Document #1125374
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
According to a 22 May 1996 Agence France
Presse (AFP) dispatch, on 22 May 1996 the Egyptian security forces
killed one wanted militant Islamist and arrested 33 others in
Cairo. The dead man was Korani Abu Zaid Abdel Hamid, who, along
with a partner named Mukhtar Ibrahim Abdel Raziq, had formed two
militant cells which "ran a racketeering operation against
merchants in the Cairo slums of Imbaba and Abu Zabal," among other
activities (ibid.). Korani Abu Zaid Abdel Hamid was a member of a
militant Islamist organization called Shawqiyin, which had
broken off from the al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya (al-Jamaa
al-Islamiyya, al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya) organization. Mukhtar
Ibrahim Abdel Raziq, a member of al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya, was among
the 33 alleged militants arrested on 22 May 1996.
Although Abu Za'bal is not technically in
Cairo, being about 25 kilometres away from the centre of Cairo in
the Qalyubiya governate north of the city, it is normally
considered to be part of the greater Cairo area, according to a
representative of the Ibn Khaldoun Center for Development Studies
in Cairo, contacted by the Research Directorate on 18 December 1997
(Imbaba is also technically not part of Cairo, as it is in the Giza
governate across the river).
The following information was provided to
the Research Directorate in an 18 December 1997 interview with a
representative of the Ibn Khaldoun Center for Development Studies
in Cairo. In general, militant Islamist organizations are weaker
and less active in the Delta (i.e. the area north of Cairo) than
they are in southern Egypt. However, the representative stated that
militant Islamist organizations are stronger in Abu Za'bal than in
most other parts of the Delta. The representative stated that both
al-Jama'a al-Islamiya and al-Jihad
(al-Gihad) are active in Abu Za'bal.
This Response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is
not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any
particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Agence France Presse (AFP). 22 May 1996.
"Moslem Militant Killed in Cairo, 33 Arrested." (NEXIS)
Ibn Khaldoun Center for Development
Studies, Cairo. 18 December 1997. Telephone interviews with a
representative.
_____. 8 December 1997. Telephone
interviews with a representative.