Egypt's Military Vows to Fight Rising Threat of Radical Islamists

Egypt’s ruling military leaders are feeling the same pressures that faced former president Hosni Mubarek during his decades-long battle with Islamic radicalism. Only days after more extremist groups declared plans to establish political parties for the country’s coming presidential elections, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has announced that the country will not “fall into the hands of Islamists.”

Currently, thousands of followers of the previously outlawed Gama’a al-Islamiyya and Islamic Jihad terrorist groups - both brutally suppressed under the Mubarek regime - are attempting to return to Egypt and support the rising tide of Islamist movements positioning themselves for a role in Egypt’s political future. As a result, Egypt’s Interior Ministry now faces the difficult challenge of preventing these groups from creating potentially armed and violent political blocs, while at the same time, supporting the Supreme Council’s commitment to free elections.

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