Egypt Captures an al Qaeda Terrorist Team Member

One of the perpetrators of the October 7 terrorist attacks on Sinai resorts, in which more than 30 people died, has been discovered by Egyptian security forces recovering from his injuries at an Egyptian clinic in southern Sinai. He was disguised as a Bedouin tribesman.

DEBKA-Net-Weekly's counter-terror sources report he was taken to Cairo for interrogation.

(See also DNW 177 of October 15: “Terror Front Thrusts into Eastern Mediterranean and Suez Canal“)

Egypt is keeping the capture top secret and the inquiry low profile. The suspect’s name and nationality are not yet available. However, our sources report substantial progress in the inquiry on a number of points.

Shortly before the attacks, a group of Egyptians and Bedouin in the vicinity of the Taba Hilton, which suffered the greatest number of casualties and damage, was stopped by two men in an Isuzu (later proved to have been the bomb car) who asked for directions to the hotel. The men were clearly outsiders. The witnesses describe their Arabic accent as “Shemi” – which labeled them as Syrians, Jordanians or Palestinians.

This lead pointed the Egyptian investigation to three conclusions:

1. Each of the three bomb cars used in the Sinai attacks was manned by two terrorists – not suicides.

2. The bomb cars were rigged in Egypt or Sinai, but the terrorists who drove them to target came from outside. That they were foreigners is borne out by the identikits sketched of four of the other terrorists from witnesses’ descriptions.

3. Egyptian investigators are now certain the terrorists reached Sinai on the day of the attack by sea ferry using forged papers.

The investigation continues.