APPREHENDED
- Full name: Adel Awad Shehato al-Ghannam
- Pseudonym: N/a
- Alternatives: N/a
- Location: Egypt, fmr Afghanistan
- Affiliation: fmr Nassr City Cell, fmr Partisans of Shari’a in Egypt [ASE], fmr Egyptian Islamic Jihad Organization [EIJ]
Adel Shehato is an Egyptian terrorist who has been involved in militancy since the early 1980s when he joined the Egyptian Islamic Jihad Organization [EIJ].1 Shehato was arrested and given a three-year prison term in 1984.2 Upon his release in 1987, he went to Afghanistan to link up with exiled EIJ members. [3] Shehato received advanced firearms training.3 No further information is available on his time in the country. The authorities arrested him in 1991 after Shehato had returned to Egypt.4 He spent the next twenty years in prison.5 During the late 1990s, Shehato refused to participate in the Egyptian government’s amnesty program for jihadis.6
The interim military authorities released Shehato from prison a few months after the January 2011 Egyptian Revolution.7 He immediately returned to Islamist activism and became an associate of the Partisans of Shari’a in Egypt [ASE; Ansar al-Shari’a] which was headed by a number of al-Qa’ida associates.8 Shehato advocated for the release of other imprisoned jihadis and agitated against democracy. He helped organize protests and gave speeches at demonstrations.9 Shehato openly declared his continued loyalty to al-Qa’ida.10
At the same time, Shehato and his long-time companions set up the so-called Nassr City Cell [NCC] which aimed to carry out attacks against the perceived enemies of Islam in Egypt.11 The cell collected weapons and began preparations to strike against American warships traveling on the Suez Canal.12 Shehato gave guidance to the NCC, helped collect funds and took charge of training its members.13
Shehato became a wanted man after he had helped instigate the Sep. 11, 2012 riot at the American embassy in Cairo.14 Two days later, police raided his home but were unable to find him.15 Security forces eventually arrested Shehato and two associates at a checkpoint in the Siwa Oasis on Oct. 23, 2012.16 The men were reportedly on their way to Libya. During the subsequent trial of the NCC, Shehato boldly professed loyalty to al-Qa’ida and brandished pictures of Osama Bin Laden.17 The court sentenced him to life imprisonment on Oct. 22, 2014.18
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