APPREHENDED
- Full name: Bassam Sayid Ibrahim el-Sayid Abu el-Khair
- Pseudonym: N/a
- Alternatives: N/a
- Location: Egypt
- Affiliation: fmr Nassr City Cell [NCC]
Bassam el-Khair was an Egyptian jihadi from the Gharbiya governorate who embraced Salafism during the 2000s. Police arrested him on Jun. 05, 2007 during a clampdown on Islamists and he spent the next few years in prison.1 During his incarceration, Khair got acquainted with Tarek Abu Azzam and Adel Shehato; two former operatives of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad Organization [EIJ] with ties to al-Qa’ida.2
Khair was released by the interim military authorities in the wake of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. He quickly linked up with Shehato and joined the Nassr City Cell [NCC]; a Cairo-based al-Qa’ida-affiliated module that was preparing to carry out attacks in Egypt. His brother also became a member of the cell. They built and tested roadside bomb prototypes.3 In October 2012, Khair narrowly escaped arrest when police intercepted his car while he was transporting a bomb in the Gharbiya governorate.4
Police apprehended Khair in the Siwa Oasis on Oct. 23, 2012 as he was accompanying his brother and Shehato on their way to Libya.5 He was put on trial and was eventually sentenced to life in prison by a Cairene court on Oct. 22, 2014.6
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