Sudan Extradites Wanted Takfiri Leader to Egypt

Egyptian police special forces. (Getty Images)
Egyptian police special forces. (Getty Images)
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Sudan Extradites Wanted Takfiri Leader to Egypt

Egyptian police special forces. (Getty Images)
Egyptian police special forces. (Getty Images)

An Egyptian security source revealed that Cairo is waiting for the arrival of a wanted fugitive takfiri leader extradited from Sudan named Madin Ibrahim Mohamed Hassanein.

The leader had fled to Sudan after being convicted of killings and violence against police officers in Egypt.

“Hassanein arrived at Khartoum airport last night ahead of his deportation to Cairo, and it is only a matter of time before he arrives to Egypt,” said the security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“There is full coordination between Egyptian and Sudanese security, and it will be followed by the extradition of other wanted criminals to Egypt,” he added.

Hassanein, according to Islamist movements researcher Amro Abdulmoneim, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2013.

In the case known as “Asharqiyya unrest,” Hassanein was tried alongside 16 other fugitives for killing police officers and incitement against public order.

According to Abdulmoneim, Hassanein is also an ex-affiliate of a takfiri network founded by Shawqi al-Sheikh in the Faiyum province, southwest of Cairo.

“Hassanein encouraged others to kill police and army officers in his village in Sharqia governorate (Egypt Delta) after Hosni Mubarak stepped down from power in 2011,” he said.

“He established a terror organization called Ansar al-Sharia in al-Sharqia, formed cells in the following governorates: Beni Suef, Giza and Faiyum, and he shared ties to the terrorist Adel Habara,” Abdulmoneim added.

Egyptian authorities had executed Habara in December 2016 after he was convicted of the murder of 25 soldiers in the north Sinai province in August 2013.

“Hassanein had fled to Sudan, along with other convicts,” Abdulmoneim noted, adding that there are “approximately 70 Muslim Brotherhood youth fugitives in Sudan.”



Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.