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Militant Islam Flourishes in Egyptian Sinai

(Reuters) Tamim Elyan - The group of 50 young men who blocked off access to a small international military base in the Sinai desert, dressed in army fatigues and armed with AK-47s, wore the long beards of the hardline Islamists who are increasingly a law unto themselves in this part of Egypt. Quietly, they are building a presence in Sinai that might offer a new haven for anti-Western militancy. The group lifted their eight-day siege of the base that is home to foreign peace observers including Fijians, Americans and Spaniards after they had secured their demands. The government agreed to free those who carried out attacks in 2004 and 2005 that killed 125 people at the Red Sea resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh, Dahab and Taba. With Mubarak's removal from power, government authority has collapsed in much of Sinai, leaving a vacuum where Islamist militant groups are flourishing, posing a security risk to Egypt and Israel. "There is genuine potential for this threat to grow and become a much bigger issue than it is now," said Henri Wilkinson, head of intelligence and analysis at the Risk Advisory group.
2012-04-04 00:00:00
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