Counterterrorism Blog

The U.S. Treasury Department has officially designated seven members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad terrorist group, thus prohibiting transactions by U.S. persons with them and freezing any assets which the seven might hold in the U.S. The Treasury Department press release: "The activities of these individuals included training and providing material support to al Qaida, as well as conspiring to commit terrorist acts. One of the individuals, Madhat Mursi Al-Sayyid Umar, was an explosives and chemical substances specialist for al Qaida. Another designee, Abdullah Muhammad Rajab Abd Al-Rahman, was responsible for coordinating al Qaida's work with other terrorist organizations. These individuals are wanted by Egyptian authorities for their involvement in terrorist cases and membership in a terrorist organization."

EIJ is also known as Islamic Jihad, al-Jihad, and the Jihad Group. Active since the 1970s, EIJ�s primary goal has been the overthrow and assassination of secular Egyptian government officials in favor of an Islamic state. EIJ was responsible for the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and attempted other assassinations. Osama bin Ladin�s deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was the head of EIJ until it merged with al Qaida in 2001. Mohammed Atef, another senior EIJ leader, was killed in a U.S. bombing raid in Afghanistan shortly after the 9/11 attacks.

The Treasury Department action also results in a referral to the U.N. Security Council, which will probably add the seven EIJ terrorists very soon to its consolidated list of terrorists tied to the Taliban, al Qaida and OBL.