(Washington Post) David Ignatius - In firing Egypt's chief of intelligence for his alleged failings in Sinai, President Mohamed Morsi sacked a general who has won high marks from U.S., Israeli and European intelligence officials - and who, ironically, has been one of the Egyptians pushing for a crackdown on the growing militant presence in Sinai. Morsi and the military appear to have concluded that Gen. Murad Muwafi was a convenient scapegoat. Muwafi had also been Egypt's main interlocutor with the Palestinians, working to broker a unity pact between Hamas and Fatah. The new Egyptian intelligence chief will be Gen. Mohammed Shehata, described as an experienced officer who "knows the Palestinian file well." The border incident shows that the situation in Sinai is dangerous and getting worse. U.S. intelligence believes that scores of jihadists have migrated into Sinai in recent months - some from the tribal areas of Pakistan, some from Libya and some from Egyptian prisons. Among them are people a U.S. official describes as "al-Qaeda wannabes."
2012-08-10 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive