Brotherhood official on wanted list leaves Egypt

Deputy Muslim Brotherhood leader and acting Supreme Guide Mahmoud Ezzat has left Egypt through one of the country’s main airports despite arrest warrants being issued two year ago, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on Thursday.

This has immediately raised further concerns about effective security measures taken by the Egyptian airport authority since the Russian plane crash over Sinai, which is believed to have been caused by a bomb smuggled on board at Sharm Al-Shaikh Airport. All 224 people on board were killed in the crash last month.

According to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, anonymous sources claim that a number of wanted Brotherhood officials left Egypt before Ezzat, including Helmi Al-Jazzar, who has been accused by the current government of inciting violence and planning a military coup with 26 officers from the armed forces. The sources added that some of those on the wanted list travel through the airports by paying bribes of up to $2,000 to airport officials.

A security researcher at Al-Jomhoriyyah Study Centre told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the Egyptian security services lack the skills needed to secure airports, strategic sites and foreign embassies. The main mistake by Egyptian security officials, he claimed, is that they believe that “dehumanised treatment” of passengers at the terminals is enough to persuade the world that they are doing the best job.

In addition, the researcher said that corruption is widespread among all ranks of the security services. Police officers, for example, take bribes in return for facilitating smuggling and the travel of passengers who aren’t supposed to leave the country.

Russia, meanwhile, has sent a team of security experts to review security measures taken to protect its embassy in Cairo. This, said the researcher, suggests that there is no credibility among Egyptian security staff. Other countries are considering the same measures, he added.