Archive for Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman

Update: Pro-Sharia protests ends peacefully after minor skirmishes

by admin
November 9th, 2012

The organizers of today’s pro-Sharia protest announced its end at 7 pm from their main stage on Tahrir Square.

Several Salafi groups and Jama’a al-Islamiya coordinated the demonstration to demand that Sharia be more stringently applied in the new constitution.

Several Salafi figures attended the protest, including Abo Yahia, the Salafi Shaikh who is accused of burning the Bible, and Salafi Shaikh Hazem Salah Abo Ismail, the former presidential hopeful. The day of protests ended peacefully despite some fistfights between revolutionary youth and participants earlier in the day.

Large numbers participated in the demonstrations. At its apex, three marches with thousands of protesters coming from Al-Tawhid Mosque in Ramses, Estiqama Mosque in Giza and Mostafa Mahmoud Mosque in Mohandiseen arrived in Tahrir Square in the mid-afternoon afternoon, joining thousands of Islamists already present to voice their support of Sharia.

The march from Tawhid Mosque alone included roughly 5,000.

The protesters attempted to form a human chain in Ramses Street. When they passed by Al-Gomhurriya newspaper headquarters, they pointed at the building and chanted: "Here are the liars."

Dozens members of Sharia Students the Application of the Islamic Sharia campaign came from Estiqama Mosque in Giza. The Mostafa Mahmoud Mosque  march also included Sharia Students members as well as dozens of Revolutionary Salafis Coalition members.

In Tahrir, a number of Jama’a al-Islamiya members and its political party have started distributing a statement titled "Sharia and Egypt are in danger."

 The statement mentioned that some liberals, seculars and leftists wanted to minimize Sharia in the new constitution as mere “decoration.” The statement demanded the application of Sharia to achieve human dignity and social justice.

The three marches arrived in the square shortly after the arrival of dozens of Sharia Students members marching from Asad Ibn al-Forat Mosque in Dokki.

The students chanted "Islam is coming," "The people want to apply God's Law," and "[Egypt is] Islamic in spite of the (constituent) assembly and seculars."

They raised banners reading their demands and white and black flags that read "No God but Allah." Some also held Egyptian and Saudi Arabian flags.

Altercations between the Dokki march protesters and anti-Muslim Brotherhood passersby briefly broke out on Mohamed Mahmoud street, when some observers began chanting against the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohamed Morsy.

The protesters asked their opponents to leave the street following the quarrel.

Thousands began gathering in Tahrir earlier this morning to demand a stricter application of Sharia in the new constitution, as well as the dismissal of the prosecutor general. Some are also calling on Morsy to push for the US to release Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, known as the blind sheikh.

Protesters in the square chanted: "Islam is coming under the rule of Qur'an," "No God but Allah, I want God's Law," "[Egypt is] Islamic, in spite of seculars," "Leave Abdel Meguid (the prosecutor general), we want a firmer prosecutor," "Oh lying media, God's Law is not terrorism," and "No retreat, no surrender, until the prosecutor general leaves."

Members of Jama’a al-Islamiya’s Construction and Development Party blocked entrances to Tahrir from Qasr al-Aini and Mohamed Mahmoud streets with iron bars.

Jama’a al-Islamiya leader Safwat Abdel Ghany told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Morsy should call for the application of Sharia as a representative of the Islamist parties and the revolution. Morsy must not allow liberal and secular forces to determine the fate of Sharia, he argued.

Members of the Ansar al-Sunnah and Sharia Students movements set up a stage on the Qasr al-Nil Bridge, hanging banners reading “Bread, freedom, Islamic Sharia” and “God’s Sharia is security, God’s Sharia is happiness and serenity.”

Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman’s family set up a symbolic stage on the pavement opposite the Egyptian Museum, raising banners calling on Morsy to fight for Abdel Rahman's release from prison in the US.

Some protesters formed human chains in the streets surrounding Tahrir, while others marched around downtown holding banners declaring their demands. Azhar students participated in the protest as well, carrying banners that demanded applying Sharia and the dismissal of the prosecutor general.

The protesters also began collecting signatures in the square for a petition demanding the application in Sharia in the constitution, distributing a statement reading: "I , the undersigned, accept adding a second clause to Article 2 stating that Sharia is the origin of the Constitution and that no article should overcome or contradict it."

The campaign was welcomed by participating Islamist movements.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Update: Dokki march arrives in Tahrir; Fights break out in Mohamed Mahmoud

by admin
November 9th, 2012

Dozens of Sharia Students members marching from Asad Ibn al-Forat Mosque in Dokki arrived in Tahrir Square after the Friday prayers to join today's Islamist-led protests in support of Sharia.

The protesters chanted "Islam is coming," "The people want to apply God's Law," and "[Egypt is] Islamic in spite of the (constituent) assembly and seculars."

They raised banners reading their demands and white and black flags that read "No God but Allah." Some also held Egyptian and Saudi Arabian flags.

Altercations between the protesters and anti-Muslim Brotherhood passersby broke out on Mohamed Mahmoud street, when some observers began chanting against the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohamed Morsy.

The protesters asked their opponents to leave the street following the quarrel.

Thousands began gathering in Tahrir earlier this morning morning to demand a stricter application of Sharia in the new constitution, as well as the dismissal of the prosecutor general. Some are also calling on Morsy to push for the US to release Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, known as the blind sheikh.

Protesters in the square chanted: "Islam is coming under the rule of Qur'an," "No God but Allah, I want God's Law," "[Egypt is] Islamic, in spite of seculars," "Leave Abdel Meguid (the prosecutor general), we want a firmer prosecutor," "Oh lying media, God's Law is not terrorism," and "No retreat, no surrender, until the prosecutor general leaves."

Members of Jama’a al-Islamiya’s Construction and Development Party blocked entrances to Tahrir from Qasr al-Aini and Mohamed Mahmoud streets with iron bars.

Jama’a al-Islamiya leader Safwat Abdel Ghany told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Morsy should call for the application of Sharia as a representative of the Islamist parties and the revolution. Morsy must not allow liberal and secular forces to determine the fate of Sharia, he argued.

Members of the Ansar al-Sunnah and Sharia Students movements set up a stage on the Qasr al-Nil Bridge, hanging banners reading “Bread, freedom, Islamic Sharia” and “God’s Sharia is security, God’s Sharia is happiness and serenity.”

Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman’s family set up a symbolic stage on the pavement opposite the Egyptian Museum, raising banners calling on Morsy to fight for Abdel Rahman's release from prison in the US.

Some protesters formed human chains in the streets surrounding Tahrir, while others marched around downtown holding banners declaring their demands. Azhar students participated in the protest as well, carrying banners that demanded applying Sharia and the dismissal of the prosecutor general.

The protesters also began collecting signatures in the square for a petition demanding the application in Sharia in the constitution, distributing a statement reading: "I , the undersigned, accept adding a second clause to Article 2 stating that Sharia is the origin of the Constitution and that no article should overcome or contradict it."

The campaign was welcomed by participating Islamist movements.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Thousands gather in Tahrir demanding Sharia, dismissal of prosecutor general

by admin
November 9th, 2012

 

Thousands of protesters began gathering in Tahrir Square on Friday morning to demand a stricter application of Sharia in the new constitution, as well as the dismissal of the prosecutor general. Some are also calling on President Mohamed Morsy to push for the US to release Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, known as the blind sheikh.

Protesters chanted: "Islam is coming under the rule of Qur'an," "No God but Allah, I want God's Law," "[Egypt is] Islamic, in spite of seculars," "Leave Abdel Meguid (the prosecutor general), we want a firmer prosecutor," "Oh lying media, God's Law is not terrorism," and "No retreat, no surrender, until the prosecutor general leaves."

Members of Jama’a al-Islamiya’s Construction and Development Party blocked entrances to Tahrir from Qasr al-Aini and Mohamed Mahmoud streets with iron bars.

Jama’a al-Islamiya leader Safwat Abdel Ghany told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Morsy should call for the application of Sharia as a representative of the Islamist parties and the revolution. Morsy must not allow liberal and secular forces to determine the fate of Sharia, he argued.

Members of the Ansar al-Sunnah and Sharia Students movements set up a stage on the Qasr al-Nil Bridge, hanging banners reading “Bread, freedom, Islamic Sharia” and “God’s Sharia is security, God’s Sharia is happiness and serenity.”

Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman’s family set up a symbolic stage on the pavement opposite the Egyptian Museum, raising banners calling on Morsy to fight for Abdel Rahman's release from prison in the US.

Some protesters formed human chains in the streets surrounding Tahrir, while others marched around downtown holding banners declaring their demands. Azhar students participated in the protest as well, carrying banners that demanded applying Sharia and the dismissal of the prosecutor general.

The protesters also began collecting signatures in the square for a petition demanding the application in Sharia in the constitution, distributing a statement reading: "I , the undersigned, accept adding a second clause to Article 2 stating that Sharia is the origin of the Constitution and that no article should overcome or contradict it."

The campaign was welcomed by participating Islamist movements.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Son of ‘Blind Sheikh’ threatens US embassy employees

by admin
July 27th, 2012

The son of Omar Abdel Rahman, a Jama’a al-Islamiya leader known as the “Blind Sheikh” who was convicted of terrorism charges in the US in 1995, threatened to organize a protest at the US Embassy in Cairo and detain the employees inside.

Abdallah Abdel Rahman’s threat came during a press conference organized by the sheikh’s family near the highly fortified American embassy compound on Thursday evening.

Abdel Rahman demanded that President Mohamed Morsy intervene for the release of his father as he did in the case of Egyptian journalist Shaimaa Adel who was detained for nearly two weeks for covering protests in Sudan then flown back to Egypt on a plane with Morsy.

He called for applying the “principle of reciprocity,” saying that every American detained in Egypt should be put in solitary confinement and refused visitors like Egyptian prisoners are in the US. He said that his father has been treated badly in US prison.  

Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman is “a wronged man whose case has been fabricated, and he should be retried because some witnesses retracted their statements, which they made because of pressure from the former regime,” said Aboud al-Zomor, a member of Jama’a al-Islamiya’s Shura Council who was in jail until the revolution for being involved in the assassination of former President Anwar Sadat.

Following the press conference, Abdel Rahman’s family distributed a statement to attendees that calls on Morsy to form a committee to visit the sheikh in prison, check his health and assign him legal counsel to file a lawsuit against the US Department of Justice over his long-term solitary confinement.

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Egypt Did not contact US over release of ‘Blind Sheikh,’ says official

by admin
July 3rd, 2012

President Mohamed Morsy has not made communicated with Washington over the release Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Noland said.

Abdel Rahman, often known as the “Blind Sheikh,” was convicted in 1995 for taking part in the World Trade Center bombings in 1993 and helping plan other attacks, including one planned for the United Nations headquarters.

In a press briefing, Noland said that Morsy has just assumed his new post and that neither him nor any representative for him had contacted Washington in this concern.

“To my knowledge, neither he nor his people have contacted us on this case, but I think the secretary was extremely clear in her interviews over the weekend about where we stand on it,” Noland said.

Last week, Morsy took an informal oath of office before tens of thousands of supporters in Cairo's Tahrir Square in which he paid homage to the militant cleric jailed in the United States.

"I see the family of Omar Abdel Rahman (in Tahrir)," he said. "And I see the banners of the families of those who have been jailed by the (Egyptian) military." He pledged to work for the release of the prisoners, including Abdel Rahman.

On Sunday, Morsy spokesperson Yasser Ali said that the president’s statements on releasing Abdel Rahman were based on sympathy for his family, from a humanitarian perspective and not a legal one.

Ali added that Egypt respects laws and criminal rulings issued in other countries with stable judicial systems, and that legal options exist for dealing with humanitarian issues.

This week, The US secretary of state responded by saying that the legal procedures of Abdel Rahman’s trial were correct.

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Clinton says trial proceedings for ‘Blind Sheikh’ were correct

by admin
July 2nd, 2012

The US secretary of state has responded to President Mohamed Morsy’s call for extraditing Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, who is currently serving life imprisonment in the US.

Hillary Clinton said the legal procedures of Abdel Rahman’s trial were correct.

Abdel Rahman was convicted in 1995 for taking part in the World Trade Center bombings in 1993 and helping plan other attacks, including one planned for the United Nations headquarters.

During an interview with CNN while on a visit to Switzerland, Clinton said the evidence against Abdel Rahman, often called “the Blind Sheikh,” was clear and convincing.

Morsy spokesperson Yasser Ali on Sunday said that the president’s statements on releasing Abdel Rahman were based on sympathy for his family, from a humanitarian perspective and not a legal one.

He said Egypt should respect laws and criminal rulings issued in other countries with stable judicial systems, and that legal options exist for dealing with humanitarian issues.

Edited translation from MENA

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US probes visit by Egyptian member of blacklisted Jama’a al-Islamiya

by admin
June 23rd, 2012

Washington is investigating how a member of a radical Egyptian Islamist group listed as a terrorist organizationin the US met with senior officials during a visit to the United States this week.

Former elected Egyptian lawmaker Hani Nour Eddin, a member of the Jama'a al-Islamiyya, was among the delegation who traveled to the US.

"We are looking into the circumstances of this particular case," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters.

"Anybody issued a visa goes through a full set of screenings. Those screenings, however, do depend on the integrity of the information that's available to us at the time we make the screen."

The group was blamed for a spate of violence in Egypt in the 1990s. It claimed responsibility for a devastating attack in Egypt's southern city of Luxor in 1997 that killed 62 people, most of them tourists.

Long designated a terrorist organization, its spiritual head is Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, jailed for life over the 1993 New York World Trade Center bombing.

The jailed leadership of the group renounced violence in 2003.

Members of any blacklisted terror group are barred from entry to the United States and liable to deportation if caught.

The Daily Beast said that Eddin held meetings at both the White House and the State Department as part of a delegation of Egyptian lawmakers, and confirmed in an interview that he was a member of Jama'a – which the United States blacklisted as a terror organization in 1997.

Nuland confirmed Eddin was with the delegation when it met at the State Department with officials, including Deputy Secretary of State William Burns.

"They were meetings with the entire delegation talking about transference of civilian rule, the protection of human rights in a democracy, all these kinds of things," Nuland added.

The Daily Beast said that he "was arrested in 1993 on terrorism charges after members of Jama'a al-Islamiya got into a shoot out with Egyptian security officials at a mosque. He has proclaimed his innocence in the shooting and says he was arrested because of his political activism against Mubarak."

Eddin told the Daily Beast he was not a terrorist, but instead was a legitimate member of parliament who had been jailed on political charges under the government of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

"I was personally not involved in any violent action or terrorism against the United States or any other country," he said.

"The years I spent in prison were under the regime of Mubarak, these were political charges and there was no judicial basis for them."

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US State Department: Up to Egyptians to decide on future of financial aid

by admin
March 13th, 2012

It is up to the Egyptian people to decide whether they want to continue receiving financial assistance from the United States, the US State Department spokesperson said Monday.

“We believe it’s in the interest of the Egyptian people, but certainly it’s in the national interests of the US, to help Egypt in its transition to full democracy,” State Department spokesperson Mark Toner said at a press briefing.

The remarks came a day after Egyptian lawmakers in the Islamist-dominated Parliament called for a vote to end receiving more than US$1 billion in annual aid, a reflection of tensions with Washington over the case of Americans and others charged with illegally accepting foreign funds while working for pro-democracy groups.

The move came as the political crisis in Egypt began to ease after some lawmakers accused the army-backed cabinet of bowing to American pressure by allowing the Americans and other foreigners charged in the case to leave the country despite an apparent travel ban.

The lawmakers threatened to issue a no-confidence vote against the government, but on Tuesday, Egypt’s flagship newspaper Al-Ahram reported that after meetings between those in disagreement, a vote of no confidence is unlikely to happen.

Toner acknowledged he was aware of the motion in the Egyptian Parliament to deliberate on an end to US assistance.

“And certainly, it is within their own right to decide whether or if they want this assistance,” he added.

The spokesperson did not provide any further information about the demands of the family of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, also known as the “Blind Sheikh,” for his release, telling the questioner to consult the US Justice Department about the matter.

Abdel Rahman is currently serving a life sentence in the US, convicted of masterminding the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City, among other charges. His family says he is innocent.

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Government won’t resign, says official

by admin
March 11th, 2012

A senior official has said that the government of Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri would not tender its resignation because of the attack on it by members of Parliament.

MPs had called for withdrawing confidence from the government against the backdrop of the NGO illegal funding issue.

The official also said that the military council did not ask the government to resign, and that Ganzouri seeks to curb the anger of the MPs by responding to some of their demands, especially the release of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, leader of Jama’a al-Islamiya, who is imprisoned in the United States.

He added that a limited cabinet reshuffle might take place, changing two unspecified ministers, should Freedom and Justice Party MPs escalate their rhetoric.

A parliamentary session dedicated to questioning the government regarding why foreign defendants in the NGO case were allowed to leave the country before their trial was canceled after no representatives of the government planned on attending.

According to Egypt's system of government, only the military council has the right to discharge and appoint cabinets.

A vote of no-confidence would complicate the whole transitional period three months before the generals return to the barracks. Fears surfaced that toppling the government would make it difficult for Egypt to get the a $3.2 billion loan it has requested from the IMF.

Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Parliament defense committee calls for removal of Ganzouri govt

by admin
March 4th, 2012

Parliament’s Defense and National Security Committee on Sunday called for withdrawing confidence in the government and forming a coalition government led by the Freedom and Justice Party.

Members of the committee, headed by MP Farid Ismail, said Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri’s government statement last month was shocking and failed to meet people’s expectations.

The committee said the statement did not address critical issues such as security and the restructuring of the Interior Ministry, or suggest ways to boost the economy.

Committee members severely criticized the government for its position on the foreign-funded NGOs case and a decision to lift the ban on the foreigners implicated in it.

Authorities had placed criminal charges on 43 NGO workers, including Americans, in a case that sparked tension between the US and Egypt.

Ismail said the People’s Assembly will hold a session on Sunday to discuss this issue, which he said has undermined Egyptian dignity and sovereignty.

He added that the committee called for summoning officials involved in lifting the ban on Americans accused in the foreign-funded NGOs case.

The committee also recommended that Egypt diversify its sources of weapons instead of depending entirely on the US, saying several countries are ready to supply Egypt with arms.

Since 1979, Egypt has been receiving annual US military aid estimated at US$1.3 billion, which the US threatened to suspend when its citizens were brought to trial in the NGOs case.

Ismail also said the committee calls for the release of Egyptian prisoners in US prisons, including Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, who is serving a life sentence there over charges of terrorism.

Meanwhile, the economic committee prevented media from covering its meeting, which tackled the foreign-funded NGOs case.

Sources from the committee said Planning and International Cooperation Minister Fayza Abouelnaga, who attended the meeting, asked to ban media coverage of the meeting to keep secret any details that could anger Egyptians.

Translated from MENA

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