Egypt's once violent Jamaah Islamiya now renounce violence - but not everyone is impressed by the new message.
Ayman al-Zawahriâs recent calls to arms could embarrass those who once fought alongside him back home, especially when they are trying to give up their legacy of armed opposition. For years a security nightmare before its leaders renounced violence in 1997, Egyptâs Jamaah Islamiya is desperately trying to reassure the state of its new âreformedâ line.
| Ayman linked them to Binny in February 1998... |
The Jamaahâs 51-year-old leader Karam Zuhdi - who has been in prison since 1981 over his role in the assassination of President Anwar al-Sadat the same year â caused a stir last July with a frank confession to the Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat. Asked what he would have done if he could turn back the clock, Zuhdi replied: âI would have intervened to prevent his murder ⊠Sadat, may God bless his soul with mercy, is a martyr along with everyone who died in that fight.â
| "I'm so sorry I got caught..." |
From killing the countryâs former president to anointing his soul, Egyptâs largest armed opposition group has indeed travelled a long way. The Jamaah leaders launched a unilateral ceasefire initiative in July 1997, at a time when the groupâs infrastructure outside prisons had been crippled by security blows. By then its insurgency had claimed the lives of more than 1000 people, mostly police officers, the Jamaah activists, and, on several occasions, Copts, tourists and secular intellectuals. The groupâs leadership, the Shura Council, followed their announcement by producing four revisionist studies. They reiterated that the government was not âinfidelâ after all, and renounced violence. Initially the groupâs calls fell on deaf ears. The regime distrusted the Jamaah, especially after one of its units slaughtered 58 tourists and four Egyptians in November 1997, in Luxor.
| Fooled 'em twice, didn't they? |
But later, following the 11 September 2001 attacks, the regime came to endorse the initiative. The government turnaround was confirmed in June 2002, when authorities allowed the editor of state-owned weekly Al-Mussawar to interview the Jamaa leaders inside jails. Since then, they have become media celebrities with their routine denunciation of terror. More importantly, recent crackdowns on Muslim opposition movements have not targeted al-Jamaah sympathisers, whose âgood conductâ even earned them praise from the countryâs interior minister. âNearly 1000 members of Jamaah Islamiya have been released over a period of time [three years] in line with clear guidelines and their commitment to rejecting violence,â Major General Habib al-Adly, Egyptâs minister of interior, told Al-Mussawar in September. âAll those who have been freed are living normally among the people and clearly state their rejection of violence and their total commitment to the initiative declared by the Jamaah leadership,â the minister added. Rights groups put the figure of Islamists in prisons at 15,000.
| Toss enough of them into jug and the remainder starts to think... |
While the minister is pleased, yesterdayâs comrades in arms from other groups remain furious. London-based Islamists such as Yasir al-Sirri and Hani al-Sebai have labelled the Jamaahâs moves a sell-out.
| They're in England, aren't they? And the guys in jug are in Egypt. Maybe they should go to Egypt and say the same things... |
âThese comments are coming from those who are not Jamaah Islamiyaâs sons,â said lawyer Montasser al-Zayat in reply. Al-Zayat is a former Jamaah member who has acted as its de facto spokesman. âThey are commenting on an internal issue. The Jamaah did not force anyone to join its violence in the first place, so no one should instruct the Jamaah now on how to handle the initiative.â
| That's Arabic for "butt out." |
But the Jamaahâs revisions are not solely its âinternalâ business anymore. The group is touching the cornerstones of a deep legacy. The moves have already drawn a crescendo of criticism from London-based activists, including the Saudi-born dissident Muhammad al-Massari, and Syrian exile Abu Baseer.
| Neither of whom is in Egypt, so they don't have to worry about being tossed in jug and watching Mahmoud the Jailer swallow the key... |
Observers who have been closely monitoring the Jamaahâs development, like Muhammad Salah of Al Hayat, say the exilesâ criticism is unlikely to have an impact on the group. âThey will not listen to them,â said Salah. âComing under external attack could even give more legitimacy to the Jamaahâs leadership (among its members).â |