25 Egyptians were detained on suspicion of planning a bombing attack against Jewish pilgrims in the country and belonging to a Jihadi group, a security official said on Sunday. According to him, the suspects, arrested over the past few weeks in the Nile Delta governorate of Daqahlia, were found in possession of explosives and rudimentary rocket warheads.
According to AFP, they confessed to having plotted to bomb the tomb of a 19th century Jewish rabbi which attracts hundreds of Israeli pilgrims every January. The attack was to have coincided with the 2010 pilgrimage.
Egypt allowed the pilgrims to visit the shrine of Rabbi Yaakov Abhaseira near Alexandria this year under tight security, after cancelling the event last year. The official added the suspects believed in the writings of Sayyid Qutb, which had an influence on the Muslim Brotherhood.
The suspects will be handed over the state security prosecution for further questioning, he said.
