In October 1981, an army officer, Khaled Islambouli, assassinated former President Anwar Sadat at a military parade (The Middle East and North Africa 200, 412; Mondes Rebelles, 398). Khaled Islambouli was executed the following year along with four other people who participated in the assassination (The Middle East and North Africa 2000, 412).

Khaled Islambouli was a member of an islamist group called al-Jihad which was "responsible for the assassination" of Sadat (Patterns of Global Terrorism 1999 Apr. 2000). According to Patterns of Global Terrorism 1999, al-Jihad:

Appears to concentrate on high-level, high-profile Egyptian Government officials, including cabinet ministers. [It] claimed responsibility for the attempted assassinations of Interior Minister Hassan al-Alfi in August 1993 and Prime Minister Atef Sedky in November 1993 (ibid.).

In an Executive Intelligence Review report on the presence of terrorist groups in Britain, it is mentioned that al-Jihad has a base in London (21 Jan. 2000). According to the magazine, in February 1997, the British government authorized Abel Abdel Majid and Adel Tawfiq al Sirri to run the Bureau for the Defense of the Egyptian People and the Islamic Observatory, an islamic fundraising and media organization (ibid.). Abdel Majid was allegedly involved in the assassination of Sadat and planned the escape of two prisoners who had been jailed in connection with the assassination (ibid.). He received political asylum in 1991 (ibid.). In 1995, he was sentenced to death in absentia by Egyptian authorities for the bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad (ibid.).

In April 1999, Al-Ahram reported that several alleged members of al-Jihad had been sentenced to death in absentia by the Supreme Military Court (22-28 Apr. 1999). The report mentions Ayman El-Zawahri, leader of the group, who was believed to be in Afghanistan and Mohamed Shawqi El-Islambouli, brother of Khaled Islambouli, who was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment in absentia (ibid.). Yasser El-Serri and Abdl Abdel-Bari, who were allegedly in Britain, received sentences of life imprisonment (ibid.). The report does not say if authorities were still looking for people involved in the assassination of Anwar Sadat.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Al-Ahram [Cairo]. 22-28 April 1999. Jailan Halawi. "Jihad Émigrés Sentenced to death." www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/1999/426/eg6.htm [Accessed 11 Jan. 2001]

_____. 24-30 Sept. 1998. Hanan Sabra. " Sadat's Life But Not His Death." www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/1998/326/eg3.htm [Accessed 12 Dec. 2000]

Executive Intelligence Review [Washington]. 21 January 2000. Vol. 27, No 3. Michele Steinberg. "Put Britain on the List of States Sponsoring Terrorism." www.larouchebup.com/eirtoc/eirtoc_2703.html [Accessed 10 Jan. 2001]
The Middle East and North Africa. 2000. 46th ed. London: Europa Publications

.

Mondes rebelles: acteurs, conflits et violences politiques. 1996. Jean-Marc Balencie and Arnaud de la Grange. Paris: Éditions Michalon.

Patterns of Global Terrorism 1999. April 2000. United States Department of State. Washington, DC. http://www.state.gov/www/global/terrorism/1999report/1999index.html [Accessed 12 Jan. 2001]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

Maghreb-Machrek

Middle East International

Middle East Report

The Middle East

Arabies

Jane's Intelligence Review

Internet sites including:

Human Rights Watch

FIDH

Amnesty International

Le Monde diplomatique

Les 100 portes du Proche-Orient

Middle East Review of International Affairs

Arab Human Rights Association