Egypt

Jama’a al-Islamiya to document history in new book

Jama'a al-Islamiya is planning to document its political journey since its establishment until the breakout of the January 2011 revolution in a forthcoming book.

According to the group, the book will tackle faults, positive actions, challenges and political assassinations throughout its career.

Osama Hafez, deputy chairman of Jama'a al-Islamiya's consultancy board, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the group will form a panel comprising its veteran leaders to take part in producing the new book which, he said, will be rich in information.

"Group leaders are not objecting to highlighting the mistakes it made throughout its history so as to benefit everybody," Hafez said.

Jama'a al-Islamiya sprung from Egyptian universities and adopted violence and assassinations as its techniques during the 1980s and, more sporadically, the 1990s.

The most notorious operation by the group was the killing of 58 tourists at the Deir al-Bahari archaeological site in Luxor on 17 November 1997. A security crackdown on the group landed many Jama'a al-Islamiya members in prison and ultimately prompted the group to renounce violence.

Last month, Safwat Abdel Ghany, chairman of the political bureau at the group’s Construction and Development Party, said Jama'a al-Islamiya had "[suffered the most] persecution under the former regime, with 30,000 members detained, 200 of whom died in prison with torture and disease."

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