Egypt arrests wanted terror fugitive after plane lands

Cairo: Egyptian security agencies have arrested a Muslim Brotherhood operative wanted for involvement in several terror attacks in the country, according to media reports.

Hossam Menufi, a co-founder of Hasm, the armed wing of the outlawed Brotherhood, was arrested last Wednesday in the Egyptian historic city of Luxor after a plane he had boarded from Sudan en route to Turkey had to make an emergency landing due to a fire alarm in the luggage hold, the media said.

After a routine check of passengers’ names, Menufi was found to be on the list of travel watch for being wanted for four death sentences delivered after trials in absentia, Egyptian newspaper Al Shorouk said.

He is charged with financing several terror attacks including a 2015 car bombing that killed Egypt’s then chief prosecutor, the paper said.

Menufi, who fled to Sudan in 2014, was also wanted for involvement in an assassination bid against Egypt’s ex-mufti Ali Jumaa in 2016, said celebrated TV Egyptian host Amr Adib on MBC Masr late Friday.

Calling Menufi’s arrest as a “precious catch”, Adib remarked that the Brotherhood had previously claimed that the man had forcibly disappeared in Egypt.

The semi-official newspaper Akhbar Al Youm described Menufi’s arrest as a “painful blow” to the Brotherhood.

There has been no official comment on the reports.

Egypt has seen a spate of terrorist attacks after the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi following mass protests against his rule.