Oriental Rugs the O'Connell Notes

Notes on Islamic Jihad

Egyptian Terrorist organization that merged into al-Qaeda. In 1981 Islamic Jihad cooperated with other groups to assassinate Egyptian President Anwar el- Sadat. In 1995 Islamic Jihad and al-Qaeda cooperated to attempt the assassination of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The failed attempt brought drastically increased pressure to bear on the organization and they became increasingly dependent on al-Qaeda. By 1998 Islamic Jihad and al-Qaeda formed the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders and Islamic Jihad ceased to function as an independent organization. The merger also spelled the last gasp of Islamic Jihad as an anti Egyptian Government effort and shifted to focus on Osama Bin Laden plans to attack the US and her allies.
As much as any other factor, pressure on Islamic Jihad by the Egyptian Government made it impossible for the group to function as they had in Egypt. Combining with al-Qaeda was their only way to survive.
1990 Egypt began refusing entry to the returning Egyptian Mujaheddin from Afghanistan. Islamic Jihad began moving its people to Yemen.
1993 Islamic Jihad failed to kill the Egyptian interior minister with a suicide bomber.

1993 Islamic Jihad failed to kill the Egyptian Prime Minister but did kill an innocent child.

1993 -94 Islamic Jihad bases in Yemen came under increasing pressure so Islamic Jihad operatives began moving to the al-Qaeda Sudan base established by Osama Bin Laden or to Albania.

1995 Islamic Jihad bombed the Egyptian embassy in Pakistan, 17 dead and 60 wounded

1997 85 members of Islamic Jihad were arrested for an attempt to bomb the Khan el-Khalili bazaar a popular Egyptian tourist attraction.

1997 Islamic Jihad sent letter bombs to the London UK, New York and Washington offices of the newspaper Al Hayat.

1998 Islamic Jihad and al-Qaeda bombed two United States Embassies in Africa, 224 people died.
An Investigation in Egypt Illustrates Al Qaeda's Web