Hani al-Siba'i
| Hani al-Sibai | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1961 (age 56–57) |
| Other names |
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| Known for | Convicted of terrorism in absentia |
Hani Mohammed Yusuf al-Siba'i (هاني محمد يوسف السباعي) (born 1 March 1961 in Qaylubiyah, Egypt) is an Egyptian Islamic scholar who was a member of Egyptian Islamic Jihad and now lives in London as a political refugee. Efforts to deport him have failed. He is a supporter of al-Qaeda and is used as a scholarly reference by the movement. The leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, listed him as one of four scholars that Muslims worldwide should follow, alongside Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, Abu Qatada and Dr. Tariq Abdulhaleem.
Al-Siba'i fought as part of the mujahideen in the Soviet war in Afghanistan according to his own autobiography.
Al-Siba'i arrived in Britain in 1994 claiming that he had been tortured by the Egyptian police because he represented Islamist clients. His claim for asylum was rejected in 1998 and he was later arrested on terrorism charges but the charges were dropped.
He sought and was granted refugee status in the United Kingdom prior to his 1998 arrest in connection with Operation Challenge. He was accused of membership in the terrorist group Egyptian Islamic Jihad.
It was his defence of Islamists, that got him into trouble with the Egyptian government. Egyptian prosecutors were able to prove in court that he was one of the fourteen members of the shura of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Egyptian authorities convicted him in absentia in the 1999 case of the returnees from Albania and sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment.
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