Context of 'October 1970-1981: After Nassers Death, Egyptian President

Sadat Brings Back the Muslim Brotherhood and the CIA'

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October 1970-1981: After Nassers Death, Egyptian President Sadat Brings
Back the Muslim Brotherhood and the CIA. You can narrow or broaden the
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1954-1970: CIA and the Muslim Brotherhood Ally to Oppose Egyptian

President Nasser
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In 1954, Egyptian President Gamal Abddul Nassers nationalist policies in

Egypt come to be viewed as completely unacceptable by Britain and the US.
MI6 and the CIA jointly hatch plans for his assassination. According to Miles
Copeland, a CIA operative based in Egypt, the opposition to Nasser is driven
by the commercial communitythe oil companies and the banks. At the
same time, the Muslim Brotherhoods resentment of Nassers secular
government also comes to a head. In one incident, Islamist militants attack
pro-Nasser students at Cairo University. Following an attempt on his own life
by the Brotherhood, Nasser responds immediately by outlawing the group,
which he denounces as a tool of Britain. The following years see a long and
complex struggle pitting Nasser against the Muslim Brotherhood, the US, and
Britain. The CIA funnels support to the Muslim Brotherhood because of the
Brotherhoods commendable capability to overthrow Nasser. [Baer, 2003,
pp. 99; Dreyfuss, 2005, pp. 101-108] The Islamist regime in Saudi Arabia
becomes an ally of the United States in the conflict with Nasser. They offer
financial backing and sanctuary to Muslim Brotherhood militants during
Nassers crackdown. Nasser dies of natural causes in 1970. [Dreyfuss, 2005,
pp. 90-91, 126-131, 150]

Entity Tags: UK Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Saudi Arabia, Central

Intelligence Agency, Gamal Abddul Nasser, Muslim Brotherhood

Timeline Tags: Alleged Use of False Flag Attacks

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1967-2001: Israel Provides Support to Militant Islamic Groups in the West
Bank and Gaza
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Following the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel takes over the administration of the
West Bank and Gaza. Whereas Egyptian President Gamal Abddul Nasser had
been tough on Islamist militants (see 1954-1970), Israel is much more
permissive. One of their first actions is to release Sheikh Ahmed Yassin from
prison. Yassin, a charismatic radical Islamist and the future founder of Hamas
had been jailed in 1965 during one of Nassers crackdowns. [Dreyfuss, 2005,
pp. 195] David Shipler, a former New York Times reporter, later recounts that
he was told by the military governor of the Gaza Strip, Brigadier General
Yitzhak Segev, that the Israeli government had financed the Islamic
movement to couteract the PLO and the communists. According to Martha
Kessler, a senior analyst for the CIA, we saw Israel cultivate Islam as a
counterweight to Palestinian nationalism. In the 1970s, Yassin is able to form
some Islamic organizations (see 1973-1978). In the 1980s, he forms Hamas
as the military arm of his organizations (see 1987). [Dreyfuss, 2005, pp. 195,
197, 198]

Entity Tags: Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Palestinian Liberation Organization, Hamas

Timeline Tags: Alleged Use of False Flag Attacks

October 1970-1981: After Nassers Death, Egyptian President Sadat Brings
Back the Muslim Brotherhood and the CIA
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After Egyptian President Gamal Abddul Nasser dies in October 1970, he is

succeded as president of Egypt by his former Vice President, Anwar Sadat.
Sadat is also a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and he promptly

reinstates the group as a legal organization and welcomes them back into
Egypt. Sadat also has a very close relationship with the head of Saudi
intelligence, Kamal Adham. Through Adham, Sadat also develops close
working relationships not only with the Saudis, but with the CIA and Henry
Kissinger. Sadat uses the power of the religious right, and the Muslim
Brothers in particular to contain the Nasserites and their resistance to the
radical changes he introduces. During Sadats tenure in the 1970s Egypt
becomes a hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism, and figures like Sheikh Omar
Abdul-Rahman and Ayman al-Zawahiri gain great power in Egypt during this
period. Ironically Sadat himself is assassinated in 1981 by Islamic Jihad, an
offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, in 1981, because of his accomodation
with Israel. [Dreyfuss, 2005, pp. 147-162, 165]

Entity Tags: Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Central Intelligence Agency, Anwar Sadat,
Henry A. Kissinger, Gamal Abddul Nasser

Timeline Tags: Alleged Use of False Flag Attacks

1973-1978: With Israels support, Ahmed Yassin Forms Islamist Organizations
in the West Bank and Gaza
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In 1973 Israeli military authorities in charge of the West Bank and Gaza allow
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin to establish the Islamic Center, an Islamic
fundamentalist organization. With Israels support, Yassins organization soon
gains control of hundreds of mosques, charities, and schools which serve as
recruiting centers for militant Islamic fundamentalism. In 1976 Yassin creates
another organization called the Islamic Association that forms hundreds of
branches in Gaza. In 1978 the Islamic Association is licensed by the
government of Menachem Begin over the objections of moderate Palesinians
including the Commissioner of the Muslim Waqf in the Gaza Strip, Rafat Abu
Shaban. Yassin also recieves funding from business leaders in Saudi Arabia
who are also hostile to the secular PLO for religious reasons. The Saudi
government, however, steps in and attempts to halt the private funds going
to Yassin, because they view him as a tool of Israel. [United Press
International, 2/24/2001; CounterPunch, 1/18/2003; Dreyfuss, 2005, pp. 195 197] Yassin will go on to form Hamas in the 1980s, which is created with the
help of Israeli intelligence (see 1987).

Entity Tags: Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Saudi Arabia, Rafat Abu Shaban, Islamic
Center, Islamic Association, Israel

Timeline Tags: Alleged Use of False Flag Attacks

1987: Hamas Forms with the Support of Israeli Intelligence
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Sheikh Ahmed Yassin forms Hamas as the military arm of his Islamic
Association, which had been licensed by Israel ten years earlier (see 19731978). According to Charles Freeman, a former US ambassador to Saudi
Arabia, Israel started Hamas. It was a project of Shin Bet, which had a
feeling that they could use it to hem in the PLO. [CounterPunch, 1/18/2003;
Dreyfuss, 2005, pp. 191, 208] Anthony Cordesman, a Middle East analyst for
the Center for Strategic Studies, states that Israel aided Hamas directlythe
Israelis wanted to use it as a counterbalance to the PLO. A former senior CIA
official speaking to UPI describes Israels support for Hamas as a direct
attempt to divide and dilute support for a strong, secular PLO by using a
competing religious alternative. Further, according to an unnamed US
government official, the thinking on the part of some of the right-wing Israeli
establishment was that Hamas and the other groups, if they gained control,
would refuse to have anything to do with the peace process and would
torpedo any agreements put in place. Larry Johnson, a counterterrorism
official at the State Department, states: The Israelis are their own worst
enemies when it comes to fighting terrorism. They are like a guy who sets fire
to his hair and then tries to put it out by hitting it with a hammer. They do
more to incite and sustain terrorism than curb it. [United Press International,
2/24/2001 Sources: Larry C. Johnson, Unnamed former CIA official]

Entity Tags: Israel, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Bin Laden Family

Timeline Tags: Alleged Use of False Flag Attacks, Complete 911 Timeline
1988: Al Taqwa Bank Co-Founder Is Long-time CIA Asset
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Artists sketch of Said Ramadan.Artists sketch of Said Ramadan. [Source:

Wall Street Journal]In 1988, the Al Taqwa Bank is founded in Switzerland, and
it quickly becomes one of the major funders for radical Islamic groups,
including al-Qaeda (see 1988). The Al Taqwa Bank is closely associated with
the Muslim Brotherhood, and one of its key founders, Said Ramadan, is one of
the Muslim Brotherhoods top leaders, and also the son-in-law of Hassan alBanna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. Ramadan helped Saudi Arabia
found the Muslim World League in 1962; the charity will go on to fund alQaeda and many other radical groups. But there is strong evidence that
Ramadan also was a long-time CIA asset. [Dreyfuss, 2005, pp. 136]
Declassified Swiss documents reveal that in the 1960s, the Swiss government
considered him to be, among other things, an intelligence agent of the
British and the Americans. The Wall Street Journal will report in 2005,
Historical evidence suggests Mr. Ramadan worked with the CIA. For
instance, he traveled on a Jordanian diplomatic passport given to him by the
CIA, his expenditures are financed by the American side, and he worked
closely with CIA supported propaganda fronts. [Mother Jones, 1/1/2006] The
Egyptian government apparently also believed Ramadan worked with the US,
and that he may have had a role in a plot against Egyptian President Abddul
Nasser in the 1960s. Ramadan even met with President Dwight D. Eisenhower
in the Oval Office in 1953. [Dreyfuss, 2005, pp. 135-138] Ramadan will die in
1995 at the age of 69. It is not known how long his ties to the CIA and
possibly other intelligence agencies lasted. Journalist Robert Dreyfuss will
later comment: Its no exaggeration to say that Ramadan is the ideological
grandfather of Osama bin Laden. But Ramadan, the Muslim Brotherhood, and
their Islamist allies might never have been able to plant the seeds that
sprouted into al-Qaeda had they not been treated as US allies during the Cold
War and had they not received both overt and covert support from
Washington. [Mother Jones, 1/1/2006]

Entity Tags: Al Taqwa Bank, Muslim Brotherhood, Said Ramadan, Central

Intelligence Agency

Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline

July 1990: Blind Sheikh Enters US Despite Being on Terrorist Watch List,
Takes Over Al-Kifah
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Sheikh Omar Abdul-Rahman.Sheikh Omar Abdul-Rahman. [Source:

FBI]Despite being on a US terrorist watch list for three years, radical Muslim
leader Sheikh Omar Abdul-Rahman enters the US on a much-disputed
tourist visa issued by an undercover CIA agent. [Village Voice, 3/30/1993;
Atlantic Monthly, 5/1996; Lance, 2003, pp. 42] Abdul-Rahman was heavily
involved with the CIA and Pakistani ISI efforts to defeat the Soviets in
Afghanistan, and became famous traveling all over the world for five years
recruiting new fighters for the Afghan war. The CIA gave him visas to come to
the US starting in 1986 (see December 15, 1986-1989) . However, he never
hid his prime goals to overthrow the governments of the US and Egypt.
[Atlantic Monthly, 5/1996] FBI agent Tommy Corrigan will later say that prior
to Abdul-Rahmans arrival, terrorism for all intents and purposes didnt exist
in the United States. But [his] arrival in 1990 really stoke the flames of
terrorism in this country. This was a major-league ballplayer in what at the
time was a minor-league ballpark. He was looked up to worldwide. A mentor
to bin Laden, he was involved with the MAK over in Pakistan. The charity
front Maktab al-Khidamat (MAK) is also known as Al-Kifah, and it has a branch
in Brooklyn known as the Al-Kifah Refugee Center. The head of that branch,
Mustafa Shalabi, picks up Abdul-Rahman at the airport when he first arrives
and finds an apartment for him. Abdul-Rahman soon begins preaching at Al
Farouq mosque, which is in the same building as the Al-Kifah office, plus two
other locals mosques, Abu Bakr and Al Salaam. [Lance, 2006, pp. 53] He
quickly turns Al-Kifah into his de facto headquarters. [Atlantic Monthly,
5/1996] He is infamous throughout the Arab world for his alleged role in the
assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. Abdul-Rahman
immediately begins setting up a militant Islamic network in the US. [Village
Voice, 3/30/1993] He is believed to have befriended bin Laden while in
Afghanistan, and bin Laden secretly pays Abdul-Rahmans US living expenses.
[Atlantic Monthly, 5/1996; ABC News, 8/16/2002] For the next two years,
Abdul-Rahman will continue to exit and reenter the US without being stopped
or deported, even though he is still on the watch list (see Late October 1990October 1992).

Entity Tags: National Security Agency, Osama bin Laden, Meir Kahane, Omar
Abdul-Rahman, Central Intelligence Agency, Al-Kifah Refugee Center, US
Department of State, Abu Bakr Mosque, Al Farouq Mosque, Al Salaam
Mosque, Anwar Sadat, World Trade Center

Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline

October 2, 1999: Egypt Releases List of Its Most Wanted Terrorists; Half Are

Living in Britain
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Yassir al-Sirri speaking to the media in London in 2003.Yassir al-Sirri speaking

to the media in London in 2003. [Source: Hossam el-Hamalawy]The Egyptian
government posts a list of its 14 most wanted terrorists; half of them are
believed to be living in Britain. The list is published on an Egyptian
government website and Al-Sharq al-Awsat, a popular Arabic international
newspaper based in London. It includes many members of Islamic Jihad, the
Egyptian militant group that has essentially merged with al-Qaeda by this
time. Names on the list include:
bullet Ayman al-Zawahiri. He is the top leader of Islamic Jihad and al-Qaedas
number two leader. He was sentenced to death in absentia in Egypt, and the
US has a $5 million bounty on him by this time.
bullet Thirwat Salah Shehata. He is another high-ranking Islamic Jihad leader.
He was sentenced to death twice in Egypt.
bullet Adel Abdel Bary. He was granted asylum in Britain despite being
sentenced to death in Egypt, and ran the Islamic Jihad office in London. But
he was arrested there in 1998 and is fighting deportation to the US on
charges of involvement in the al-Qaeda African embassy bombings.
bullet Adel Abdel-Quddus, an Islamic Jihad leader. He received a death
sentence in connection with an assassination attempt in 1993. He was
granted asylum in Austria.
bullet Ayub Usama Saddiq Ali, another Islamic Jihad leader. He was sentenced
to death on murder charges in Egypt. He moved to Germany and is granted
asylum there in October 1999. 9/11 hijacker Ziad Jarrah will call him twice,
once in November 1999 and once in August 2001 (see November 7, 1999 and
August 4, 2001).
bullet Ahmed Refai Taha, head of the Al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya, the Egyptian
militant group formerly led by the Blind Sheikh, Sheikh Omar AbdulRahman. In September 2000, al-Qaeda will publish a video of Osama bin
Laden, al-Zawahiri, and Taha threatening revenge if the Blind Sheikh is not
released (see September 21, 2000). Taha was sentenced to death in Egypt.
bullet Mustafa Hamza, leader of Al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya, and an al-Qaeda
leader as well. He was sentenced to death three times in Egypt. He is
believed to have led an assassination attempt of Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak in 1995 (see June 26, 1995).

bullet Mohammed Shawqui Islambouli, brother of the assassin of Egyptian

President Anwar Sadat and an Al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya leader. He also was
sentenced to death in Egypt, and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan with
bin Laden.
bullet Ahmed Hussein Ugayzah, sentenced to life imprisonment in Egypt. He
was an aide to al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan, but he had a falling out with him
and joined the Vanguards of Conquest, an Islamic Jihad splinter group.
bullet Yassir al-Sirri. He was sentenced to death in Egypt in 1994 for a role in
an attempted assassination attempt in 1993. But he moved to Britain and
was granted asylum. [Al-Sharq al-Awsat, 10/2/1999; Al-Ahram Weekly,
10/18/2001] Shortly after 9/11, the Guardian will report that seven of the men
on the list live in London, but it is not mentioned which of the seven live
there. [Guardian, 9/28/2001] There appear to have been no arrests of any of
the above figures in Britain after the publication of the list.

Entity Tags: Ahmed Hussein Ugayzah, Ahmed Refai Taha, Al-Gamaa alIslamiyya, Al-Qaeda, Ayub Usama Saddiq Ali, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Egypt, Adel
Abdel-Quddus, Yassir al-Sirri, Islamic Jihad, Mustafa Hamza, Mohammed
Shawqui Islambouli, Vanguards of Conquest, Thirwat Salah Shehata

Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline

The United Nations and the Middle East

The United Nations has been involved in various problems in the Middle East
since 1947. Whereas the Korean War and the Congo issue were settled in the
sense that there was no further outbreak of hostilities, the United Nations has
not managed to do the same in the Middle East. Wars have broken out in
1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973 and severe problems exist to this day.

After World War One, Britain had governed Palestine as a League of Nations
mandate. Britain got more and more embroiled in the area and in 1947 asked
the United Nations to take over the duty of running the area. The Palestinians
and the Jews in the area may have detested and fought one another but both
fought the British troops who were stationed there. By 1947, Britain had had

enough.

The United Nations took over the area and set up an eleven-man commission
to examine the problem. Their solution was to divide Palestine in half with
one part for the Jews and the other for the Palestinians. The Arab nations that
surrounded Palestine made it clear that this plan would not be acceptable.
Regardless of this and aware of world sympathy for the Jews in the
aftermath of World War Two - the United Nations went ahead with its plan.
The General Assembly approved the partition in November 1947.

The United Nations plan came to nothing. The British left Palestine in May
1948 and the Jews set up Israel almost immediately using territory given to
them in the United Nations plan. The Arab nations that surrounded Israel
immediately attacked with the intention of destroying the new state.

The United Nations, now with a war to deal with, arranged for a four-week
truce. However, the end of the truce saw the start of hostilities again. A major
problem for the United Nations was the murder of their chief negotiator in the
area Count Bernadotte. His successor was Ralph Bunche and he managed
to arrange for another cease-fire in 1949. This was signed by Israel and all
but one of the Arab nations that had attacked Israel in 1948. However, for
many it was a truce and a renewal of war was only a matter of time. The
Middle East was to present to the United Nations its most difficult question.

During the 1948 conflict, 800,000 Palestinians had fled from what was now
Israel and lived in refugee camps along the border of Israel and the Arab
nations that surrounded Israel. Their lifestyle was poor and the humanitarian
side of the United Nations was needed to improve the lot of people who felt
that they had been dispossessed of their homeland. The United Nations
responded to this problem by setting up the United Nations Relief and Welfare
Agency (UNRWA). It was the task of UNRWA to deal with the refugee camps
provide clean water, decent tents etc. until a political solution could be
found for the refugees which would entail them returning to Israel or being
accommodated by a nearby Arab nation.

These refugee camps became homes to Fedayeen men who were willing to
make raids on Israel in cross-border attacks. Fedayeen means self-sacrificer.

A round of tit-for-tat attacks occurred. Fedayeen men would attack the Israelis
which lead to an Israeli counter-raid against the refugee settlements.

The United Nations also set-up the CCP Conciliation Commission for
Palestine. This body held talks in neutral Switzerland. The main issue that had
to be addressed was the border Israel held between itself and its Arab
neighbours. In 1948, Israel had taken much of the land from the Palestinians
that had been scheduled under the United Nations plan to be given to them.

In 1956, a full-scale war broke out when Israel attacked the Sinai Egypt east
of the Suez Canal.

Egypt, lead by Nasser, had nationalised the Suez Canal. Up to 1956, this had
been co-owned by Britain and France with both countries benefiting from the
profits this canal made. Now, Nasser believed that these profits should go to
Egypt.

As a result of this, Britain and France had helped Israel plan out its October
attack on Egypt. Their plan was simple Israel would attack the Sinai (Egypt
east of the Suez Canal) while Britain and France would attack and occupy the
Suez Canal zone.

When the Security Council voted on a resolution for Israel to withdraw from
the Sinai, Britain and France vetoed it. The Security Council transferred its
power to the General Assembly using the Uniting For Peace principle and the
General Assembly of the United Nations called for a cease-fire and on
November 5th 1956, it created a United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF).
The role of the UNEF was to act as a buffer between the Israelis and the
Egyptians thus ensuring that a cease-fire was maintained.

Just one day later the British and French launched their attack on the Suez.
The United Nations was powerless to stop this attack. However, America, lead
by Eisenhower, expressed its severe reservations regarding this attack and
threatened to stop oil supplies to both Britain and France. The Suez Canal
could not be used to gain oil as it had been shut. Therefore, unless Britain
and France did what America wanted, they would be starved out of oil. They

had to pull out of the Suez.

On November 16th 1956. 6000 United Nations troops arrived in the Sinai to
keep both Israel and Egypt apart. The United Nations troops came from
Finland, Canada, Yugoslavia, Denmark, Norway, Brazil, India and Columbia.
They carried only light weapons and were ordered only to use them in selfdefence. The UNEF remained in the Sinai as a buffer until told to leave by
Nasser in 1967. During the time they were there, 89 UNEF troops had been
killed. The mission also cost the United Nations over $200 million.

The UNEF left the Sinai in 1967 because it had agreed that if told to leave it
would do so. To many observers, the order by Nasser for the UNEF to
withdraw meant that trouble was brewing. Israel feared that she would be
attacked and before waiting to be attack, Israel launched attacks on Egypt,
Syria, Jordan and Iraq. This war lasted only six days and the fighting only
stopped when the Security Council ordered a cease-fire. It also drew up
Resolution 242 which they believed would restore peace to the Middle East.

Resolution 242 called for:

The withdrawal of Israeli forces from all Arab land they had occupied
A solution to the Palestinian refugee problem
The right of every state concerned in the Middle East to live in peace
Free navigation of international waterways
Secure boundaries between each nation in the Middle East.

All the involved nations signed 242 except Syria. However, it was not long
before it became clear that each side Arabs and Jews interpreted each
point differently. Each side also put a different emphasis on each point. What
was important to the Arabs had much less importance to Israel. As an
example, Israel declared its intention of staying in Arab land that they
considered to be of strategic importance to the survival of Israel. The Arab
nations viewed the withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied Arab land as
not open to interpretation. With such distrust, it was clear that some form of
warfare would occur again. This happened in 1973 and once again the United
Nations could do nothing to prevent it.

In 1973, Egypt had a new leader Anwar Sadat. He announced that any
future peace for the Middle East could only be settled once and for all by the
use of military force. On Israels most holy of days, Yom Kippur, Egypt
attacked catching the usually vigilant Israeli forces off guard.

The United Nations called for a cease-fire and passed Resolution 338. A
United Nations conference in Geneva was called but produced no result. This
was an obvious rebuff for the United Nations and all future peace
negotiations were taken on by the USA not the United Nations. As a result of
Americas Secretary of State, Henry Kissenger, and his use of shuttle
diplomacy a Disengagement Agreement was signed in January 1974. This
allowed for a new UNEF to be sent to the Middle East. This new force was
made up of 7000 men and was again stationed between Egypt and Israel. A
United Nations Observer Force was sent to monitor the border between Israel
and Syria.

Between 1973 and the 1978 Camp David agreement, most of the work done
at a diplomatic level regarding the Middle East was centred on an American
input. However, in 1975, the United Nations did criticise Israel regarding its
treatment of those Palestinians who continued to live outside of Israels
borders in refugee camps and who wished to return to live in what they would
refer to as Palestine. In 1977, the United Nations also criticised Israels policy
of building settlements on land they occupied as a result of military victories.