Islamist group, Hamas, and the Muslim Brotherhood denied charges by Egypt’s Ministry of Interior accusing the groups of being directly involved in the assassination of the late general prosecutor, Hisham Barakat.
Hamas spokesperson Samy Abu Zahri said the accusation does not align with efforts between the group and Egypt to maintain diplomatic relations. The group demanded Egypt not push Hamas’ name into internal conflicts between the Egyptian state and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Abdel Ghaffar claimed that Hamas is the military wing of the Brotherhood and that the first group was responsible for training individuals to use weapons and bombs in Gaza.
The minister said the plan for the “plot” was initiated upon instructions from Brotherhood leaders in Turkey, who coordinated with the “armed branch of the Brotherhood, Hamas”, which in turn took part in executing the assassination of the prosecutor general.
Abdel Ghaffar claimed all possible legal actions will be taken to legally prosecute “accused members from Hamas and the Brotherhood”.
“You [Al-Sisi’s regime] are the true conspiracy against Egypt and the nation. You are the killers. You should look among yourselves for the killer of the General Prosecutor,” the Brotherhood said in an aggressively toned statement.
Barakat was assassinated in June 2015 in an attack that targeted his motorcade. The assassination, which marked the first of such a high-profile figure since 1990, sparked instantaneous response from the state. Shortly after Barakat’s funeral, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi announced legal amendments to be implemented in order to speed up trials and the enforcement of verdicts.
However, the Ministry of Interior’s statement Sunday was the fifth narrative that claimed militants were responsible for killing Barakat.
The first narrative was the arrest of a man, Mahmoud Al-Adawy, who was accused of running a Facebook page for a local militant group called the “Popular Resistance in Giza July 2015”. The second was passed through security sources and media personnel, who are known to be close with security officials. The narrative argued that militant Hisham Ashmawi, head of group Al-Murabiteen, engineered the attack.
The third was the killing of nine alleged members of the Brotherhood in 6 October City; the dead members were allegedly accused of carrying out the attack.
The fourth narrative was the killing of another three militants in Maadi in February, who allegedly exchanged fire with police forces.
