VZCZCXYZ0006
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #3515 3511448
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 171448Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7771

UNCLAS CAIRO 003515 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
S/CT FOR SHORE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER ASEC EG
SUBJECT: EGYPT: 2007 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM 
 
REF: STATE 146856 
 
 Egypt 
 
¶1.  Egypt is an ally in the Global War on Terrorism.  The 
Egyptian and U.S. governments maintained a robust dialogue 
on a broad range of counter-terrorism and law enforcement 
issues in 2007 and exchanged information on a variety of 
terrorism, security, and law enforcement matters during 
the course of the year.  In 2007, the U.S. hosted 
the third session of the US-Egypt Counter-Terrorism Joint 
Working Group, and the next meeting of the group will 
likely be held in 2008 in Cairo. 
 
¶2.  There were no successful terrorist attacks in Egypt in 
2007 due mainly to the vigilance and effectiveness of 
Egypt's security services. 
 
¶3.  During 2007, the imprisoned former leader of Egyptian 
Islamic Jihad, Sayid Imam al-Sharif, issued a detailed 
"revision" of his previous ideology of violent jihad. 
His revised approach to jihad does not amount to a 
rejection of the concept, but an attempt to establish 
"rules of engagement" for conducting jihad, while also 
offering non-violent alternatives. 
 
¶4.  The Egyptian government's active opposition to Islamist 
terrorism, and effective intelligence and security services, 
makes Egypt an unattractive locale for terror groups. 
There is no evidence of active foreign terrorist groups in 
the country.  However, Egypt's northern Sinai region is a 
base for the smuggling of arms and explosives into Gaza, 
and a transit point for Gazan Palestinians.   Palestinian 
officials from Hamas have also carried large amounts of 
cash across the border.  The smuggling of weapons and other 
contraband through the Sinai into Israel and the Gaza Strip 
has created criminal networks that may be associated with 
terror groups in the region.  The apparent recent 
radicalization of some Sinai Bedouin may possibly be linked 
in part to these smuggling networks and Egyptian efforts to 
dismantle them. 
 
¶5.  In the past four years, Egypt has tightened its terror 
finance regulations in keeping with relevant UN Security 
Council Resolutions.  Egypt passed strong anti-money 
laundering legislation in 2002, established a financial 
intelligence unit in 2003, and ratified the latest UN 
Convention to Combat Terror Finance in 2005.  The government 
of Egypt also keeps up open, regular lines of communication 
with U.S. Embassy officials concerning terrorist finance 
information.  Egypt maintained its strengthened airport 
security measures and security for the Suez Canal, and 
continued to institute more stringent port security measures. 
 
¶6. The Egyptian judicial system does not allow plea 
bargaining, and terrorists have historically been prosecuted 
to the full extent of the law.  Terrorism defendants may be 
tried in military tribunals or emergency courts. In terms of 
evidence for counter-terrorism cases in the U.S., the 
judicial system is cooperative in the framework of the 
Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.  A formal mechanism exists 
for the United States to request from Egypt evidence which 
can be used in American courts. 
 
¶7. Many of the Egyptian president's far-reaching powers in 
the realm of counter-terrorism come from a decades-old 
Emergency Law, which was renewed by Parliament for two years 
in 2006.  President Mubarak has pledged to lift the 
Emergency Law by June 2008 and has called for new 
anti-terrorism legislation to replace the Emergency Law, 
noting that Egypt should follow the example of other 
countries that have recently passed comprehensive laws to 
combat terrorism.  Such legislation is currently being 
drafted by a governmental interagency committee and will 
be considered by Egypt's Parliament in early 2008. 
 
¶7. Embassy Point of Contact:  Ed White at 
whiteea@state.gov. 
Ricciardone