January 6, 2014 | Quoted by Nadine Marroushi, The Independent - UK

Crackdown By Security Forces ‘Alienating Many Young Egyptians’

Sitting on a large wooden chair with a green leafy plant by his side, the bearded man looked down to the ground and confessed to his alleged crimes.

“My name is Yahia al-Mongi Saad Hussein. My name in the movement is Nasser. I'm a member of Ansar Jerusalem,” he said in a video aired three days ago by the Ministry of the Interior, which runs Egypt's police forces. A deep-voiced, off-camera interrogator then intervened and told him to “raise his voice”.

He continued: “I live in Dakahlia. I joined the movement after the 25 January revolution, after the events around Mohamed Mahmoud [a week-long series of violent protests in Cairo in November 2011], and I trained in Sinai for two weeks.”

Sinai's militants see in Mr Morsi's removal as “an opportunity to promote their cause and portray themselves as the defenders of Egyptian Muslims”, said David Barnett, a research associate at the Washington DC-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on terrorism.

“The Muslim Brotherhood has long been criticised by jihadists for partaking in the democratic process. Now that they have been overthrown after engaging with Egypt's political system, jihadists see an opening to possibly garner support for their violent approach,” said Mr Barnett.

Read the full article here.

Issues:

Egypt