Egypt denies Israeli allegations of al-Qaida imposition in Sinai

One Egyptian security source denied on Monday the Israeli allegations to that al-Qaida organization established a base for itself in Sinai.

The chief of the Israeli military intelligence Gen. Ahroun Zaifi Farkash said before the Israeli government on Sunday that "Egypt knows about the existence of a terrorist organization on its lands, but will face difficulty in dismantling it." He added that al-Qaida terrorists controlled a whole area in Sinai and surrounded it and besieged it with mines in order to prevent the Egyptian security forces from approaching the region.

He continued that "the Egyptians are working cautiously, since they recognize risks resulting from the active terrorist cell in Sinai, on the one hand, but they fear that launching a tough war against this cell will lead to grave escalation in the operations inside Egypt, on the other hand," noting that "al-Qaida" activists who came from Egypt were able to sneak into Gaza and establish a branch in the sector.

However, the Egyptian security source said, for its part, " we absolutely do not have bases for al-Qaida in Sinai, we have repeatedly confirmed that." He added "since the beginning, we ruled out any relation for the executors of the attacks in Sinai with al-Qaida, but Israel continues to say that Osama Bin Laden organization exists in Egypt."