Arab media is reporting that Egyptian cleric Wagdy Ghoneim has recently met in Khartoum with Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood figure Hassan al-Turabi. According to a translation of a report in Al-Hayat:
Wagdy Ghoneim
Khartoum recently hosted Wagdy Ghoneim, a leading member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, at the invitation of the General Sudanese Students Union to meet with Secretary-General of the Popular Congress Party Hassan al-Turabi, Secretary-General of the ruling Islamic movement Al-Zubair Ahmed al-Hassan and Islamic leader Ibrahim Ahmed Omar. The invitation of Ghoneim and its announcement by government platforms in Khartoum indicate a dangerous escalation in Cairo’s ties with the government of the National Congress Party.
The visit has sparked controversy in Cairo and Khartoum alike. Media circles in Egypt considered it a negative sign and an escalation on the part of Khartoum. The visit has also strengthened many doubts about the presence of a number of Egyptian Brotherhood leaders in Khartoum. Some said that Ghoneim is planning terrorist attacks against Egypt from Sudan.
The GMBDW reported in September 2013 that Wagdy Ghoneim was among fourteen defendants charged by Egyptian authorities in connection with clashes that took place in December 2012 in front of Al-Itihidaya presidential palace in Cairo.
Wagdy Ghoneim (aka Wagdi Ghoneim) is an Egyptian cleric known for his anti-Semitic speeches. In January 2005, Mr. Ghoneim agreed to be voluntarily deported from the U.S. based upon Department of Homeland Security concerns that his past speeches and participation in fund-raising activities could be supportive of terrorist organizations. Following deportations from Bahrain and South Africa, he appears to have settled in Qatar where MEMRI reported on remarks by Mr. Ghoneim which aired on Al-Jazeera TV and which praised violent Jihad and criticized the U.S. and Europe as “Godless” nations. Ghoneim is closely tied to the global Muslim Brotherhood and has been a frequent speaker or invited speaker at Brotherhood events including those sponsored by the Union of Islamic Organizations in Italy (UCOII), the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland (ICCI), and the League of Swiss Muslims. Known for his anti-semitic speeches, global media have also reported that he is closely associated with Hamas. Ghoneim was recently identified as one of sixteen individuals on a Home office list of people banned from the U.K. on the basis of ” unacceptable behaviour by seeking to foment, justify or glorify terrorist violence in furtherance of particular beliefs and to provoke others to commit terrorist acts. In July, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that Mr. Ghoneim was added by Egyptian authorities to a list of 90 leaders of the “International Organization of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
See our profile on Mr. Ghoneim for a catalog of his extremist statements.
When we last reported on Hassan Turabi in November 2012, he had just endorsed US President Obama for re-election. A post from 2011 reported that Mohammed Badie, the head of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, had held a meeting in Cairo with members of Hassan Turabi’s Popular Congress party ahead of visit to Sudan where Dr. Badie was expected to meet with Turabi himself. Hassan Turabi was involved in the past as a leader in the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood and is probably best known as the man who invited Osama bin Laden to live in Khartoum during the 1990s when Sudan was both a center for terrorist activity and strongly under the influence of Turabi. The BBC has published a profile of Turabi which can be found here.
