AT LARGE
- Full name: Shadi Suleiman Harb al-Manei
- Pseudonym: Abu Rim
- Alternatives: Shadi Malki
- Location: Sinai, Gaza Strip
- Affiliation: Sinai Islamist Insurgency
Shadi al-Manei (°1988) is an Egyptian Bedouin jihadi who serves as one of the most senior leaders of the Islamic State’s Province of Sinai [DaIWS; Dawlat al-Islamiya Wilayat Sina’a]. Originally one of the organization’s key commanders, he now reportedly oversees much of the DaIWS’ financial and logistical activities.
Manei comes from a religious family with deep ties to the Gaza Strip. His father had been a militant of the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO; Munazzamat at-Tahrir al-Filastiniya] in the 1970s.1 Manei himself became involved with smuggling as a teenager. He eventually dropped out of school to focus on the illicit trade between the peninsula and Gaza.2 In the early 2000s, Manei became acquainted with al-Qa’ida supporters in the Gaza Strip.3 He also associated with members of the Assembly of Monotheism and Jihad in the Sinai [JTJS; Jama’at Tawhid wal-Jihad fi-Sina’a].4 Manei was eventually caught up in the Egyptian government’s crackdown on the JTJS and was arrested following the Sharm el-Sheikh bombings in 2005. He subsequently spent more than a year in prison, where Manei met jailed members of the Soldiers of God [GA; Gund Allah] and other al-Qa’ida-aligned terrorists.5
Upon his release in 2007, Manei began smuggling African migrants into Israel.6 He was known for his brutal treatment of the Africans, many of whom were tortured or killed.7 Locals even believed that Manei killed the migrants to harvest their organs.8 He earned a small fortune and bought three homes.9 His involvement in human trafficking led to renewed trouble with law enforcement.10
In 2008, Manei established a camp where he provided shooting practice and combat training to locals.11 After a while, an informal group of militants grew around him.12 At the same time, Manei developed contacts with influential members of the Islamic Resistance Movement [HAMAS; Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya].13 He reportedly hid dozens of senior HAMAS operatives in safehouses on the Sinai Peninsula during Israel’s 2008 and 2009 offensive against the organization in the Gaza Strip.14
Following the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, Manei helped establish the Partisans of the Holy House [ABaM; Ansar Bait al-Maqdis]. As one of the group’s most senior commanders, he oversaw gas pipeline bombings in the Sinai and occasional rocket strikes into Israel.15 Manei was also linked to the perpetrators of the August 2011 cross-border attack on vehicles traveling along a highway in southern Israel.16 In January 2012, he was involved in the abduction of a group of Chinese workers which were subsequently traded for imprisoned militants.17 Later that year, Manei served as an intermediary in the kidnapping of Egyptian soldiers by members of the Abu Shita clan.18 During the post-revolutionary period, Manei tried to conceal his involvement in militancy and publicly backed Muslim Brotherhood president Mohammed Morsi.19 Around the same time, he also began transferring weapons of Libyan provenance to HAMAS.20
Manei was one of the ABaM commanders who oversaw the intensification of the insurgency in the Sinai after the army deposed Islamist president Morsi in the summer of 2013. He no longer obscured his jihadi activities and became one of the ABaM’s most prolific members. The Egyptian authorities in turn regarded him as one of the country’s most wanted men and actively hunted him down. In December 2013, security forces arrested several of his closest associates.21 Manei was mistakenly reported to have been killed by government-allied Bedouin tribesmen in May 2014.22 The ABaM disputed these reports by releasing pictures of Manei reading press articles on his supposed death.23
In late 2014, Manei joined the rest of the ABaM in pledging loyalty to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham]. Although he continued to serve as a commander and headed the DaIWS in his native village of Mahdiya, Manei appeared to have lost influence.24 In May 2015, the Tarabin Bedouin tribe offered a reward for his death or capture.25
Manei was badly hurt during a confrontation with the Egyptian army somewhere in 2015. He never fully recovered from his wounds. Manei is hindered in his movement and reportedly requires constant treatment.26 In January 2018, he was falsely rumored to have succumbed to his injuries.27
In recent years, Manei has used his ties with senior HAMAS operatives to advance cooperation between the DaIWS and the Gaza-based movement. He made several trips to the Gaza Strip to meet with these elements.28 By late 2015, Manei reportedly had arranged the treatment of injured DaIWS operatives in the Gaza Strip and the group’s continued shipment of weapons to HAMAS.29 Hardliners within the DaIWS have since disrupted ties with HAMAS on several occasions. In early 2018, the DaIWS even declared war on the Gaza-based movement.30 It is unclear how these developments have impacted Manei.
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