International Journal on Criminology Volume 3, Number 1, Spring 2015 | Page 30

From “Arab Spring” to Jihadist Ice Age: Approaches to the “Complex East”
They finally agreed to make way for a government of technocrats in January 2014,
but lost the parliamentary elections on October 26 to Nidaa Tounes, whose candidate for the
presidential election, Caid Essebsi, was elected on December 2 with 55.7% of the votes.
Although Egypt had become familiar at election time with sectarian Salafism, it also
had to face Jihadist Salafism. After all, was not the new head of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri,
an Egyptian? Although Jemaah Islamiyah, an important terrorist group, was dismantled after
the terrible Luxor attack in 1997, terrorist acts still continued. Between 2004 and 2006, 130
people died during a series of attacks in Sinai beach resorts, and in 2011 a commando killed
eight Israelis in this same region. The group al-Tawhid wal-Jihad claimed responsibility.
On August 5, 2012, another commando slaughtered 16 Egyptian soldiers before
attempting in vain to enter Israel; this brought about an immediate reaction by President Morsi,
who ordered air strikes with the agreement of his neighbor. Consequently, for the last few years
Sinai has become the haunt of Jihadists. Al-Qaeda has established itself there, arousing fears of
it joining forces with Jund Ansar Allah, an important Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip.
On September 17, 2012, an imam, Fouad Ashoush, issued a fatwa on Jihadist Internet
sites that condemned the crew of the film The Innocence of Muslims to death.
However, and paradoxically, it was the Muslim Brotherhood that was to be the target
of popular fury, relayed by the army. President Morsi had his constitution plan adopted by
referendum on December 15 and 22, 2012 (63.8% of the votes were in favor, but only 32.9% of
the people voted, and the campaign was marred by serious acts of violence). It was undeniably
Islamist and considered by the opposition, which had regrouped within the National Salvation
Front, to be dangerous for the rights of women and minorities, including the Copts.
However, he came up against the obstacle of the law (the Constitutional Court
invalidated the Senate and the Constitution Panel, both composed mainly of Islamists, on
June 2, 2013) and had to face increasingly widespread dissent, which reproached him for his
authoritarianism and inability to improve the social and economic situation. The campaign
launched by the Tamarod (Rebellion) civil movement gathered more than 22 million signatures
for an early presidential election in June 2013.
Following huge demonstrations (estimated to be around 17 million people), the
army stripped the president of his functions and installed Adly Mansour, president of the
Constitutional Court, in an interim capacity. Meanwhile, there were bloody clashes between
the police and the Muslim Brothers, who ended up retreating after more than 1,400 of their
members had died and 15,000 others had been arrested. But the brotherhood has a long history
of underground operations.
Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was elected head of state on May 28, 2014. His
firm policies were supported by the majority of the population, who were weary of political
disorder and economic blunders. For all this, Jihadist terrorism did not wane, particularly in
Sinai (where in 2014 there were almost 500 deaths in one year), but also in Cairo and in the
Nile Delta region. The shadow of DAESH (the Arabic acronym for Islamic State in Iraq and the
Middle East) then began to hover over Egypt.
Although in post-Gaddafi Libya there have been no significant electoral protests
by the Salafists, this movement is nevertheless active through its deployment of weapons.
Within the space of a few months, there have been attacks against foreigners and foreign
delegations from Britain, America, and France. These reached their peak (if one might call
it that) with the commando attack against Ambassador Stevens in Benghazi. The Libyan
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