Excerpts: ISIS presence in Egypt overstated: official. Egypt re Erdogan. =

Protecting Lebanon against local and foreign threats July 26, 2014

+++Egypt Daily News Saturday26thJuly2014
Written by : Ahmad Al-Ghamrawi
ISIS presence in Egypt overstated: official

Egyptian security official says homegrown terrorist organizations are =

falsely claiming ISIS ties

Armored personnel carriers (APC) of the Egyptian Army patrol on a road clos=
e =

to El Gorah in northeastern Sinai, Egypt, 21 May 2013. (EPA)

Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat=97Radical Islamist groups in Egypt are claiming ties=
to =

the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in a bid to secure funding and =

publicity, a senior Egyptian security official told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The Egyptian security official, who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on the =

condition of anonymity because he is not permitted to speak to the media, =

played down the prospect of ISIS securing a foothold in the country=92s Sin=
ai =

Peninsula following last week=92s attack on a border checkpoint by suspecte=
d =

Islamist gunmen.

In a statement distributed online via an ISIS-affiliated Twitter account, a=
n =

Islamist group claiming to be ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, =

which killed 22 Egyptian Border Guards at the military checkpoint along the =

Libyan=96-Egyptian border.

The statement led to fears of that ISIS, which has recently announced the =

establishment of an Islamic State in territory under its control in Iraq an=
d =

Syria, was infiltrating Egyptian territory. However Cairo has dismissed the =

claims that ISIS was behind the attack, with Egyptian President Abdel-Fatta=
h =

El-Sisi pledging to =93uproot terrorism from every part of Egypt.=94

The Egyptian official informed Asharq Al-Awsat that authorities had traced =

the ISIS Twitter account to a different Islamist terrorist group, the =

Sinai-based Ansar Bayit Al-Maqdis. The twitter account had previously been =

affiliated to Ansar Bayit Al-Maqdis, only to change its profile name and =

affiliation after ISIS announced an Islamic State in eastern Iraq and =

western Syria.

Ansar Beyit Al-Maqdis, which the Egyptian government has said is a front fo=
r =

the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood organization, has carried out a number =

of attacks on Egyptian security targets and infrastructure, including a =

failed assassination attempt against Egyptian Interior Minister Mohammed =

Ibrahim.

Despite an ISIS pledge to carry out =93ambitious=94 plans in the Middle Eas=
t and =

North Africa, Egyptian officials are playing down the possibility of the =

Islamist militant group finding a foothold in the country, citing strategic =

challenges.

=93With ISIS fighters operating across a vast geographical area, spanning t=
wo =

fronts&8212;=97Syria and Iraq=97=97this does not allow it to consider infil=
trating =

new areas at this time,=94 the Egyptian official told Asharq Al-Awsat.

+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 26 July =9214:=94Egypt summons Turkish envoy aft=
er =

Erdogan repeats:Sisi is a =91tyrant=92 =93, Reuters

SUBJECT: Egypt re Erdogan

QUOTE:=94comments by P.M.Erdogan deemed insulting to the leadership in Cair=
o=94

FULL TEXT:Egypt summoned the Turkish charge d'affaires on Saturday[26 July] =

for the second time in a month to complain about comments by Prime Minister =

Tayyip Erdogan deemed insulting to the leadership in Cairo, the Egyptian =

Foreign Ministry said.

In an interview with broadcaster CNN, Erdogan repeated the phrase that =

caused offense last time, calling Egypt's president, former army chief Abde=
l =

Fattah al-Sisi, a "tyrant". He also accused Egypt of not being "sincere" =

over the Gaza crisis.

"The Arab republic of Egypt expresses its deep rejection of the latest =

comments made by the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan," the foreign =

ministry said.

It said Erdogan's comments included "insults to the president and an issuin=
g =

of general verdicts that lacked evidence, not objective but based on =

personal considerations."

Relations between Egypt and Turkey have soured since the Egyptian army last =

year ousted the governing Muslim Brotherhood, which Erdogan supports. Last =

year, Egypt expelled the Turkish ambassador, accusing him of undermining th=
e =

country. Ankara responded in kind.

When asked if he still stands by his previous comment that Sisi was an =

"illegitimate tyrant", Erdogan said: "Well, he is right now a tyrant, I =

don't have any doubts about that," according to a transcript published on =

CNN's website.

As head of the army, Sisi orchestrated the ouster of elected Islamist =

President Mohamed Mursi, a senior member of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood =

in reaction to protests against him.

He resigned from the army to run for election, which he won in a landslide. =

The Brotherhood was, by then, a banned group. Cairo has cracked down hard o=
n =

Islamists, jailing thousands and killing hundreds of street protesters.

On the Palestinian crisis, Erdogan said Egypt "at this moment does not have =

a sincere approach to the Palestine issue."

Erdogan is a vocal supporter of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which =

Egypt sees as a security threat because it is an offshoot of the =

Brotherhood.

Egypt had proposed a truce initiative to end the Palestinian-Israeli =

fighting that failed, mainly because it was rejected by Hamas, which rules =

the Gaza strip that borders Egypt.

Foreign ministers from the United States, Europe and the Middle East =

including Turkey but not Egypt met in Paris on Saturday[26 July] and called =

for an extension of a 12-hour ceasefire.

+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 26 July =9214:=94General Qahwaji ahead of Arm=
y =

Day: Military Ready to Protect South, Deploy to Confront Israel=94

SUBJECT: Protecting Lebanon against local and foreign threats

QUOTE: =93He also called on officers to =91remain loyal to the nation and a=
void =

getting embroiled in sectarian disputes=92 =93

FULL TEXT:Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji stressed on Saturday[26 July] =

the military's readiness to protect Lebanon against local and foreign =

threats.

He emphasized ahead of Army Day that the army is prepared to protect =

Lebanon's southern border and deploy to confront Israel. Army Day falls on =

August 1.

Qahwaji added that the dangerousness of the situation requires diligence in =

order to preserve the role of the army and protect Lebanon's =93unique =

identity.=94He also called on officers to remain =93loyal to the nation and =

avoid getting embroiled in sectarian disputes.=94Furthermore, he hailed the =

implementation of the security plan adopted in April in the northern city o=
f =

Tripoli, saying that it helped restore calm and stability there.

The plan, carried out by the army and security forces, is aimed at cracking =

down on armed groups and gunmen that have created instability in Tripoli in =

recent years.Dozens of suspects have been arrested, while others remain at =

large.

A similar plan was adopted in the eastern Bekaa region, while another one =

will be carried out in Beirut.

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA =

________________________________________
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis

Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on A=
rab-Israeli relations

Website: www.imra.org.il

For free regular subscription:
Subscribe at no charge: imra-subscribe@imra.org.il
Unsubscribe: imra-unsubscribe@imra.org.il

For free daily digest subscription:
Subscribe at no charge: imra-subscribe-digest@imra.org.il
Unsubscribe: imra-unsubscribe@imra.org.il

IMRA is now also on Twitter
http://twitter.com/IMRA_UPDATES