The list of suspects in the Libya terror attack now extends to a handful of suspected militants aligned with an Egyptian group known as the Jamal Network, Fox News has learned.

A U.S. official said the Jamal Network is committed to violence to attain its political ambitions, adding they are “hard-core, violent extremists in Egypt who are trying to develop a relationship with Al Qaeda.”

Fox News is told that there are between two- and three-dozen suspects actively being investigated at any one time in connection with the Benghazi attack. The suspect list is fluid, drawn from intelligence ranging from intercepts to witness accounts, with new names being added and dropped on a regular basis.

The majority of the suspects were described to Fox News as “locals” who come from Libya and are followers of the group Ansar al-Shariah, which wants to establish an Islamic state with adherence to strict Shariah law.

The additional suspects are being investigated after one Tunisian suspect, Ali Ani al-Harzi, was first arrested in Turkey — after being identified through telephone intercepts where he bragged to friends about his involvement — and transferred to Tunisian custody. There is also at least one suspect with ties to Al Qaeda in Iraq.

The radical ties of the suspects further raises questions about the degree of planning that may have been involved in an attack initially described as “spontaneous.”

The Jamal Network takes its name from Mohammed Jamal Abu Ahmed, who was released from an Egyptian jail during the Arab Spring and is now trying to establish himself as a leader in Jihadi circles. U.S. officials believe he established training camps in Libya, and it was in these camps that some of the fighters linked to the attack were trained.

Within the last 10 days, Egyptian police have broken up a “terrorist cell” linked to the Jamal network. As many as 12 militants were arrested.

In the October raid, Libyan Karim Ahmed Essam al-Azizy, who was linked to the consulate attack, was killed.

Mohammed Jamal reportedly has secured financing from the Al Qaeda franchise in Yemen, and he has sought permission to formally establish an Al Qaeda affiliate of his own in Egypt.

An analyst who does open source intelligence collection for the government told Fox News that Egypt and the Sinai are the new training ground for Al Qaeda. “Egypt and the Sinai are the new ground zero for Al Qaeda activity. It’s fertile ground given the release of high-ranking Jihadists with connections to Zawahri including his brother. Egyptian security forces are unable to penetrate the Sinai.”

By Catherine Herridge
Fox News

The list of suspects in the Libya terror attack now extends to a handful of suspected militants aligned with an Egyptian group known as the Jamal Network, Fox News has learned.

A U.S. official said the Jamal Network is committed to violence to attain its political ambitions, adding they are “hard-core, violent extremists in Egypt who are trying to develop a relationship with Al Qaeda.”

Fox News is told that there are between two- and three-dozen suspects actively being investigated at any one time in connection with the Benghazi attack. The suspect list is fluid, drawn from intelligence ranging from intercepts to witness accounts, with new names being added and dropped on a regular basis.

The majority of the suspects were described to Fox News as “locals” who come from Libya and are followers of the group Ansar al-Shariah, which wants to establish an Islamic state with adherence to strict Shariah law.

The additional suspects are being investigated after one Tunisian suspect, Ali Ani al-Harzi, was first arrested in Turkey — after being identified through telephone intercepts where he bragged to friends about his involvement — and transferred to Tunisian custody. There is also at least one suspect with ties to Al Qaeda in Iraq.

The radical ties of the suspects further raises questions about the degree of planning that may have been involved in an attack initially described as “spontaneous.”

The Jamal Network takes its name from Mohammed Jamal Abu Ahmed, who was released from an Egyptian jail during the Arab Spring and is now trying to establish himself as a leader in Jihadi circles. U.S. officials believe he established training camps in Libya, and it was in these camps that some of the fighters linked to the attack were trained.

Within the last 10 days, Egyptian police have broken up a “terrorist cell” linked to the Jamal network. As many as 12 militants were arrested.

In the October raid, Libyan Karim Ahmed Essam al-Azizy, who was linked to the consulate attack, was killed.

Mohammed Jamal reportedly has secured financing from the Al Qaeda franchise in Yemen, and he has sought permission to formally establish an Al Qaeda affiliate of his own in Egypt.

An analyst who does open source intelligence collection for the government told Fox News that Egypt and the Sinai are the new training ground for Al Qaeda. “Egypt and the Sinai are the new ground zero for Al Qaeda activity. It’s fertile ground given the release of high-ranking Jihadists with connections to Zawahri including his brother. Egyptian security forces are unable to penetrate the Sinai.”

By Catherine Herridge
Fox News

Egyptians who vote for a draft constitution that does not establish “shariah rulings” as the country’s main jurisprudence will go “to hell,” a Salafi political leader has said.

Adel Afifi, the founder and president of Al-Asala political party, wrote on his Facebook account: “Support God and reject the constitution.” He added that those who will accept the draft constitution will be “apostates,” “committing a sin” and “casting themselves into hell.”

The approval of a constitution that “rebuffs God’s law is prohibited and is a clear sin,” Afifi added, according to Egypt’s news website Masrawy.com.

The draft constitution leaves unchanged Article 2 of the 1971 constitution stating, “Islam is the religion of the State, Arabic is its official language and the principles of Islamic Shariah form the main source of legislation.”

Salafis and Islamic hardliners demand that the expression “the principles of Islamic shariah” be replaced by “rulings of shariah.”

Salafis in Egypt are planning a protest in Tahrir Square on Friday to “support Sharia” and to call for a constitution in which its “articles do not violate God’s law.” The Muslim Brotherhood movement said it will not take part in the protest.

The phrasing of Article 2 ignited debates over the role of religion in the country’s affairs and those in charge of interpreting it.

The current draft seems unsatisfying not only to ultra conservatives Salafis, but for secularists and human rights activists too, as it is accused of seeking to place limits on religious freedoms and women’s rights.

The constitution panel members have said they are expected to finish writing the draft charter as early as next month. The new constitution then will have to be put to a public referendum within 30 days.

http://english.alarabiya.net

Published: 16 July, 2012, 11:56
Edited: 16 July, 2012, 15:27

An Egyptian protester shouts slogans as he holds a shoe on a portrait of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton outside the US embassy in Cairo on July 14, 2012 to protest against her visit to the country (AFP Photo / Mohhamed Hassam)
TRENDS: Egypt unrest
TAGS: Meeting, Scandal, Accident, Hillary Clinton, Protest, Politics, Human rights, Opposition, Egypt

Hillary Clinton has been welcomed in Egypt by locals greeting her motorcade with tomatoes, shoes and water bottles. Rallying protesters showed awareness with US domestic policy history, chanting “Monica, Monica”.
¬The two-day visit by the US secretary of state to Egypt ended in scandal when the convoy she was driving in from the newly-opened American consulate in the Mediterranean port of Alexandria was attacked by local citizens chanting anti-American slogans.
The protesting crowds hailed the motorcade with vegetables and other objects, reportedly hitting one of the Egyptian officials in the convoy in the face. The American armored motorcade suffered only superficial damage while Hillary Clinton’s car remained intact.
There have been reports of the protesters chanting “Leave, Clinton” and “Monica, Monica,” presumably referring to the scandal with the secretary’s husband, former US President Bill Clinton’s extra-marital affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
The protesters were holding banners in Arabic and English, accusing the US of interfering into Egypt’s internal affairs.

Egyptians chant slogans against the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in front of the doors of the presidential palace after her meeting with Egypt’s President Mohamed Mursi (Reuters / Amr Dalsh)
The protests against Clinton’s visit to Egypt started on Saturday when the US secretary of state met with Egypt’s new President Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist protégée of the Muslim Brotherhood. Demonstrators surrounded Clinton’s hotel later on Saturday, chanting anti-Islamist slogans and putting the blame on Washington for the Islamists’ rise to power and victory in the country’s presidential elections.

Vladimir Kremlev for RT
Many of the protesters accused Mohammed Morsi of “selling out” to Washington.
“I want to tell the Americans who are supporting democracy that we don’t have any democracy in Egypt,” one demonstrator, Ahmed Abdel Alim, told AP. “Egyptians of all sects – Muslims, Christians and minorities – do not have any rights in this country.”
During her visit to Egypt, the US Secretary of State also met with Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the head of the military council of Egypt that currently holds power in the country.
Clinton urged the Egyptian military to transfer power in full to the newly-elected president, who was sworn in two weeks ago.
Still, just hours after the meeting with Clinton, the head of the Egyptian military took a hard line on Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood on Sunday, stating he is against Islamist fundamentalists dominating the country’s political landscape.

AFP Photo / Brendan Smialovsky

People hold a poster of Field Marshal Tantawi, the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces, as they protest the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton outside the Four Season Hotel (AFP Photo / Brendan Smialowski)

Reuters / Amr Dalsh

AFP Photo / Brendan Smialovsky

Published: 16 July, 2012, 11:56
Edited: 16 July, 2012, 15:27

An Egyptian protester shouts slogans as he holds a shoe on a portrait of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton outside the US embassy in Cairo on July 14, 2012 to protest against her visit to the country (AFP Photo / Mohhamed Hassam)
TRENDS: Egypt unrest
TAGS: Meeting, Scandal, Accident, Hillary Clinton, Protest, Politics, Human rights, Opposition, Egypt

Hillary Clinton has been welcomed in Egypt by locals greeting her motorcade with tomatoes, shoes and water bottles. Rallying protesters showed awareness with US domestic policy history, chanting “Monica, Monica”.
¬The two-day visit by the US secretary of state to Egypt ended in scandal when the convoy she was driving in from the newly-opened American consulate in the Mediterranean port of Alexandria was attacked by local citizens chanting anti-American slogans.
The protesting crowds hailed the motorcade with vegetables and other objects, reportedly hitting one of the Egyptian officials in the convoy in the face. The American armored motorcade suffered only superficial damage while Hillary Clinton’s car remained intact.
There have been reports of the protesters chanting “Leave, Clinton” and “Monica, Monica,” presumably referring to the scandal with the secretary’s husband, former US President Bill Clinton’s extra-marital affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
The protesters were holding banners in Arabic and English, accusing the US of interfering into Egypt’s internal affairs.

Egyptians chant slogans against the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in front of the doors of the presidential palace after her meeting with Egypt’s President Mohamed Mursi (Reuters / Amr Dalsh)
The protests against Clinton’s visit to Egypt started on Saturday when the US secretary of state met with Egypt’s new President Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist protégée of the Muslim Brotherhood. Demonstrators surrounded Clinton’s hotel later on Saturday, chanting anti-Islamist slogans and putting the blame on Washington for the Islamists’ rise to power and victory in the country’s presidential elections.

Vladimir Kremlev for RT
Many of the protesters accused Mohammed Morsi of “selling out” to Washington.
“I want to tell the Americans who are supporting democracy that we don’t have any democracy in Egypt,” one demonstrator, Ahmed Abdel Alim, told AP. “Egyptians of all sects – Muslims, Christians and minorities – do not have any rights in this country.”
During her visit to Egypt, the US Secretary of State also met with Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the head of the military council of Egypt that currently holds power in the country.
Clinton urged the Egyptian military to transfer power in full to the newly-elected president, who was sworn in two weeks ago.
Still, just hours after the meeting with Clinton, the head of the Egyptian military took a hard line on Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood on Sunday, stating he is against Islamist fundamentalists dominating the country’s political landscape.

AFP Photo / Brendan Smialovsky

People hold a poster of Field Marshal Tantawi, the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces, as they protest the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton outside the Four Season Hotel (AFP Photo / Brendan Smialowski)

Reuters / Amr Dalsh

AFP Photo / Brendan Smialovsky