Security forces arrested an Egyptian-American who allegedly called for targeting governmental and foreign institutions in an anonymous post on a Jihadist website.
The defendant, Al-Sayyed Ali Abdel Majeed, is not affiliated with any organization or group, Ministry of Interior spokesman Hani Abdul Latif announced on Saturday.
Abdel Majeed lived and worked at the United States for 27 years and has U.S. and Egyptian citizenships. He allegedly wanted to target foreign employees in international and American schools in Egypt and the Arab region, especially the Arabian Peninsula.
The interior ministry arrested him after determining the origin of a message diffused across militant websites urging to carry out attacks.
Abdel Majeed was detained and the prosecution is interrogating him.
The US Embassy in Cairo had warned its citizens on 27 October of possible terrorist attacks against American schools in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Maadi, in Cairo.
The embassy cited “a recent anonymous posting on a Jihadist website” encouraging attacks against western schools and teachers.
The statement, posted on the embassy’s website and sent to US citizens in the region, noted that “the Embassy is unaware of any specific, credible threat against any American school or individual in Egypt”.
It also warned US citizens in the region to “remain vigilant regarding their personal security and alert to local security developments”.
The Interior Ministry spokesman had also announced on Saturday that the security forces apprehended a number of individuals allegedly linked to the Muslim Brotherhood over the past several days.
