Omar Abdel-Rahman was described as the mufti of the group, or alternatively as its emir. The former title is a religious position, the latter implies some degree of operational control. However, a separate individual was identified as the chief operational leader. The name of that person is redacted.
The 11 members of al-Gama'a Shura Council were named by the lawyer, but the names were redacted from the cable before its release by the State Department.
The lawyer characterized other known Egyptian Islamist groups as having been disbanded or largely imprisoned, including Egyptian Islamic Jihad and Takfir Wal Hijra. Later reporting suggests this claim was significantly inflated.
The Muslim Brotherhood was seen by al-Gama'a as part of the "governing establishment."
Al-Gama'a members "reject the concept of 'takfir,'" i.e., condemning opponents such as the government as infidels who may be attacked with impunity.
The lawyer claimed the Egyptian government had "pinned" the name Jihad on al-Gama'a in order to blame the group for attacks on Christians. The laywer denied al-Gama'a had any role in attacking Christian interests in Egypt.
The laywer accused the Muslim Brotherhood of "playing games" and acting out of personal and property interests.
"Local groups of Islamic youth exist around the country," according to the lawyer. "Because they lack proper religious guidance, they do crazy things" which are then blamed on al-Gama'a. However some of these youth are also members of al-Gama'a, he conceded.
Sayyid Qutb and his books are the group's primary ideological inspiration, particularly his anti-secular (and anti-American) tract "Milestones on the Road."
The cable concludes with a reference to a follow-up cable describing the organizations ties to foreign governments. However, the follow-up cable was not included in this FOIA release.
THE 1990 VISA
Approximately one year after the last meeting in Egypt, in May 1990, Omar Abdel Rahman obtained a visa to enter the United States (Time Magazine, May. 24, 1993). The visa was issued in by the U.S. embassy in Khartoum, Sudan.
Rahman's name had been placed on a terrorist watchlist that should have kept him out of the United States. Embassy officials said the visa was issued in error and began an investigation of the embassy official who approved the passport.
That official turned out to be an officer of the CIA (New York Times, July 14, 1993). According to the Times, the CIA officer was working as a consular official as part of his official cover and did not act on behalf of the CIA. Officials described the event as a "coincidence," according to the Times.
Rahman traveled from Sudan to Pakistan, then entered the U.S. in July 1990. He was subsequently indicted and convicted for leading a cell of terrorists in New York City responsible for the World Trade Center bombing and a thwarted "Day of Terror" plot in which several New York landmarks were targeted for simultaneous truck bombings.
INTELWIRE has obtained more than 1,400 pages of declassified U.S. State Department documents concerning Egyptian radical groups. For more information about INTELWIRE research services, please contact J.M. Berger.Next Page 1 | 2 | 3
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J.M. Berger is a journalist covering terrorism and extremism. He has produced content for the National Geographic Channel, National Public Radio and more. His first book, "Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go To War In The Name Of Islam," can be pre-ordered through
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