Egypt: Security, Threats, and Politics

As the Egyptian expands detentions of suspects, jailing 49 people accused of connections with Hezbollah, Theodore May of Global Post offers an overview of the groups accused by Egypt as threats to security:

Security Watch Egypt: Another Threat Emerges

Earlier this month, the Egyptian government detained 49 people on the Sinai Peninsula, accusing them of being members of a Hezbollah cell determined to execute attacks on Egyptian soil. It’s a sensational accusation that might give further evidence to the rising cooperation between Islamist groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Muslim Brotherhood. It would also speak to continued tensions in the Arab world over Egypt’s relationship with Israel.

It only takes spending a couple of hours in Egypt to discover that the entire structure of the Egyptian state is centered around the security apparatus. Policemen dot nearly every street corner in the city, plain-clothes agents patrol tourist hotspots, and the military runs checkpoints on highways throughout the country.

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