VZCZCXRO5173
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHEG #4907 2211228
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 091228Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0443
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS CAIRO 004907 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR MIKE SINGH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER EG
SUBJECT: EGYPTIAN ISLAMIC GROUP DENIES JOINING AL QAEDA 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Egyptian Islamic Group (EIG) ("Al Gamaa Al 
Islamiyah) officials have issued a denial of recent claims by 
Al Qaida's Ayman al Zawahiri that the EIG has joined Al 
Qaida.  In a statement posted on the EIG's website 
(www.egyptianislamicgroup.com), the group "asserts the 
incorrectness" of Zawahiri's statement, noting that it 
"contains flagrant contradictions of reality" (full text of 
website statement below).  On Egyptian and Arab satellite 
television programs aired on August 8, Karam Zuhdi, head of 
the EIG Shura Council, also denied that the EIG had joined Al 
Qaida, and reiterated points made in the below website 
statement. 
 
¶2. (SBU) A translation of the EIG website statement follows: 
 
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful 
 
The Egyptian Al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyah asserts the 
incorrectness of the Al-Zawahiri statement that was broadcast 
on Al-Jazirah in regards to the joining of Al-Jama'ah 
al-Islamiyah to Al-Qa'ida organization, and denies the 
statement on the whole and in its details. As to the content 
of Al-Zawahiri's statement concerning the names of Al-Jama'ah 
al-Islamiyah leaders, it contains a flagrant contradiction of 
the reality: 
 
--  Dr. Umar Abd-al-Rahman was and still is a strong 
supporter of Al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyah's initiative launched in 
¶1997.  To this date, he is still detained in an American 
prison. May God ease his agony and may God raise his standing. 
 
--  Shaykh Abd-al-Akhir Hammad announced on Al-Jazirah that 
he in fact did not belong to the Al-Qa'ida organization on 
the whole and in its details. 
 
--  As for Shaykh Rifa'i Taha, he has declared since August 
1998 his withdrawal from the Global Front for Jihad against 
the Jews and Crusaders.  He declared afterwards his 
observance to Al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyah's decision.  To this 
day, he is still detained in one of the Egyptian prisons 
where he has been since 2001.  All that is known about him 
confirms his observance to Al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyah's current 
initiative. 
 
-- Shaykh Muhammad Mustafa al-Murqi reinforced his support to 
the Al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyah initiative in his book regarding 
the sinful killing of civilians in the Islamic Shari'ah and 
whose content contradicts the Al-Qa'ida organization's stance 
regarding civilians. 
 
-- We are left with brother Muhammad Khalil al-Hukayimah 
whose name appeared on the statement broadcasted by 
Al-Jazirah.  The man is not known to us, and has never 
occupied a leadership position in Al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyah. 
His association with the Al-Qa'ida organization represents 
his personal stand, no more and no less. 
 
All that is left to say is that Al Jama'ah al-Islamiyah and 
the Al-Qa'ida organization are in a profound disagreement on 
the way they look at the reality, the goals they target, and 
the strategies they plan.  Because of the disagreement, 
Al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyah appealed to the leaders of Al-Qa'ida 
in a number of writings to review its vision and to reserve 
the latent power of jihad in the souls of believers for use 
where there is an oppressive colonialist or occupier away 
from the bombing of Riyadh and Casablanca, and to review the 
strategy of confronting enemies and fighting the whole world. 
 
Al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyah 
 
Karam Zuhdi, Najih Ibrahim, Isam Darbalah, Usamah Hafiz, 
Fu'ad al-Duwalibi, Ali al-Sharif, Asim Abd-al-Majid, Hamdi 
Abd-al-Rahman 
-- Expect Shaykh Abd-al-Akhir Hammad's declaration on 
Al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyah's website in which he refutes his 
joining Al-Qa'ida. 
 
-- Await statements by Al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyah's leaders in 
regard to this erroneous news. 
 
-- Await a few articles on the truth of the disagreement 
between the vision of Al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyah and the 
Al-Qa'ida organization. 
 
End text of translation. 
 
 
RICCIARDONE