DATE=2/8/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=EGYPT / ISLAMIST CEASE-FIRE (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-258939
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Leaders of Egypt's most violent
Islamic group are calling for a cease-fire, saying
their organization should pursue its goals through
peaceful means. The call issued by an exiled leader
of the Jihad group has reportedly received support
from other leaders held in Egyptian prisons.
Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from Cairo.
TEXT: A lawyer who defends many Islamic militants in
Egypt says imprisoned leaders of Egypt's Jihad group
are calling for an end to attacks on civilian and
military targets.
It is the first support from members inside Egypt for
a cease-fire called Sunday by one of their exiled
leaders, Osma Ayoub Sidiq, who is living in Germany.
Mr. Ayoub said Jihad militants should halt military
attacks and direct their efforts instead to Islam's
biggest cause, which he said is the liberation of
Jerusalem and its Al-Aqsa mosque.
Islamist lawyer Saad Hasaballah told V-O-A the call is
important because it is the first by the Jihad group,
and because it comes from leaders inside and outside
the country.
/// HASABALLAH ACT ///
Mr. Hasaballah says the call carries no conditions and
is meant only to stop military activities. He says
the group is asking the Egyptian government to release
all political prisoners, end the death penalty, and
stop trying civilians before military courts - a
practice commonly used in Egypt against Islamic
militants.
Jihad, considered Egypt's most violent Islamic group,
was responsible for the assassination of President
Anwar Sadat in 1981 and the killing two-years ago of
nearly 60 foreign tourists in the southern city of
Luxor.
The leader of the group, Ayman al-Zawahri, is Egypt's
most wanted man. He is believed to be living in
Afghanistan and is a close associate of Saudi
dissident Osama bin Laden, who is wanted for the
bombings of the U-S embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in
1998.
Observers note Mr. Zawahri has not publicly endorsed
the cease-fire. Arabic newspapers recently reported a
possible split in the leadership of the Jihad group
over whether it should abandon violent tactics.
/// REST OPT ///
Asked if the cease-fire call is likely to be respected
by all Jihad members, lawyer Saad Hasaballah says
militants have a right to different opinions, but he
hopes all the opposition will accept the call.
The call by Jihad follows a cease-fire two-years ago
by Egypt's second most militant organization, the
Islamic Group. In response, the Egyptian government
has released several thousand of the estimated 12-
thousand militants imprisoned since the mid-1990's.
The cease-fire by the Islamic Group has been rejected
by some of its members, particularly those in exile.
And continuing government arrests of its members have
led some of its leaders to threaten to revoke their
cease-fire. (SIGNED)
NEB/SB/GE/RAE
08-Feb-2000 08:54 AM EDT (08-Feb-2000 1354 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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