Egypt pinpoints extremism

EL-ARISH, EGYPT — As Egypt's security forces complete their manhunt for suspects in three suicide bombings in the Sinai resort of Dahab last month, experts and residents say it's clear that this city and the sprawling desert and craggy mountains around North Sinai have become a new breeding ground for violent Islamic extremism in Egypt.

In this isolated region, traditionally known for smuggling, extremists have planned high-profile attacks on nearby resorts, officials say.

But experts and residents agree that the reason behind growing Islamic extremism is not only Sinai's expanse and isolation. Also responsible are the desperate living conditions, which have made young men angry enough to commit recent terrorist attacks, including three at tourist resorts and two against international peacekeepers since October 2004, killing about 120 people in all.

On Monday, Egypt's Ministry of Interior said it had caught or killed most of the suspects in the Dahab attacks. Officials said that 22 were in police custody and seven were killed, including the man police say was the terrorist group Monotheism and Jihad's leader, Nasser Khamis el-Mallahi, who was killed earlier this month.

The statement also said that Palestinians helped finance and train this group, the first time Egyptian authorities have so specifically linked Gaza militants to the Sinai bombings. El-Arish is just 30 miles from the Gaza border.

Interior Ministry officials say that most of the Dahab bombing suspects are Bedouins, formerly nomadic tribes. Security forces have also suspected North Sinai's Bedouin and non-Bedouin residents in other Sinai attacks, including bombings at the Sinai resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh last summer, and Taba in 2004.

Residents and experts say that Egypt's new generation of Islamic militants is drawn mostly from 18- to 30-year-old men; some are educated, some not; many are unemployed. Living in and around El-Arish, North Sinai's capital, and the surrounding mountains, many become isolated from their families, shunning the community of "nonbelievers" or being disowned by them first.

With few prospects, these young men are susceptible to the extremist ideas of radicals, like Al Qaida's Osama bin Laden, calling for a global jihad or holy war against non-Muslims, says Abed el-Kader Mubarak, a journalist with the independent weekly el-Osboua. He is also a member of El-Arish's Bedouin community, and has discussed Islam with the city's young radicals.

"These young men are frustrated. They have no work, always sitting at home. They become an easy target for these ideas," says Mubarak.

Residents here say if the government doesn't change its strategy and deal with Egypt's growing Islamic extremist problem by improving the area's living conditions, increasing numbers of young men will continue to join extremist groups.

"It will happen again," says local businessman Safwat el-Gelbana. "We need development, jobs, freedom, hope."

A constant complaint is over rampant unemployment — estimated as high as 30 percent. Residents also fume that salty water pours from their taps, that they can't get senior jobs with Egypt's military or police, and because the whole area is considered a military zone, that they can't own land.

"When I see that there is no hope, that I can't find a job, for myself or my son, that there is no real development, not even water to drink, what can I do?" asks Khaled Arafat, a member of the People's Council for the North Sinai's Citizen Rights.