Egypt says there are links between Qatar, the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS

Egypt's President el Sisi making a statement at the funeral for the victims of the attack on Christian worshippers, flanked by Egypt's Christian and Muslim leaders. The country's Grand Mufti (3rd from left) has repeatedly condemned Islamic extremism.

Following the suicide bomb attack inside the Cairo Cathedral on Sunday, Egypt's Ministry of Interior in a statement said that a terrorist cell is led by Mohab Mostafa El-Sayed Kassem (aka The Doctor), a man born in 1986 and who is currently on the run. The terrorist cell, which the Ministry said had links to the ISIS-affiliated Ansar Bait Al-Maqdis, carried out the attack.

According to police, Kassem travelled to Qatar in 2015 and met with leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood who encouraged and convinced him to carry out terrorist attacks in Egypt. The statement accused the Muslim Brotherhood in Qatar of providing financial and logistics support in order to harm Egypt’s national security and create divisions in society.

Upon returning to Egypt, Kassem followed orders to travel to North Sinai where he was connected to terrorists belonging to the IS-affiliated Ansar Bait Al-Maqdis there who trained him how to use weapons and how to make explosives. This claim repeats earlier ones of the Muslim Brotherhood’s involvement with ISIS.

Following his training, police say that Kassem was given orders by the Muslim Brotherhood in Qatar to plan and carry out an attack targeting Egypt’s Coptic Christian population in order to promote sectarian strife. Kassem was also told not to reveal who was behind the attack after it occurred.

According to the statement, the orders were given to Kassem after the death of 61-year-old Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Kamal in October 2016. Kamal was killed in a shoot-out with police and was accused of leading the Muslim Brotherhood’s armed wing. Police accused Kamal and this armed wing of carrying out a number of attacks, including the assassination of former Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat.

After the attack, forensics teams and investigators were able to determine the names of those involved in carrying it out. According to the statement, as announced by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi yesterday, Mahmoud Shafik Mohamed Mostafa was identified as the suicide bomber.

Mostafa, 22, received prior training and was arrested in the possession of weapons in March 2014, said police. Mostafa was released two months later by an order of a court and became more radicalized after his release by the Muslim Brotherhood’s ideology. Mostafa was charged and sentenced to prison in two cases in absentia but he remained a fugitive, continued the statement.

According to the statement, Mostafa was identified as the suicide bomber from DNA provided by his family members and matched to his body parts at the scene of the church attack. After the positive identification, a hideout used by Mostafa and others was located. Inside, police found two explosive belts and other resources used to build explosives. Moreover, a number of individuals were also arrested at the hideout, including Ramy Mohamed Abdelhamid Abdelghany, 33, who is accused of preparing the suicide belt.

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