this media circus way.
I am not a security expert but I know rescue operations in areas like this should be more secretive , at least to force the kidnappers to transfer the soldiers to some where else and to take their precaution especially that they seem to know where to hide them in Sinai very well.
Personally from all what I see I believe that there are on going talks and at the same time there are military deployments in Sinai serving two proposes : Psychological warfare to pressure on the kidnappers and To purge the Jihadist zones if they can.
Anyhow Today there was a meeting at the Presidential Palace and a group of journalists and TV hosts with President Morsi’s media adviser “Ayman Ali”  and the spokesperson of ministry of interior. During that meeting Ali said the following :

The Presidency did not negotiate and did not assign anyone to negotiate but it does not stop anyone to have talks except for national security reasons. 

Regarding  whether there is negotiation or the military operation , Ali said the following :

There is no negotiation , there is no military operation either because we do not have an enemy army in Sinai. 

I think these statements can be interpreted in different ways.

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And Our Soldiers Are Not Released Yet in #Sinai "Updated"

And 24 hours have passed and the soldiers that were kidnapped in Sinai earlier Yesterday have been released despite all the news reports , leaks and rumors claiming that they will be released soon.
First of all according to different 3 sources to close Sinai locals and tribes as military and security sources I know what happened earlier yesterday was as follows : Earlier Thursday families of Salafist prisoners in Tora prison protested against their alleged ill treatment and torture in the prison. Some say that one of the prisoners Hamed Abu Sheita was actually tortured till he lost his sight.
Younis Makhioun , the leader of Al Nour Party had already published a post about this prisoner in his official Facebook page condemning the prisoner’s torture.
Now the prisoners’ families and groups cut the highway vowing to kidnapping any official passing by searching the cars and taxis. The 7 conscripts were taking a taxi from their camps to spend their vacation back to Cairo. They were busted thanks to their haircuts and their uniform.
The prisoners are militants allegedly from Jihadist Salafists who were convicting of killing 5 security officers and one civilians during a series of attacks in summer 2011 on Al Arish city police station and Al Arish branch of Bank of Alexandria. 25 Individuals were charged in the case.
This is what happened.
Now I Knew that Abu Sheita family  denied that it stood behind the kidnap but of course it could be not his family but rather his group or his clan or even other prisoners’ families.
Yesterday Morsi held a meeting with ministers of interior and defense as well the intelligence chief. I believe the photo summarizes the state’s position in my point of view.

Zoom in and see their faces please "Presidency FB"

The presidency yesterday issued a statement about the kidnap and the statement was very interesting and made people shocked and angry. In the statement published in the official FB of the Egyptian presidency spokesperson we found the following statement :

The President gave his orders to continue the efforts to release the kidnapped soldiers and to be keen on keeping both the kidnapped and kidnappers alive

Mentioning the kidnappers in the statement and giving orders to keep them alive made many people wonder if the President felt sympathy with the kidnappers especially that they are allegedly Islamists.
Some would say that the president wanted to send a good message to the kidnappers so they would not be alarmed and hurt the kidnapped soldiers.
Anyhow the police and army personnel are extremely angry and believe that they are being insulted.  The police personnel in Rafah closed the Rafah crossing to protest the kidnapping of the soldiers.
The average Egyptians feel that Sinai is no longer under the Egyptian state’s control. People are slamming not only Morsi and his administration as well the Islamists but they are slamming minister of defense El Sisi.
On social media networks you will find the army officers expressing their dismay on how the state is opening a dialogue with the kidnappers to release their colleagues while they can teach those terrorists/kidnappers a lesson in no time releasing the kidnappers.
Now according to leaks and to what I know personally the military intelligence is the one that leads the negotiations with the kidnappers in Sinai whether in North or South and that it leads the negotiations now regarding the safety of the soldiers. What is more interesting that today we have learned that members of the Muslim brotherhood went to negotiate with the kidnappers as well.
To be accurate a delegation from the National Council of human rights “Islamist dominated” including Mohamed El Beltagy ,the MB leading headed to Sinai and is having talks there.
According to news reports the ministry of interior and armed forces agreed on some demands mainly transferring the prisoners from Tora prison to El Akrab prison. “I think El Akrab prison is worse than Tora prison.
Latest news that there will be an action against the kidnappers. 

Update : 

The Egyptian armed forces announced on its Facebook Page that there are military deployments heading to Sinai now. 

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Another Environmental Disaster in #Sinai "Exclusive Photo"

The vessel in Blue Hole by Elon Schutze 

Today Sinai is in the heart of the news and most of the news are not good. The latest news is not national security related but environment related , it is more of environmental disaster to be accurate.
Several coral reefs were devastated last Wednesday in South Sinai in famous diving in Blue Hole and Canyon areas to be accurate.
It turned out that a foreign vessel called "Sea Lord" swerved from its course and lowered its anchor in to the reef bed destroying the coral reefs !! The vessel is 120 meter long and I do not understand how it went there and nobody noticed it from coast guards and navy !!
Some sources that the ship was on drift in the international water so I do not understand how it did not receive help or why it came to our waters and did what it had done !! By the way we do not know the nationality of this vessel.
The photo above was sent to the Rescue and Environment protection society to a dear friend and I asked him if I can publish it. 

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Soldiers Kidnapped In #Sinai , Let’s Prayer They Will Return Back Alive

I just woke up to know the most annoying news ever , 7 soldiers in Sinai have been kidnapped near Al Arish. The soldiers from army central security forces were kidnapped earlier Thursday from Al Arish international highway. They are 6 CSF conscripts and one army conscript from the borders guards. They were heading back to Cairo on a vacation.

Officially we do not know who the kidnappers are but security sources told ONA that the kidnappers are the families of a group of locals arrested for storming Al Arish police station. The source added those arrested locals are facing death penalty and that a communication channel with the kidnappers.

News sources also say that the kidnappers have released one CSF conscript from short time ago.

There is news that Morsi has summoned both the ministers of defense and interior to meeting at the Presidential Palace. Of course some army sources deny this and is claiming that El Sisi of defense is following the rescue efforts from the ministry of defense. While other sources including Eman Abdel Moneim , the Presidency Correspondence in Anadolu news agency in Egypt says that the meeting was over.

Nevertheless it is logic that no the army , the police and intelligence are doing their best to save the soldiers because without doubt this reminds people including me with the fiasco of the army soldiers massacre in August 2012.

As it is main suspect in the August 2012 brutal army soldiers attack on the borders, Hamas has issued a quick statement denying any relation with the kidnap of the soldiers.

The Pro-Army and Anti-Muslim brotherhood people now on social media of course are speaking about a huge conspiracy taking place against El Sisi to kick him out of the army by the Muslim brotherhood. Well I do not know what conspiracies but there is a problem when soldiers are kidnapped like that in Sinai.

The story is developing , let’s hope that our army and police soldiers return safe and in one piece.

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Regarding El Sisi’s statements

General Abdel Fatah El Sisi created controversy as usual with his statements last Saturday during a war exercise that the army is not the answer to political problems and that the only way was the ballot box.

The general during the event from "Source"

Up till now everybody is reading El-Sisi’s statements regarding the legitimacy as they want. For instance a group from the team that wanted the army to topple Morsi are shocked and sad. While the other group from that team believes sincerely that the army is actually preparing for some secret coup in the end because “War is deception”. Some revolutionaries are happy that people are waking up from the military Messiah dream praying that people would act themselves and revolt.
To give you an example on how the general’s words are translated according to the polarization currently in Egypt ,  General El Sisi said if that the army returns back to the street “aka to lead a coup” , Egypt will return back in time to 40 years ago.
Those who support the military rule says that the General mentioned “40 years” in particular because he meant October 1973 victory !! “We are celebrating the 40th anniversary this year”
Those who are opposing the military rule says that General was wise and he meant that the return of the military rule is a setback to Egypt.
Anyhow I did not stop that much at what El Sisi said regarding what the army will do when it comes to the political crisis in Egypt because the game is on.
I stopped at what the minister of defense said to journalists during the military exercise when he was asked about who killed our soldiers in Sinai last August. El Sisi said the following :

I swear by God that we do not know who killed our soldiers up till now , if we know who did it , we will wipe them out of this earth !!

It seems to me that the general swears a lot by God and with my all due respect there are something I can not ignore especially when it comes to human life.
In August 2012 General El Sisi was the head of the military intelligence and to claim that he has not known yet who stood behind that brutal criminal act all that time , it is actually a confession of failure.
Already I remember that in August 2012 as well in March 2013 media claimed that the intelligence knew in advance about the attack and informed the presidency but Morsi ignored the warnings. Did the media lie ?
It is not about politics here I am afraid. I feel that yet again the soul and blood of humans in Egypt are the cheapest thing ever !!

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#Sinai : Questions to be answered

Today Egypt is celebrating Sinai day. For those who do not know what is , it commemorates the withdrawal of Israeli troops in 1982 from Sinai Peninsula except from Taba. After 31 years ago I have to ask two important questions today especially with all the debates around Sinai recently

Who killed our soldiers in Sinai  ??

Yes whenever I hear the word “Sinai” now I always remember how our soldiers were brutally murdered in cold blood last August 2012 and I remember how on earth months passed and we did not know the truth behind their murder. It is not an easy violent terrorist attack , it had shaken the society and I even remember how some compared it with the bitterness of 1967 defeat.

President Morsi , the army and the intelligence should be frank and honest to tell us the truth. The army commandership should respect the blood of those soldiers as well their families and tell us the truth.

Of course in the past few months wild conspiracy theories and claims about how Hamas directly standing behind their murders were taking Egypt’s mainstream and social media by storm. For several weeks in March 2013 Ahram Al Arabi published a series of reports by names of Hamas leaders claiming that they are responsible personally for the attack. Hamas of course denied those allegations completely.

Naturally when you bring Hamas in such debate you bring with it ; its mother movement the Muslim brotherhood is dragged and it is not a secret that many people are convinced now that the president Morsi and the MB stood behind the attack themselves.  According to that theory Morsi and the MB wanted to get rid from SCAF and they did. They say that GIS presented a full report  to Morsi about the attack a week before it took place and that he did not take any step regarding it. Of course one must wonder why the GIS did not warn the army about it.

The info or let’s just say that the leaks I heard from sources “supposedly to be trusted” say that Hamas did not do it and kill our soldiers but they do know those who stand behind their murder and they refuse to hand them over to Cairo.

The army announced some military operation called “Eagle” if you remember. Till this moment we do not its progress and actually all the indications in Sinai. From what I see the terrorists and the Jihadists have not been stopped at all.

I believe again if the GIS or the army knows any information about that attack both of them should share it with the people of Egypt because it is their duty in front of the people and the country. I think that age of keeping the things in secret so the president is not embarrassed is over not to mention they do not love the president or his group.

Of course one would dream to have a real constitution and a real parliament that would bring both the minister of defense and the head of the intelligence and ask them about what happened to our soldiers in a public hearing like the congressional hearings we saw about Iraq and Afghanistan.

Well I keep dreaming this and I wish to see it before I die !!

After 31 years What did we do in Sinai ??

Today hundreds if not thousands of Egyptians shared the photos of Yamit settlement and how its Israeli settlers were kicked out of Sinai from 31 years ago. Those who witnessed the event on TV remembered the scenes of Israeli forces pulling away the settlers from the agricultural settlement.

Now after 31 years I would like to say that unfortunately after seeing the photos of Yamit , I wonder where the urban development from in North and Middle Sinai !!

Why did we fail to have settlements like Yamit in the past 31 years !? For 31 years we have failed in securing Sinai for real. In 3 decades the people of Sinai are completely ignored by the centralized government in Egypt with jobs or education or even respect. In 3 decades Sinai became a hot zone for human and drug smuggling and trafficking. In the past decades Sinai saw a growing terrorist spots and now we got Jihadists in the past 3 years roaming freely. 

Of course the biggest blame here is on the Mubarak regime in that failure leaving Sinai without no real urban development plans all those years. The only thing related to development in Sinai in those 30 years was the tourism development in the South that actually is not enough. Sinai is empty land and it should not be so for too long.

I do not believe that Camp David treaty is the true reason as much as the lack of political will whether in time of Mubarak or in time of Morsi.

Speaking about Morsi , well it seems that Sinai is going to complete its suffering under the MB rule. Actually our national security in Sinai is being threatened by the MB’s own definition of National security and their regional and international policies.

The MB does not recognize the meaning of borders as the brotherhood believes in the caliphate , they believe that Egypt and Gaza are one part of global Caliphate.I do not think that they will think in the same way like we do if the scenario of resettling the Palestinian refugees in Sinai was suggested by the States and Israel as a permanent solution. After all Sinai is regarded an empty land in their eyes , a wasteland !!

By the way you must know that it was true that the MB and Morsi were approving to sell large pieces of land in Sinai to Qatari and Turkish investors , the thing that the army stood against. The ministry of defense issued a controversial law to ban the sell of land in Sinai to foreigners from couple of months ago. According to the law the ministry of defense and the intelligence should approve on the lease of land to foreigners and purchase of land in the Peninsula.

Of course the law made the locals extremely angry in Sinai because it banned the ownership and purchase of land on the borders and the area near to the borders.

This is the first law to be issued without the revision of the Shura council or the approval of the president. It was one of the milestones of the complicated relations between the army and the MB.

In the end Sinai will be always in danger as long as it is neglected , as long as its people are treated as second degree citizens and as long as the only development we think of when we speak about Sinai is the tourism development.

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Soaring Legends in #Egypt

For the lovers of natural life and environment , this short documentary is highly recommended.

Soaring legends

This short documentary is about the migratory birds and its trip in Egypt especially in Sinai and red sea.

BY the way there is an Arabic version of the documentary.

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Egyptian X-Files : The Fate of Those Men Disappeared in #Sinai

In the early days of the revolution between 28 January and 2 February 2011 three police officers and one policeman “Amin Shorta” disappeared with no trace in North Sinai. The names of the police officers are : Sherif El Madawy “27 years old” , Mohamed El Gohary “25 years old” and Mohamed Hussien “25 years old”.

The three officers

For two years there have been many rumors and theories about the fate of those 4 men. Some say that they were killed , others say that there are kidnapped either by Hamas or Jihadists or Israeli forces or Smugglers. For two years the families of these officers know nothing about them regardless of how much they plead nearly everybody. For two years we do not know if they were dead or not , for two years their families knocked all doors but in vain. They have become one of the revolution’s X-File.
The wives of the disappeared men met with President Morsi last February and all what they got was a presidential to help them in their lives including legal help to get their life on. “Either to get divorce from court or to officially announce their husbands missing officially so they can get married if they want !!!!”
Now last week one of the officers’ wives announced that it is giving presidency , intelligence and ministry of defense a week to declare the fate of her husband and his comrades or she will expose scandals on how the MB infiltrated the intelligence and the army.
Mrs. Doaa Rashad, the wife of officer claimed on TV last week that she got documents on how the MB infiltrated and the intelligence. She said that she got these documents from extremely trusted source.

Doaa Rashad and her claim on ONTV channel last week

Mrs. Rashad is already saying that she knows where her husband and his follow officers are alive. She is claiming also that she knows that they are currently in Gaza in some underground prison after being abducting by Hamas.
Doaa Rashad met with military intelligence officers at the Military intelligence HQ this week and knew from them that the men are still alive !!
Another wife is saying that the men are alive. Mrs. Shereen El Ashry claimed that some high security informed source told her that her husband is alive and that his release will need Morsi’s direct intervention !! According to what El Ashry allegedly was told their location was identified but the army can not do anything to them !!
Of course this claim again indirectly refers to Hamas whether you like or not.
The accusation against Hamas is repeated again with what Al Watan newspaper published last week on how these men were abducted by Hamas and are allegedly kept in street “Omar Al Mokhtar” in Gaza according to some security informed source. The newspaper and its unknown source added that the officers are being used by Hamas as pressure paper against the Egyptian army and intelligence to stop them from destroying the tunnels between Egypt and Gaza.
Hamas officially is denying that it is responsible for the abduction from its die. Some unnamed Palestinian leading figure in unnamed Palestinian group “I will assume it is Hamas” told Ahram Arabic portal that the police officers were actually killed and the army as well the intelligence know that every well. That leading figure added that the officers were killed in some sort of revenge operation thing between the tribes and the police force in North Sinai.
Well I can buy this but I know that the tribes do not kill in secret , also where are their bodies all that time !?
By the way why all the focus is the on the police officers and not on the low ranking policeman who disappeared with them !?
Personally as Egyptian citizen I demand to know the fate of those three officers today before tomorrow. I demand to know the truth as Egyptian citizen from the Intelligence , the ministry of defense , the ministry of interior and the Presidency.
I do not understand why we can not know the fate of those Egyptian citizens, those humans and spare their families all that agony !! I do not care that much now for the on going fight between MB and its branches in presidency and Gaza and the Egyptian National security institutions now as much as I care for those humans and their families. Israel launched a war and exchanged thousands of prisoners for the sake of one person for God sake !!
This is another Egyptian-X file and yet again the answer is surely known for those responsible for our national security.

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#Save_Serabit : Save the only temple in #South_Sinai

This is extremely important. El Badil Newspaper made an extremely important and sad video report about the terrible status of Serabit El Khadim ancient Egyptian temple, the only surviving ancient Egyptian temple in Sinai.

The disaster of Serabit El Kadim

Monica Hanna and Alfred Raouf as well the locals in the area speak about happened to that important temple.

Thanks for corruption and wrong restoration works the temple is in extremely bad shape in way that threatens its existence after all those years. I do not know if it is deliberate action or not but from Strategic point of view this is extremely important temple in this particular relation.

From economic point of view this temple used to be a source of income for many of the locals working in tourism and waiting for tourists to visit it.

By the way thanks to Monica and the noise we made online ,the authorities began to move to do something regarding Dahshur yet in a very slow reaction that is not enough by all measures. 

I really want to thank Monica because without her we would not know what is happening to our heritage for real. At least we are speaking and making noise to the whole world.

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#Egyelections : Presidency realizes its mistake , amends elections’ dates

And the Presidency understood the mistake it had done last Thursday when it declared the dates of the parliamentary elections and it turned out that the first stage elections will be at the same time of Christian Feasts.
From couple of hours ago the presidency issued a statement to amend the dates of the first stage of the elections to suit Egyptian Christians.
Accordingly we got the following new dates , re-mark your calendars dear friends !!

The first stage

• It will be held in Cairo , Beheira , Minya , Port Said and North Sinai on 22 & 23 April 2013.
• The runoffs will be held on 29&30 April.

The Second Stage

• It will be held in Giza , Alexandria , Sohag , Bani Sawif , Aswan , Suez , Red Sea , New Valley on 11 & 12 May 2013.
• The runoffs will be held on 19  & 20 May 2013.

The third stage

• It will be in Dakahlia , Qalyubia , Monufia , Qena , Damietta , Luxor , Matrouh and South Sinai on 28 & 29 May 2013.
• The runoffs will be held on 5 & 6 June 2013.

The Fourth stage

• It will be held in Sharkia , Gharbia , Assuit , Kafr El Sheikh, Fayoum and Ismailia on 15 & 16 May 2013.
• The runoffs will be held on 23 & 24 June 2013.

Strangely now for the zillion times the Morsi and MB supporters who defended the first date and timing are supporting decision to amend the dates now without any second thought.
Now if this was not a deliberate action as I suspected then it is another sign on how things are badly managed in Egypt by Morsi’s administration. There is no planning what so ever. Nobody even bothered to see the calendar on his disk in the Presidency. Are there calendars already on their disks at the presidency , I wonder !!??
By the way should not the Presidency and the army grow up and have some real official websites instead that Facebook mania !? You know like the rest of the civilized world ??

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