Cairo’s ‘terrorist cell’ planned to assassinate political figures: report

A number of Egyptian political figures were on a list of assassinations planned by members of a recently-arrested terrorist cell, Egypt’s daily al-Youm al-Sabea reported on Friday, citing top security officials.

Egypt’s security forces on Thursday announced the arrest of four Egyptian militants, described as being the members of a terrorist cell, in a raid targeting suspects with links to al-Qaeda in Cairo’s eastern district of Nasr City.

Three others suspected of belonging to the same terrorist cell have been arrested in the Egyptian governorates of Gharbiya and Alexandria, a report by Egypt Independent said. Sources were quoted by the daily as saying that the suspects were in possession of firearms, and were currently being interrogated.

Also on Thursday, Egypt announced that a Libyan militant suspected of involvement in last month’s attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya has been killed during the same raid by Egyptian security forces in Cairo.

The Libyan, identified as Karim Ahmed Essam al-Azizi, was killed by a bomb he had tried to use against the security forces during Wednesday’s raid, a security official was quoted by Reuters as saying.

The official declined to say if the four militants detained by the police were linked to Azizi or not.

It was not immediately clear what role Azizi had played in the assault on the U.S. consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Sept. 11, in which the ambassador, Chris Stevens, and three other Americans were killed.

The security official, who asked not to be named, said Azizi had been living in a rented apartment in Nasr City for the past three months. He said police had found 15 bombs, 195 hand grenades and various weapons, including assault rifles, in the Libyan’s flat.

Tunisia has already said it arrested a 28-year-old Tunisian linked to the Benghazi attack. Interior Ministry spokesman Tarrouch Khaled said Wednesday that the suspect, Ali Harzi, was in custody in Tunis, facing terrorism charges, according to The Associated Press.

Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the U.S. has been looking into the arrests of two Tunisian men detained in Turkey, reportedly in connection with the attacks.

The attack on the Benghazi consulate has become a highly politicized issue in the U.S. presidential election campaign.

It occurred during a wave of Muslim protest over an anti-Islam film produced in California, which also sparked violence against U.S. diplomatic missions in Tunisia and Egypt.

However, official emails obtained by Reuters showed that the White House and State Department were advised two hours after the consulate attack that an Islamist militant group had claimed responsibility.

President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials have acknowledged that the attack was a “terrorist” act by militants with suspected links to al-Qaeda affiliates or sympathizers.