Kadafi Plot to Disrupt Egypt’s Security Told

Security officials announced today that they uncovered a plot masterminded by Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi to destabilize the government of Egypt and arrested five Egyptians in the conspiracy.

The state-run Middle East News Agency said the Egyptian General Intelligence and State Security Police are jointly investigating a “secret organization supported by the Libyan Intelligence and guided personally by Col. Moammar Kadafi.”

The news agency said authorities arrested five people allegedly linked to the conspiracy, including suspected ringleader Samad El-Sharkawi, an employee at the government-owned Egypt oil company. Two other suspects are still at large outside Egypt, it said.

Security officials revealed a “hostile Libyan plot aimed at causing harm to national interest and disrupting the security of the Egyptian internal front,” the news agency said.

The plotters, it said, planned to recruit Egyptians unhappy with the government of President Hosni Mubarak in “revolutionary committees” and send them to European countries to be trained by Libyans to use firearms and explosives.

The dissidents also were to attend seminars to study the ideology of Kadafi’s “Green Book”--which details his revolutionary philosophy--receive money and be given orders to disrupt Egyptian security, the official said.

A report detailing the organization, its formation and plans was presented to prosecution officials who gave orders to pursue its movements inside Egypt and abroad, the news agency said.