Egypt expects more crackdown on Islamists as interior minister survives bombing

Egypt expects more crackdowns on Islamic movements after an attempted bomb attack against the interior minister allegedly staged by Islamists in retaliation for the Aug. 14 dispersal of their fellow protesters, analysts said.

Egyptian Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim on Thursday survived a bomb attack on his convoy, after which he said "what happened today is a beginning of a wave of terrorism."

No organizations so far claimed responsibility for the attack, the first of its kind in Egypt's current transitional period.

The National Alliance for Supporting Legitimacy, an Islamic group led by the Muslim Brotherhood which ousted president Mohamed Morsi is affiliated with, denied the accusation by the government of committing terrorism and condemned the accident as well.

While calling the bombing "regrettable," the Alliance stressed the calls for nationwide Friday rallies are still valid.

Talaat Musalim, a security expert, told Xinhua that the bombing is part of a premeditated plan to assassinate the country's top officials.

The attack is part of the Islamists' retaliatory operations to restore their dignity after hundreds of them were killed and thousands were detained, Musalim said.

"The operation is a natural extension of the violence and terrorism that are spreading after June 30," Musalim said in reference to the time when the massive protests erupted and consequently toppled Morsi.

The expert expected "more crackdowns over the Islamic groups including the Muslim Brotherhood, with expanding the massive detentions circle."

In conclusion, Musalim said there is a strong possibility that the Muslim Brotherhood or its supporters are behind the attack, since they have been engaged in a number of violent attacks which targeted police stations and officers since Morsi's ouster.

On the other hand, Nabil Fouad, a security professor at the Military Academy, said assassination attempts are a normal reaction on the part of Islamic protesters to the use of force against them, stressing that violence creates more violence.

Egypt is facing two stubborn forces, the Brotherhood which rejects negotiations unless Morsi is reinstated, and the army which insists on isolating those who participate in violent acts from the political process, Fouad said.

Commenting on a solution, Fouad said it should be political rather than military, stressing that the two sides should consider Egypt's current situation and make certain concessions.

Meanwhile, Fouad attributed Thursday's bombing to some new and small unknown networks that emerged from the Islamic movements.

Both experts, Musalim and Fouad, agree that the incident will justify the army and police' future crackdowns against the Islamists, predicting that the state of emergency might be extended.

Egyptian President Adli Mansour announced a state of emergency and imposed a curfew for a month starting from Aug. 14 in light of the violent acts raging across the country after the dispersal of two major pro-Morsi sit-ins.