Middle East Focus: Salafis of Egypt, Islamic Heritage Revival Society of al-Qaeda..........

Arabia Deserta

Salafis of Egypt, Islamic Heritage Revival Society of al-Qaeda..........

Rattlesnake Ridge

BFF

“The Brotherhood has found itself outflanked on the right by the Salafi al-Nour Party, which has challenged the movement's religious credentials and gained a surprising degree of traction in the process. The Salafis appear poised to claim between 25 and 30 percent of the vote, though the Brotherhood could still win an outright majority and will certainly become the largest party in the new parliament. Who could have predicted that the Salafis -- adherents to a fundamentalist version of Islam that until Egypt's revolution eschewed politics as un-Islamic -- would morph into an electoral powerhouse? Even the Brotherhood, whose vote-counting abilities would impress the likes of Karl Rove, never saw it coming, and the Salafis' success threatens to upend the movement's carefully laid plans for dominating Egypt's post-revolutionary political scene. After decades of trying to convince Egypt's liberals, leftists, and other activists of their seriousness in solving the country's titanic economic problems, the Brothers suddenly find themselves forced to talk about how and when they will implement Islamic law............”

This is not the whole story of the Salafi “victory” in Egypt. Elections everywhere require a lot of money these days, be they in the United States or in Egypt or Lebanon or on the Gulf (in the rare places where there are elections). The Lebanese elections of 2009 were probably one of the most costly in the Arab world until recently, with some reports credibly claiming the Saudis spent at least hundreds of millions of dollars for the right-wing March 14 (Hariri) bloc. Some even wrote, or joked, that the Iranians were too cheap and spent little money, claiming that is why the Hariri bloc won more seats in the Lebanese parliament (Hezbolllah and allies won a 54% majority of the popular vote).

As some media have reported over the past months, the Salafis of Egypt benefited from millions of dollars that were sent from fellow Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia and the states of the Gulf. Not bad for a group that claims an aversion to electoral democracy. The Salafis are usually reliable Saudi proxies and in the smaller Gulf GCC states they are actually like a Saudi fifth column, disrupting open politics, opposing freedom of expression, and pushing a Saudi agenda. The Salafi Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (in Arabic: Jamiyyat Ihya'a al-Turath al-Islami) and others are the likely donors reported to have sent money to Egypt. This same Gulf “society” is also on record as having been a close associate and financier, as well as a supplier of arms, to al-Qaeda. Here is what a UN Security Council committee said about its al-Qaeda links:
“The Revival of Islamic Heritage Society was listed on 11 January 2002 pursuant to paragraph 8 (c) of resolution 1333 (2000) as being associated with Al-Qaida, Usama bin Laden or the Taliban for “participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf or in support of”, “supplying, selling or transferring arms and related materiel to” or “otherwise supporting acts or activities of” Usama bin Laden (QI.B.8.01), Al-Qaida (QE.A.4.01) and the Taliban................”

The Egyptian people are in for a tough time with these Salafis controlling at least 25% of their parliament. They make the Muslim brotherhood look like Jeffersonian, or maybe Athenian, democrats.
Cheers
mhg

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com