US designates Army of Islam as a terrorist organization

An intelligence source told the Law Enforcement Examiner that the Army of Islam, while relatively unknown in the U.S., is a Palestinian terrorist organization affiliated with the global jihad whose operatives, among other things, fired rockets at Israel from Egyptian territory, carried out terrorist activities in Egypt, and abducted two Fox News correspondents and a British journalist.

 

In addition, the source said, the organization integrates global jihad Salafist ideology with the traditional model of the armed Palestinian campaign. The organization collaborates with Hamas and is currently attempting to develop closer contacts with Al-Qaeda.  In Gaza, Salafist jihadists such as the Army of Islam consider Hamas too moderate in spite of Hamas' terrorist tactics.
 

Salafist jihadists are extremist Sunnis who believe they are the only true interpreters of the Koran. They are beginning to concern counterterrorism experts since Salafists are gaining more and more power in Egypt following the ouster of President Mubarak.

 

So far the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip has been careful to show itself as not exploiting the situation to further terrorism. However, it has helped its operatives who escaped from the prison in Cairo and in our assessment is waiting for the right time to take a stance.

 

The other terrorist operatives operating in the Gaza Strip, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and especially global jihad networks such as the Army of Islam, want to exploit the situation to further their own activities and strengthen the terrorist networks in the Sinai Peninsula.

 

The Gaza Strip is clearly an exporter of terrorism to Egypt which started before the current crisis began. Egypt's outgoing interior minister, and after him the Egypt media, accused the Army of Islam operating in the Gaza Strip of involvement in the mass casualty suicide bombing attack at a Coptic church in Alexandria.

 

Army of Islam operatives in the Gaza Strip were accused of directing terrorist activities in Egypt for Al-Qaeda and of contacting terrorist operatives through the tunnels under the Egyptian-Gaza border (which, according to the outgoing interior minister, threaten Egypt's national security).

 

The Army of Islam was also accused of involvement in other terrorist attacks carried out in Egypt in recent years, including one in the El Khalili bazaar in Cairo which killed a woman tourist from France.

 

 

Jim Kouri, CPP, formerly Fifth Vice-President, is currently a Board Member of the National Association of Chiefs of Police, an editor for ConservativeBase.com, and he's a columnist for Examiner.com.  In addition, he's a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com). Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty. 

He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations.  He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country.   Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a news writer and columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com.   Kouri appears regularly as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Fox News Channel, Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, etc. 

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