Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya الجماعة الإسلامية Al-Jamāʻah Al-Islāmīyah |
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Leader(s) |
Omar Abdel-Rahman Karam Zuhdi Ala Mohieddin Tal'at Fu'ad Qasim Ahmed Refai Taha |
Dates of operation | 1992–1998 (as an armed group) |
Active region(s) | Egypt, Croatia |
Ideology | Sunni Islamism |
Notable attacks |
Assassination of Farag Foda Hosni Mubarak 1995 assassination attempt 1995 Rijeka bombing Europa Hotel shooting Luxor massacre |
Status | Considered a terrorist organization by Canada, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom and European Union. |
Al-jamāʻah al-islāmīyah (Arabic: الجماعة الإسلامية, "the Islamic Group"; also transliterated El Gama'a El Islamiyya; also called "Islamic Groups" and transliterated Gamaat Islamiya, al Jamaat al Islamiya) is an Egyptian Sunni Islamist movement, and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the United Kingdom and European Union. The group was dedicated to the overthrow of the Egyptian government and replacing it with an Islamic state; the group has committed to peaceful means following the coup that toppled Mohamed Morsi.
From 1992 to 1998 al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya fought an insurgency against the Egyptian government during which at least 796 Egyptian policemen and soldiers, al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya fighters, and civilians including dozens of tourists were killed. During the fighting al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya was given support by the governments of Iran and Sudan, as well as from al-Qaeda. The Egyptian government received support during that time from the United States.
The group(s) is said to have constituted "the Islamist movement's only genuine mass organizations" in Egypt. While the assassination of the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in 1981 is generally thought to have been carried out by another Islamist group, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, some have suggested al-Gamaa was responsible for or at least related to the assassination. In 2003 the imprisoned leadership of the group renounced bloodshed, and a series of high-ranking members have since been released by Egyptian authorities, and the group has been allowed to resume semi-legal peaceful activities. The now imprisoned cleric Omar Abdel-Rahman was a spiritual leader of the movement, which actively campaigns for his release.