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Exposed:
The Muslim Brotherhood/Al-Qaeda Connection
by Raymond Ibrahim
CBN News
February 4, 2014
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your friends to like this.
As former Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi's trials continue, it's
enlightening to consider what is likely to be one of the centerpieces of
the trial: longstanding accusations that Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood
party worked with foreign terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda,
against the national security of Egypt.
Based on these accusations of high treason, Morsi and others could
face the death penalty.
|
Muhammad
Morsi and Ayman Zawahiri. Image source: European Union (Morsi) and
al-Qaeda video screenshot (Zawahiri)
|
Concerning some of the more severe allegations, one of Egypt's most
widely distributed and read newspapers, Al Watan, recently published what
it said were recorded conversations between Morsi and Muhammad Zawahiri,
al-Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri's brother.
In these reports, Watan repeatedly asserts that Egyptian
security and intelligence agencies confirmed (or perhaps leaked out) the
recordings.
Much of the substance of the alleged conversations is further
corroborated by events that occurred during Morsi's one-year-rule, most
of which were reported by a variety of Arabic media outlets, though not
by Western media.
In what follows, I relay, summarize, and translate some of the more
significant portions of the Watan reports (verbatim statements are
in quotation marks). In between, I comment on various anecdotes and
events—many of which were first
broken on my
website—that now, in light of these phone conversations, make perfect
sense and independently help confirm the authenticity of the recordings.
—–
The first recorded call between Muhammad Morsi and Muhammad Zawahiri
lasted for 59 seconds. Morsi congratulated Zawahiri on his release from
prison, where he had been incarcerated for jihadi/terrorist activities
against Egypt, and assured him that he would not be followed or observed
by any Egyptian authorities, and that he, Morsi, was planning on meeting
with him soon. Prior to this first call, Refa' al-Tahtawy, then Chief of
Staff, mediated and arranged matters.
The presidential palace continued to communicate regularly with
Muhammad Zawahiri, and sources confirm that he was the link between the
Egyptian presidency and his brother, Ayman
Zawahiri, the Egyptian-born leader of al-Qaeda.
It should be noted that, once released, the previously little-known
Muhammad Zawahiri did become very
visible and vocal in Egypt, at times spearheading the Islamist
movement.
The next recording between Morsi and Zawahiri lasted for 2 minutes and
56 seconds and took place one month after Morsi became president. Morsi
informed Zawahiri that the Muslim Brotherhood supports the mujahidin
(jihadis) and that the mujahidin should support the Brotherhood in order
for them both, and the Islamist agenda, to prevail in Egypt.
This makes sense in the context that, soon after Morsi came to power,
the general public did become increasingly critical of him and his
policies, including the fact that he was placing only Brotherhood members
in Egypt's most important posts, trying quickly to push through a
pro-Islamist constitution, and, as Egyptians called it, trying in general
to "Brotherhoodize"
Egypt.
This second phone call being longer than the first, Zawahiri took it
as an opportunity to congratulate Morsi on his recent presidential
victory—which, incidentally, from the start, was
portrayed by some as fraudulent—and expressed his joy that Morsi's
presidency could only mean that "all secular infidels would be
removed from Egypt."
Then Zawahiri told Morsi: "Rule according to the Sharia of Allah
[or "Islamic law"], and we will stand next to you. Know that,
from the start, there is no so-called democracy, so get rid of your
opposition."
This assertion comports extremely well with his brother Ayman
Zawahiri's views. A former Muslim Brotherhood member himself, some thirty
years ago, the al-Qaeda leader wrote Al Hissad Al Murr ("The
Bitter Harvest"), a scathing book condemning the Brotherhood for
"taking advantage of the Muslim youths' fervor by … steer[ing] their
onetime passionate, Islamic zeal for jihad to conferences and
elections." An entire section dedicated to showing that Islamic
Sharia cannot coexist with democracy even appears in Ayman Zawahiri's
book (see "Sharia and Democracy," The
Al Qaeda Reader, pgs. 116-136).
The call ended in agreement that al-Qaeda would support the
Brotherhood, including its international branches, under the
understanding that Morsi would soon implement full Sharia in Egypt. After
this, Muhammad Zawahiri and Khairat al-Shater, the number-two man of the
Muslim Brotherhood organization, reportedly met regularly.
It is interesting to note here that, prior to these revelations, U.S.
ambassador Anne Patterson was seen
visiting with Khairat al-Shater—even though he held no position in
the Morsi government—and after the ousting and imprisonment of Morsi and
leading Brotherhood members, Sens. John McCain and Lindsay Graham made it
a point to visit
the civilian Shater in his prison cell and urged the Egyptian
government to release him.
The next call, recorded roughly six weeks after this last one, again
revolved around the theme of solidifying common cooperation between the
Egyptian presidency and the Muslim Brotherhood on the one hand, and
al-Qaeda and its jihadi offshoots on the other, specifically in the
context of creating jihadi cells inside Egypt devoted to protecting the
increasingly unpopular Brotherhood-dominated government.
As I reported back in December
2012, Egyptian media were saying that foreign jihadi fighters were
appearing in large numbers—one said 3,000 fighters—especially in Sinai.
And, since the overthrow of the Brotherhood and the military crackdown on
its supporters, many of those detained have been exposed speaking
non-Egyptian dialects of Arabic.
During this same call, Zawahiri was also critical of the Morsi
government for still not applying Islamic Sharia throughout Egypt, which,
as mentioned, was one of the prerequisites for al-Qaeda support.
Morsi responded by saying "We are currently in the stage of
consolidating power and need the help of all parties—and we cannot at
this time apply the Iranian model or Taliban rule in Egypt; it is
impossible to do so now."
In fact, while the Brotherhood has repeatedly declared its aspirations
for world domination, from its origins, it has always relied on a
"gradual" approach, moving
only in stages, with the idea of culminating its full vision only
when enough power has been consolidated.
In response, Zawahiri told Morsi that, as a show of good will, he must
"at least release the mujahidin who were imprisoned during the
Mubarak era as well as all Islamists, as an assurance and pact of
cooperation and proof that the old page has turned to a new one."
After that call, and as confirmed by a governmental source, Morsi
received a list from Zawahiri containing the names of the most dangerous
terrorists in Egyptian jails, some of whom were on death row due to the
enormity of their crimes.
In fact, as I reported back
in August 2012, many imprisoned terrorists, including from Egypt's
notorious Islamic Jihad organization—which was once led by Ayman
Zawahiri—were released under Morsi.
One year later, in
August 2013, soon after the removal of Morsi, Egypt's Interior
Ministry announced that Egypt was "preparing to cancel any
presidential pardons issued during Morsi's era to terrorists or
criminals."
During this same call, and in the context of pardons, Morsi said he
would do his best to facilitate the return of Muhammad's infamous brother
and al-Qaeda leader, Ayman Zawahiri, back to Egypt—"with his head
held high," in accordance with Islamist wishes—as well as urge the
U.S. to release the "Blind Sheikh" and terrorist mastermind,
Omar Abdul Rahman.
In March
2013, I wrote about how Morsi, during his Pakistan visit, had
reportedly met with Ayman Zawahiri and made arrangements to smuggle him
back to Sinai. According to a Pakistan source, the meeting was
"facilitated by elements of Pakistani intelligence [ISI] and
influential members of the International Organization, the Muslim
Brotherhood."
The gist of the next two calls between Morsi and Muhammad Zawahiri was
that, so long as the former is president, he would see to it that all
released jihadis and al-Qaeda operatives are allowed to move freely
throughout Egypt and the Sinai, and that the presidential palace would
remain in constant contact with Zawahiri, to make sure everything is
moving to the satisfaction of both parties.
Zawahiri further requested that Morsi allow them to develop training
camps in Sinai in order to support the Brotherhood through trained
militants. Along with saying that the Brotherhood intended to form a
"revolutionary guard" to protect him against any coup, Morsi
added that, in return for al-Qaeda's and its affiliates' support, not
only would he allow them to have such training camps, but he would
facilitate their development in Sinai and give them four facilities to
use along the Egyptian-Libyan border.
That Libya is mentioned is interesting. According to a Libyan
Arabic report I translated back in June 2013, those who attacked the
U.S. consulate in Benghazi, killing Americans, including Ambassador Chris
Stevens, were from jihadi cells that had been formed in Libya through
Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood support. Those interrogated named Morsi and
other top Brotherhood leadership as accomplices.
More
evidence—including some that implicates the U.S. administration—has
mounted since then.
Next, Watan makes several more assertions, all of which are
preceded by "according to security/intelligence agencies." They
are:
- That Morsi did
indeed as he promised, and that he facilitated the establishment of
four jihadi training camps. Morsi was then Chief in Command of
Egypt's Armed Forces, and through his power of authority, stopped
the military from launching any operations including in the by now
al-Qaeda overrun Sinai.
- That, after Morsi
reached Pakistan, he had a one-and-a-half hour meeting with an
associate of Ayman Zawahiri in a hotel and possibly spoke with him.
- That, after Morsi
returned to Egypt from his trip to Pakistan, he issued another list
containing the names of 20 more convicted terrorists considered
dangerous to the national security of Egypt, giving them all
presidential pardons—despite the fact that national security and
intelligence strongly recommended that they not be released on
grounds of the threat they posed.
- That the Muslim
Brotherhood's international wing, including through the agency of
Khairat al-Shater, had provided $50 million to al-Qaeda in part to
support the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
One of the longer conversations between Morsi and Zawahiri reported by
Watan is especially telling of al-Qaeda's enmity for secularist Muslims
and Coptic Christians—whose churches, some
80, were attacked, burned, and destroyed, some with the al-Qaeda
flag furled above them, soon after the ousting of Morsi. I translate
portions below:
Zawahiri: "The teachings of Allah need to be applied and
enforced; the secularists have stopped the Islamic Sharia, and the
response must be a stop to the building of churches." (An odd
assertion considering how difficult it already is for Copts to acquire a
repair permit for their churches in Egypt.)
Zawahiri also added that "All those who reject the Sharia must be
executed, and all those belonging to the secular media which work to
disseminate debauchery and help deviants and Christians to violate the
Sharia, must be executed."
Morsi reportedly replied: "We have taken deterrent measures to
combat those few, and new legislative measures to limit their media, and
in the near future, we will shut down these media stations and launch
large Islamic media outlets. We are even planning a big budget from the
[Brotherhood] International Group to launch Islamic and jihadi satellite
stations to urge on the jihad. There will be a channel for you and the
men of al-Qaeda, and it can be broadcast from Afghanistan."
Undeterred, Zawahiri responded by saying, "This [is a] Christian
media—and some of the media personnel are paid by the [Coptic] Church and
they work with those who oppose the Sharia… secularist forces are allied
with Christian forces, among them Naguib
Sawiris, the Christian-Jew."
Morsi: "Soon we will uphold our promises to you."
In fact, there was a period of time when the secular media in
Egypt—which was constantly exposing Brotherhood machinations—were under
severe attack by the Brotherhood and Islamists of all stripes (comedian
Bassem Youssef was the tip of the iceberg). In one instance, which I
noted back in August
2012, six major media stations were attacked by Brotherhood
supporters, their employees severely beat.
The last call recorded between Muhammad Morsi and Muhammad Zawahiri
took place on the dawn of June 30, 2013 (the date of the June 30
Revolution that ousted Morsi and the Brotherhood). Morsi made the call to
Zawahiri in the presence of Asad al-Sheikha, Deputy Chief of Presidential
Staff, Refa' al-Tahtawy, Chief of Presidential Staff, and his personal
security.
During this last call, Morsi incited Zawahiri to rise against the
Egyptian military in Sinai and asked Zawahiri to compel all jihadi and
loyalist elements everywhere to come to the aid of the Muslim Brotherhood
and neutralize its opponents.
Zawahiri reportedly responded by saying "We will fight the
military and the police, and we will set the Sinai aflame.
True enough, as I reported
on July 4, quoting from an Arabic report: "Al-Qaeda, under the
leadership of Muhammad Zawahiri, is currently planning reprisal
operations by which to attack the army and the Morsi-opposition all
around the Republic [of Egypt]." The report added that, right before
the deposing of Morsi, Zawahiri had been arrested and was being
interrogated—only to be ordered released by yet another presidential
order, and that he had since fled to the Sinai.
Also on that same first day of the revolution, Khairat al-Shater,
Deputy Leader of the Brotherhood, had a meeting with a delegate of jihadi
fighters and reiterated Morsi's request that all jihadis come to the aid
of the presidency and the Brotherhood.
—–
As Morsi's trial continues, it's only a matter of time before the
truth of these allegations—and their implications for the U.S.—is known.
But one thing is certain: most of them comport incredibly well with
incidents and events that took place under Morsi's government.
Raymond Ibrahim, author of Crucified Again:
Exposing Islam's New War on Christians (Regnery, April, 2013) is a
Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate
Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
Related
Topics: Egypt, Radical Islam
| Raymond Ibrahim This
text may be reposted or forwarded so long as it is presented as an
integral whole with complete and accurate information provided about its
author, date, place of publication, and original URL.
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