A Muslim Brotherhood backed group in Egypt’s Sinai named Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM) is reportedly receiving training and other assistance from ISIS. This has the effect of blurring any lines of distinction between the goals of ISIS and the much larger Brotherhood itself.
Westerners became familiar with the name Ansar al-Sharia after the Benghazi attacks. The term means, “Supporters of Sharia (law)”. Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM) means, “Supporters of the Holy House”. The ideologies of these two groups are virtually identical and their names are virtually synonymous. Yet, westerners’ eyes would likely glaze over if ABM was introduced into the discourse.
The technique of using so many different names is curiously effective against westerners who set out on the near impossible task of parsing out these groups, which is exactly why such distractions are so effective. In reality, this further reinforces the practice of these groups. In many cases, members commingle with the different groups whenever it suits them.
U.S. reliance on the February 17 Martyrs Brigade to protect the Special Mission Compound in Benghazi as it was being attacked by Ansar al-Sharia, al-Qaeda, Egypt’s Jamal Network, and others delivered predictable results. Members of F17MB either fled or joined the opposition.
The key has been and remains identifying all of these groups as being under one Muslim Brotherhood umbrella. Until this happens, the west will continue to flail.
Reuters provides us with a case in point. ABM is allegedly being trained by ISIS (Islamic State):
Islamic State, fighting to redraw the map of the Middle East, has been coaching Egypt’s most dangerous militant group, complicating efforts to stabilize the biggest Arab nation.
Confirmation that Islamic Sate, currently the most successful of the region’s jihadi groups, is extending its influence to Egypt will sound alarm bells in Cairo, where the authorities are already facing a security challenge from home-grown militants.
A senior commander from the Sinai-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which has killed hundreds of members of the Egyptian security forces over the last year, said Islamic State has provided instructions on how to operate more effectively.
As the Egypt Independent points out (h/t Jonathan Schachtel), some very familiar characters appear to be behind the financing of ABM:
Nabil Naeem, founder of the Islamic Jihad, said Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis is a group divided into two, one in Gaza and the other Egyptian branch in Sinai. He claimed that they had been funded by the Muslim Brotherhood recently.
Naaem said that the Islamic Jihad is currently being funded by the Muslim Brotherhood in conformance with a deal with Khairat al-Shater, the deputy supreme guide of the Brotherhood. The deal had been mediated by Mohamed al-Zawahiri, the brother of al-Qaeda’s leader. Naeem said that Hamas is also part of the deal, according to an appeasement deal sponsored by ousted President Mohamed Morsy in return for cooperation from the Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis.
As Shoebat.com has reported, al-Shater’s Chief of Staff Gehad el-Haddad had been a longtime employee of the Clinton Foundation and may have split his time between the two jobs.
Clearly, what this would mean is that the Muslim Brotherhood’s Ansar Bayt al-Magdis is receiving actionable assistance from ISIS. As such, the Brotherhood is actively collaborating with ISIS in Egypt’s Sinai.
How does this square with what Shoebat.com posted last month about ISIS declaring war on Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood?
The answer is simpler than you might think.
Both ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood want to be the founders of an Islamic Caliphate. When ISIS declared theirs earlier this year, a Middle Eastern turf war ensued. Another reason is that ISIS is so brutal that it calls attention to Islam (after all, the group’s name is “Islamic State”) that harms the cause of Brotherhood infiltrators in the west.
Conversely, in Egypt, ISIS and the Brotherhood currently have a common objective which is the removal of the regime that replaced the Brotherhood.