Egypt Al Qaeda chief ‘flees to Gaza’

The head of Al Qaeda in Egypt has fled the country for the Gaza Strip, arrested members of the network revealed during interrogation, a security official said Sunday.

Khaled Mahmoud Ahmed fled to Gaza, which is now under the control of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, as Egyptian authorities began arresting members of his group in April, the official said.

In April, Egyptian authorities arrested 35 people accused of having links with Osama Bin Laden’s network, and state security prosecutors Saturday began to officially investigate the charges.

Police also accused senior Al Qaeda figure Mohammed Abdel Hamid of “spreading Al Qaeda ideology and planning attacks against tourists, based on a fatwa [decree] by Bin Laden,” the independent daily Al Masry Al Youm reported Sunday.

Cairo’s metro system has been on high alert after a bomb threat against one of the stations Thursday, with bomb squads and sniffer dogs deployed and metal detectors installed at stations.