APPREHENDED
- Full name: Ramez Abdelfattah Ibrahim Mohammed
- Pseudonym: N/a
- Alternatives: N/a
- Location: Egypt, fmr Syria
- Affiliation: fmr Assembly of the Partisans of Islam [JAaI], fmr Ramez and Bahr Module [RBM], fmr Victory Front for the People of the Levant [JaNS]
Ramez Mohammed is an Egyptian former corporate executive who first became attracted to Salafism in the late 2000s.1 At the same time, his fascination with jihadi propaganda on the internet made him a supporter of al-Qa’ida.2 Mohammed took part in the mass protests that eventually led to the fall of Hosni Mubarak’s regime in January 2011. During these demonstrations, he encountered recruiter Mohammed Suleiman who convinced him to wage jihad in Syria.3 Mohammed traveled to the country via Turkey and joined the Victory Front for the People of the Levant [JaNS; Jabhat al-Nusra li-Ahli ash-Sham].4 He was trained in weapons handling, marksmanship and missile manufacturing before fighting on the frontlines in the governorate of Hama. Mohammed got seriously injured during clashes with Syrian regime forces and returned to Egypt in June 2013.5 He spent six months in hospital, before briefly working at a store selling spare parts for elevators.6
In 2016, Mohammed met Osama Bahr and his associates who convinced him to train and lead them.7 Under his command, the so-called Ramez and Bahr Module [RBM] acquired weapons and entered into an alliance with the Imadaddin Hamid-led Assembly of the Partisans of Islam [JAaI; Jama’at Ansar al-Islam].8 Mohammed trained his associates and helped draw up plans to attack a wide variety of targets, including the Israeli embassy, a Coptic church, police stations and a judge.9 Most of the plots were called of due to high security at the sites. The RBM did attack a police station in Giza on Jul. 26, 2017, injuring an officer and a civilian.10 Mohammed and most of his associates were arrested when Egyptian security forces raided the RBM’s hideout in Cairo on Dec. 24, 2017.11 A court sentenced him to life imprisonment in November 2019.12
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