Mohammed al-Talawi (Ikhwani Militant, Egypt)

• Full name: Mohammed Douri Ahmed Mohammed al-Talawi
• Pseudonym: Sheikh Khalid, Abu Dawoud
• Alternatives: Mohammed Deri al-Taliani
• Location: Egypt, fmr Sinai, fmr Syria, fmr Libya
• Affiliation: Monitoring and Deterrance Cell [KRR], fmr Support Front of the Syrian People [JaNS]

Mohammed al-Talawi is an Egyptian Islamist from Giza. A former alcoholic and drugs addict, he turned to religion after having lost two friends to overdoses.¹ Talawi became a supporter of Osama Bin Laden and tried to join al-Qa’ida in Afghanistan during the mid-2000s.²

Following the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, Talawi traveled to Libya. He was trained by local jihadi forces before joining the fight against Kadhafi’s forces.³ Libyan regime forces eventually captured Talawi. The Libyans deported him to Tunisia three months later.⁴ He returned to Egypt in 2012 and linked up with Sinai-based jihadi militants. Talawi reportedly volunteered to carry out a suicide attack at one point. His request was denied.⁵ After a while, he traveled to Syria via Turkey and became a member of the Support Front of the Syrian People [JaNS; Jabhat al-Nusra li-Ahli al-Sham].⁶ Talawi became involved with planning suicide bombings and assassination bids on regime elements.⁷

Talawi returned to the Sinai Peninsula in 2013 and acted as an emissary of the Syrian jihadis.⁸ In the summer of 2013, he joined Muslim Brotherhood demonstrators and took part in the massive sit-in protests after the army had deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.⁹ Despite his Salafi views, Talawi joined the Brotherhood-linked Monitoring and Deterrence Cell [KRR; Khalia al-Rusud wal-Rada] in early 2014.¹⁰ He held no formal leadership position in the group, but wielded considerable influence due to his experience.¹¹ Talawi took part in the bomb attack against police outside a movie theater in Giza’s Haram neighborhood and the bombing of a Belgian diplomatic residence in nearby Omraniya.¹²

Talawi was apprehended as Egyptian security forces rolled up the KRR in February 2014.¹³ In May 2016, a court sentenced him to life imprisonment.¹⁴