Will Egypt Help the U.S. Recapture Known Terrorists?
Washington Times national security correspondent (and occasional Reason contributor) Eli Lake reports on another Obama admin foreign policy failure. In the wake of the revolt that saw dictator Hosni Mubarak leave office, "scores" of terrorists were either released or escaped from prisons along with other dangerous criminals:
The U.S. list of Egyptian terrorists thought to be at large includes Rifa Ahmed Taha, also known as Abu Yasser. He was one of the original signatories of Osama bin Laden's declaration of war against the United States and, until his 2001 rendition and detention in Egypt, was considered a senior leader of the Egyptian Islamic Group.
Also on the list is Mohammed Omar Abdel-Rahman, the son of the man known as the "Blind Sheik," or Omar Abdel-Rahman, who is serving a life sentence in a federal prison for plotting bombings of New York City tunnels in the 1990s.
Also on the list are Shawky Salama Mostafa and Mohammed Hassan Mahmoud, who are connected to al Qaeda and were captured by U.S. forces in 1998 in Albania but sent to Egypt for trial. Many other members of that cell from the 1990s in Albania are at large.
So far, Egypt has not been helping out and Lake calls the characterizes the Obama admin's efforts as "quiet and largely fruitless."
Read the whole thing here.
