Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2015 Part 18-10-EgyptBy Capt (Ret) C de Waart, feel free to share: in Confidence

Al Zawahir: "the road to Jerusalem passes through Cairo."

Previous, 18-9-Egypt In the south-east; “It is only a matter of time” before the radical Islamic State jihadist organization attempts to “employ its significant military capabilities” against towns and cities that straddle the border with the Sinai Peninsula. And west; President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said Egyptians would be airlifted out of Libya

“Full blown three front war opening. #Libya, #Yemen, #Levant.” But the most difficult front we are to fight is Egypt’s. Egypt: IS Threat 'Coming Closer To Europe

• By beheading the Coptic Christians, ISIS has thrown down a challenge not only to Egypt, but to Sisi personally.

The terrorist threat that Egypt is facing is great and is increasing. Today, militant groups like Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis are have shown support for ISIS and this creates increasing disturbance and turbulence in the Sinai region. The beheading of Egyptian Christians in Libya shows that the ISIS plague is spreading and in the case of devastated Libya, it is a catastrophe we are just about to realize and recognize.

• By beheading the Coptic Christians, ISIS has thrown down a challenge not only to Egypt, but to Sisi personally. It would be out of place to remind readers here that Sisi made an extraordinary gesture at the beginning of the year by visiting the main Coptic Christian church on Christmas night to attend mass and personally congratulate the Christians. This was to stress that Christians are an integral part of Egyptian society. Following the beheadings on Sunday, Sisi called an urgent meeting of Egypt’s top national security body and made an address to the nation. But the development of the situation and aggravation of the security and stability in Egypt, on its borders and even within them, show that Egypt won’t be able to cope with its problems alone or with little foreign involvement. Also, its projects in the energy sector, especially those in the nuclear sphere, could remain on paper and never be realized, as construction of any nuclear infrastructure in a country facing growing instability and an unprecedented terrorist threat is unreasonably dangerous.

If the Mediterranean is a crossroad of the civilizations, Egypt is at the heart of this crossroad. Its strategic, geopolitical significance for the whole world’s stability is immense and its authority in the Arab world is historically great and fundamental. Egypt needs major assistance and intense cooperation with all its partners and of all its partners should cooperate. It needs investments to strengthen its economy; it needs weapons, intense global military assistance and intelligence cooperation to counter terrorism. It was fairly stated by analyst Theodore Karasik on his Twitter account (following the ISIS killings in Libya): “Full blown three front war opening. #Libya, #Yemen, #Levant.” But the most difficult front we are to fight is Egypt’s. Meeting the threat demands intense cooperation between different sides, even among those who are opposed to Sisi’s presence in power.

• France on Monday signed its first export contract for Rafale fighter jets, with Egypt agreeing to buy 24 of the warplanes, an AFP correspondent said. Eric Trappier, chief executive officer of France’s Dassault Aviation, signed the multi-billion-euro contract at a presidential palace in Cairo in the presence of Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. “Our two countries are pursuing a

common struggle against terrorism,” Le Drian said during the signing ceremony. The deal was inked as F-16 warplanes of the Egyptian army bombed positions of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in Libya, after ISIS released a video showing the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Copts captured there in January.

Egypt: IS Threat 'Coming Closer To Europe 1' Egypt's ambassador to the UK has warned the Islamic State threat is "coming closer to Europe", and claimed there has been a collective failure to "snuff out" the terror organisation. Nasser Kamel spoke of his concern that the international community was not acting together to tackle the group, after a video purported to show IS-inspired militants murdering 21 Egyptian Christians. He told Sky News: "We and you and everyone has failed so far to snuff this organisation out. What is happening in Syria and Iraq is now moving to Libya." He said Egypt had been fighting IS in the country's northern Sinai region, and that they were now taking them on in Libya. Egypt's retaliatory airstrikes are the first time the country has acknowledged foreign military action since 1991. On 3 February, the director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) warned Islamic State was "beginning to assemble a growing international footprint". Lieutenant General Vincent Stewart said Libya was now "an attractive terrorist safe haven". There are two governments in Libya - the internationally-recognised representatives are in Tubruk, after Islamist groups took over the capital Tripoli.

17 Feb, Cairo: Egypt is mulling to send ground troops to Libya after launching targeted airstrikes against a branch of the Islamic State group in Libya Monday dawn, few hours after IS released a video of the mass execution of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians by beheading by the Libyan coast, a military official said. Egypt may send the Task Force 999, an Egyptian military special operations and reconnaissance unit for international operations, to Libya, the official told Youm7. The unit forces would coordinate with the Libyan security forces in the areas along the Mediterranean coast, the official added. Egypt said the dawn strike hit militant camps, training sites and weapons storage areas in neighboring Libya, where civil conflict has plunged the country into near anarchy and created havens for armed factions. While Cairo is believed to have provided clandestine support to a Libyan general fighting a rogue government in Tripoli, the mass killings pushed President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi into open action, expanding his battle against Islamist militancy. "There are casualties among individuals, ammunition and the (Islamic State) communication centers," Libyan air force commander Saqer al-Joroushi told Egyptian state television, adding that between 40 to 50 militants were killed. It was not possible to confirm those numbers. "More air strikes will be carried out today and tomorrow in coordination with Egypt," said Joroushi, who is loyal to Libya's internationally recognized government, which has set up camp in the eastern city of Tobruk after losing control of Tripoli. The rival Tripoli-based parliament, which is supported by some Islamist groups, condemned Monday's strike as an assault on the country's sovereignty. Cairo also called on the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria to broaden the scope of their

1 http://news.sky.com/story/1428517/egypt-is-threat-coming-closer-to-europe

operations to include Libya, highlighting how the militant group is expanding its reach around the Arab world.

Cees: Both Jordan and Egypt reacted military to the “lure trap set - The more the group expanded, the more it developed its schemes. Not only did Daesh resort to beheading its hostages in public, but it also began to film these executions and disseminate them widely on social media. It did this in order to meet strategic objectives - primarily to publicise its cause worldwide and to attract jihadists. - 2”by Daesh after the burning of the Jordan pilot and killing of the Copts Christians. A tactic seen and developed over time by AQ now likely used by Daesh to widen the conflict and create internal divide in the target countries. Others like Lebanon and Saudi Arabia could be next. All and all the conflict is widening, Daesh is spiralling out in the Middle East and likely still following AQ grand Plan. And finally it is still unclear but not impossible that the ever growing “push” flow of refugees seen crossing - and many drowning in - the Mediterranean Sea is part of a larger plan, if so it could further undermine Europe’s stability.

LWJ 3, A video released by the Islamic State shows fighters from one of its so-called provinces in Libya beheading 21 Egyptian Copts. The mass murders were advertised by Islamic State's media operatives over the past couple of days. And the latest edition of the organization's English-language magazine Dabiq, which was released last week, implied that the men had been killed. In a scene that is similar to past videos from Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State's victims are ritualistically walked along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea before being forced to kneel with their captors standing behind them. An English-speaking fighter then talks, saying that he and his fellow jihadists are sending a message from "the south of Rome4," thereby threatening Italy. In recent weeks, members of the Italian government have called for more aggressive international intervention in Libya. The fighter then says that the Islamic State and its allies will continue to fight the "Crusaders" until Jesus comes again. This is a reference to the apocalyptic Islamic belief that Jesus will reappear at the end of days. The Islamic State's head executioner says that the West hid Osama bin Laden's body in the sea, and so the jihadists will mix the West's blood in the

2 ISIL classifies hostages according to the reaction their killing generates if it is publicised. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/02/dead-hostage-valuable-isil-150211093300769.html3 http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/02/21_egyptian_christia.php4 The Islamic State, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), follows a distinctive variety of Islam whose beliefs about the path to the Day of Judgment matter to its strategy, and can help the West know its enemy and predict its behavior. Nearly all the Islamic State’s decisions adhere to what it calls, on its billboards, license plates, and coins, “the Prophetic methodology which means following the prophecy and example of Muhammad, in punctilious detail. Following takfiri doctrine, the Islamic State is committed to purifying the world by killing vast numbers of people, but the End of Days is a leitmotif of its propaganda. These include the belief that there will be only 12 legitimate caliphs, and Baghdadi is the eighth; that the armies of Rome will mass to meet the armies of Islam in northern Syria; and that Islam’s final showdown with an anti-Messiah will occur in Jerusalem after a period of renewed Islamic conquest. -- Some Daesh supporters makes a case that Rome meant the Eastern Roman empire, which had its capital in what is now Istanbul. We should think of Rome as the Republic of Turkey—the same republic that ended the last self-identified caliphate, 90 years ago. Other Islamic State sources suggest that Rome might mean any infidel army, and the Americans will do nicely. -- The Islamic State has attached great importance to the Syrian city of Dabiq, near Aleppo; .It is here, the Prophet reportedly said, that the armies of Rome will set up their camp. The armies of Islam will meet them, and Dabiq will be Rome’s Waterloo or its Antietam. --- Turkey, Istanbul Some Daesh supporters makes a case that Rome meant the Eastern Roman empire, which had its capital in what is now Istanbul. We should think of Rome as the Republic of Turkey—the same republic that ended the last self-identified caliphate, 90 years ago. Other Islamic State sources suggest that Rome might mean any infidel army, and the Americans will do nicely---

same sea. After the men are beheaded, the English-speaking fighter raises his knife to the water and swears that the Islamic State will conquer Rome. The fighter's reference to Osama bin Laden stands in stark contrast to the Islamic State's denunciation of Ayman al Zawahiri, bin Laden's successor as al Qaeda chief, in the latest edition of Dabiq. The Islamic State claimed in Dabiq that the kidnapping of the 21 Egyptian men came "almost five years after the blessed operation against the Baghdad church." That attack was launched in late 2010 by the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), the predecessor to the current Islamic State. The ISI claimed at the time that the suicide assault, which left dozens of people dead, was revenge for the supposed mistreatment of women in Egypt. Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's propagandists repeated this claim in Dabiq. But the Islamic State added that al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn, referred to by his nom de guerre Azzam al Amriki, condemned the act "in some of his letters" to the group. The Islamic State accused Gadahn of acting "on his personal rancor towards the Islamic State as soon as he became a top leader of [al Qaeda] after the martyrdom of" Osama bin Laden. Gadahn's critique of the Islamic State's practices are well-known, and his role in al Qaeda's senior ranks predates bin Laden's death. The authors of Dabiq also accused Zawahiri of defending the Copts. "I want to restate our position towards the Coptic Christians. We do not want to get into a war with them because we are busy in the battle against the greatest enemy of the Ummah [America] and because they are our partners in this nation, partners whom we wish to live with in peace and stability," the Islamic State quoted Zawahiri as saying. "So while the Islamic State targeted the Catholics in revenge for the sisters imprisoned by the Copts, Azzam al Amriki's commander [Zawahiri] was wooing the war-waging Copts themselves with feeble words," Baghdadi's men claimed in Dabiq. The Islamic State has accused al Qaeda of being soft on Iran, as well as the Shiites in Iraq and Yemen. In executing

the 21 Egyptian Copts, Baghdadi's organization extended this argument further, claiming that al Qaeda weakly opposes, or does not oppose at all, Egypt's Christians. Thus, the beheadings shown in the newly released video were intended to intimidate both Egypt and Italy. And the Islamic State hopes to portray al Qaeda's leaders as being weak-minded in their pursuit of jihad.

Images from the Islamic State's new video and the latest edition of Dabiq magazine The lead executioner points his knife at the Mediterranean Sea, promising that the Islamic State will conquer Rome:In a scene reminiscent of the beheading videos to come out of Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State's victims are lined up in front of their murderers:

The video includes the same scenes portrayed in the latest edition of Dabiq, the Islamic State's English-language magazine:

The latest edition of Dabiq, which was released last week, included this image from the mass slaying:

Egypt’s President Abdel el-Sisi said Cairo “reserves the right to respond in any way” to the killing of 21 Copts by Islamic State militants. "The air strikes hit their targets precisely, and the falcons of our air forces returned safely to their bases," the military's statement said. "We affirm that

avenging Egyptian blood and retaliating against criminals and killers is a duty we must carry out." Fighters pledging allegiance to ISIL released a video on Sunday purporting to show the killing of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians kidnapped in Libya. Egypt's military has said it carried out air strikes against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets in Libya, a day after the group released a video appearing to show the beheading of 21 Egyptians there. In a statement aired on state television, the military said the attacks were carried out at dawn on Monday 16 Feb.

ISIL reportedly kills 21 Egyptian hostages in LibyaISIL releases video purporting to show the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians kidnapped in Libya. 15 Feb 2015 19:37 GMT The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has released a video purporting to show the killing of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians kidnapped in Libya. The footage released on Sunday appeared to show 21 handcuffed hostages dressed in orange jump suits being beheaded.The video, titled "A message signed with blood to the nation of the cross", says the killings were directed at "the hostile Egyptian Church". The group said the killings were revenge for "Muslim women persecuted by Coptic crusaders in Egypt". There was no immediate comment from the Egyptian government. In January, ISIL's branch in Libya, claimed it had abducted 21 Christians in two separate operations in Sirte. There has been a wave of assaults targeting Egyptian Christians working in Libya. The footage shows a group wearing orange overalls, being forced to the ground and then decapitated. It was posted online by Libyan jihadists who say they are allied with IS.Egypt's president had earlier this week offered to airlift Egyptian expatriates out of Libyan territory. The kidnapped Egyptian workers, all Coptic Christians, were seized from the coastal town of Sirte in eastern Libya, now under the control of Islamist groups. On Friday, IS released pictures of the Egyptians, saying they had been kidnapped to avenge the fate of Muslim women "tortured and murdered by the Coptic church of Egypt".

avenging Egyptian blood and retaliating against criminals and killers is a duty we must carry out." Fighters pledging allegiance to ISIL released a video on Sunday purporting to show the killing of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians kidnapped in Libya. Egypt's military has said it carried out air strikes against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets in Libya, a day after the group released a video appearing to show the beheading of 21 Egyptians there. In a statement aired on state television, the military said the attacks were carried out at dawn on Monday 16 Feb.

ISIL reportedly kills 21 Egyptian hostages in LibyaISIL releases video purporting to show the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians kidnapped in Libya. 15 Feb 2015 19:37 GMT The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has released a video purporting to show the killing of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians kidnapped in Libya. The footage released on Sunday appeared to show 21 handcuffed hostages dressed in orange jump suits being beheaded.The video, titled "A message signed with blood to the nation of the cross", says the killings were directed at "the hostile Egyptian Church". The group said the killings were revenge for "Muslim women persecuted by Coptic crusaders in Egypt". There was no immediate comment from the Egyptian government. In January, ISIL's branch in Libya, claimed it had abducted 21 Christians in two separate operations in Sirte. There has been a wave of assaults targeting Egyptian Christians working in Libya. The footage shows a group wearing orange overalls, being forced to the ground and then decapitated. It was posted online by Libyan jihadists who say they are allied with IS.Egypt's president had earlier this week offered to airlift Egyptian expatriates out of Libyan territory. The kidnapped Egyptian workers, all Coptic Christians, were seized from the coastal town of Sirte in eastern Libya, now under the control of Islamist groups. On Friday, IS released pictures of the Egyptians, saying they had been kidnapped to avenge the fate of Muslim women "tortured and murdered by the Coptic church of Egypt".