This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 002969 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/18/2015 
TAGS: PTER ASEC CASC EG
SUBJECT: EGYPT NAMES ACCOMPLICES IN APRIL 7 BAZAAR BOMBING 
 
REF: A. CAIRO 2898 (NOTAL) 
     ¶B. CAIRO 2799 
 
Classified by Charge Gordon Gray for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (SBU) In a public announcement on the afternoon of April 
17, the Ministry of Interior named four accomplices of the 
bomber who died as he carried out the April 7 terrorist 
attack in a Cairo tourist bazaar that killed one AmCit, two 
French nationals and wounded 17, including three AmCits, 
other foreigners, and Egyptians.  Of the four accomplices 
named, three are in custody and one is at large.  A fifth man 
arrested is apparently not part of the conspiracy. 
Meanwhile, writing in Egypt's leading daily newspaper, Sheikh 
Aly Gom'a, the Mufti of the Republic, described the bomber as 
a "cowardly terrorist...his misguided beliefs are against 
Islam."  Imprisoned members of the terrorist Islamic Group, 
which was responsible for most of the terror attacks that 
struck Egypt in the 1990s, said the April 7 bombing was 
"murder not jihad" and "served the goals of the enemies of 
the nation."  Many columnists writing about the attack have 
speculated that poverty, hopelessness, and the lack of 
legitimate political outlets contributed to the bomber's 
decision, and others continue to peddle conspiracy theories, 
while one prominent commentator warned against making excuses 
for terrorists.  End summary. 
 
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Four Accomplices 
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¶2. (C) On the afternoon of April 17, Egypt State TV broadcast 
an announcement from the Ministry of Interior (MOI) which 
named four accomplices of Hassan Ahmed Rif'at Bashandi, who 
died April 7 as he detonated a bomb in the Khan al-Khalili 
tourist bazaar, killing also one AmCit and two French 
nationals, and wounding 17 Egyptians and foreigners. 
 
The statement identified the following: 
 
¶A. Akram Mohammed Fawzy (in custody) (DOB 11/5/1970) (DOBs 
were subsequently provided to LEGATT by Egyptian State 
Security) is described as the planner and financier of the 
attack.   MOI alleges that Fawzy provided the principal 
logistical, technical, and ideological support for the 
attack.  Fawzy allegedly set up a chemical fertilizer project 
in Meghaga, in Minya province about 100 miles south of Cairo, 
as a cover for the operation.  Fawzi was identified as a 
resident of Moqattam, a suburb just east of Islamic Cairo. 
 
¶B. Ashraf Sa'id Youssef (at large) (DOB 11/4/1978) is 
described as the individual who recruited the bomber, 
Bashandi, and trained him to conduct the operation.  MOI 
asserted that Youssef knew Bashandi would die upon detonation 
of the bomb but told the bomber he would have five minutes to 
escape after triggering the device.    Youssef was identified 
as a resident of Ezzbet Rushdi in Shubra al-Kheima, in 
Qalyubia province on the northern fringes of Cairo. 
 
¶C. Tarek Ahmed El Sayed Ali (in custody) (DOB 8/25/1971) is 
described as a graduate of the faculty of sciences and 
identified as the one who built the bomb, in a workshop in 
Al-Marg, a northern Cairo suburb.  Ali reportedly put the 
bomb in a green container and passed it to Youssef, who 
passed it to Bashandi.  (Comment: Mention of a green 
container tracks with the statement of an AmCit victim, who 
described an approach by a man carrying a green bucket.  End 
comment.) 
 
¶D. Reda Saeed Ahmed Ibrahim (in custody) (DOB 10/18/1976) is 
a neighbor of Bashandi who allegedly introduced him to the 
group.  MOI alleged that planners originally intended to use 
Ibrahim to deliver the bomb but that his ill health made them 
reconsider.  (Note: We will submit these names separately for 
Visas Vipers consideration.  End note.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) The April 18 edition of Al-Ahram, Egypt's leading 
daily, carried interviews with family members of two of the 
detainees.  Samar, Akram Fawzy's wife insisted that "although 
he prayed, fasted, and asked me to wear the niqab (face 
veil)" her husband did not display extremist tendencies.  She 
said she had met her husband when he worked at her uncle's 
marble processing factory.  Akram "even" allowed Samar to 
watch satellite TV and listen to the radio, she stated in the 
interview.  Samar acknowledged that her husband had recently 
befriended defendant Tarek Ali.  The mother and sister of 
Reda Ibrahim asserted to Al-Ahram that he was too ill to be 
involved in such a plot and that he was a good student at 
Cairo University's Faculty of Agriculture.  They acknowledged 
that he had been a school friend of the bomber Bashandi. 
 
¶4. (SBU) A fifth individual initially named as a suspect, 
Mohamed Fikry Abdel Azim El-Guindy, is a licensed gun 
merchant in Meghaga, Minya, who allegedly sold a gun to 
defendent Tarek Ali.  He was arrested, but is apparently no 
longer considered part of the conspiracy. 
 
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Mufti Condemns Bombing 
---------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Egypt's leading daily Al-Ahram published on April 16 
a piece entitled "They are murdering beauty" penned by Sheikh 
Ali Gom'a, who, as Mufti of the Republic, is Egypt's 
second-ranking Islamic cleric, after the Grand Imam of 
Al-Azhar.  Gom'a lashed out at the April 7 bombing and its 
perpetrators, noting the irony that it would be conducted in 
a historic district famous for showcasing Islam's heritage of 
beautiful and harmonious architecture.  Gom'a said the 
"cowardly terrorist" who "murdered Egyptians and foreigners 
alike...must have never seen beauty in his heart, his eyes, 
or his belief."  He wrote that the attack demonstrated "the 
ugliness of his misguided beliefs, which are against Islam," 
added that the attack was a negative manifestation "of the 
slumber that Islamic civilization is currently enduring," and 
opined that security forces should "strike hard with a 
punishment that befits the crime."  He closed his piece with 
several Qur'anic citations supporting his argument that 
Islam's message is one of love and beauty rather than hatred 
and destruction. 
 
----------------------------------- 
Islamic Group Statement (from jail) 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Also on April 16, Al-Ahram carried an interview with 
imprisoned members of the leadership of the Islamic Group, 
the terrorist organization that conducted many of the terror 
operations that struck Egypt in the 1990s.  The leaders 
condemned the operation, and asserted that "the era of such 
operations is long gone" adding that they thought "everyone 
now understood their negative consequences."  Such operations 
"only serve the goals of the enemies of the nation," they 
contended.  (Comment:  Such rhetoric is usually a reference 
to Israel.  In this context, it does not appear to be an 
accusation of Israeli responsibility, although such 
accusations have appeared elsewhere in the Egyptian media 
(ref B).  End comment.)   In the lengthy interview, the 
leaders reiterate several times the "misguided beliefs" of 
those who carried out the attack, added that foreign tourists 
and business people who visit 
Egypt enjoy protection under Islamic law, and described the 
attack as "murder, not jihad." 
 
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The Public Debate: Who is to Blame? 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) Much commentary about the attack in the Egyptian media 
has focused on the psychology of the bomber Bashandi, with 
speculation that poverty, and the hopelessness Egyptian youth 
face due to widespread unemployment, made him susceptible to 
extremist ideology.  In one of the more outrageous pieces, 
the populist weekly tabloid Sawt al-Umma published on April 
17 a "thoughtful" article that compared the AmCit victim to 
the Egyptian bomber, noting that both were religious young 
men, both were of modest backgrounds, "both suffered from 
depression" and, ultimately, both were "victims of Bush's 
religious wars."  True to form, the reckless tabloid al-Osboa 
published an article citing "reports" of Israeli and U.S. 
involvement in the attack.  Prominent columnist Salama Ahmed 
Salama published a piece in Ahram in which he linked 
extremism to a lack of political freedom and legitimate 
outlets for the frustrations of youth.  Arguing in an 
opposite direction, leading commentator Abdel Moneim Said 
warned against seeking excuses or justifications for 
terrorists, whose inexcusable crimes cost all of Egypt 
dearly. 
 
 
Visit Embassy Cairo's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/cairo 
 
You can also access this site through the 
State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. 
 
GRAY