Terrorism experts: Al-Qaida tightens grip in Sinai peninsula

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Lawless frontier desert seen as threat to Israel; former detainees, not recruits, stiffen Sinai jihad.

Though sidelined by pan-Arab democracy drives, al-Qaida may have found a firmer foothold in the lawless Egyptian Sinai where it poses a threat to Israel, experts say.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's counter-terrorism czar told an Israeli-hosted security conference this week Egypt's political entropy had helped reinforce and arm Sinai radicals whose presence is tacitly acknowledged by Egyptian intelligence.

"Many jihadists were released from jail ... bring(ing) into the area many years of experience, knowledge, courage and people who actually do not have anything to lose," the official, Nitzan Nuriel, said in reference to prison breakouts that accompanied the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in February.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/terrorism-experts-al-qaida-tightens-grip-in-sinai-peninsula-1.384697