Brotherhood’s secret files (Part 15)

We stopped in the last issue at the middle of the minutes of the investigation with Youssef Talaat, and now we complete the investigation, which I hope the reader will read very carefully to extract his own notes from the lines of speech. Before I leave you with the man's sayings, I just want to remind you of the observations I made in the last episode:

First: These investigations began in November 1954, and the Brotherhood had officially announced the dissolution of the Special Apparatus (the group’s military wing) after the assassination of the founding guide, Hassan al-Banna, and the arrival of its new guide, Hassan al-Hudaybi, in 1949, which you will discover was a deception after reading the investigations, as the apparatus remained in place and supported by the new guide.

Second: In defending the continuity of the Special Apparatus’ existence, despite the group’s leaders claiming its dissolution, the Brotherhood said that they preserved it in order to fight the British in the Suez Canal. The investigations will show you how the Brotherhood was placed in all the cities of the Canal (four armed factions), while they placed twelve armed factions in Cairo alone, which indicates that what was meant by jihad was Cairo and the men of the revolution, not the British as the Brotherhood claimed.

Third: Youssef Talaat's evasion of the investigator in an attempt to lay the blame for planning the assassination of President Abdel Nasser and his companions on Ibrahim El-Tayeb and Hendawi Duweir, and removing all embarrassment from the General Guide and the rest of the leaders of the Special Apparatus.

Completion of the investigation record

Q: “Ibrahim El-Tayeb admitted in his statements that he is responsible for the Special Apparatus from the administrative aspects, while Mahdi Akef is responsible for the training authority, which is the technical aspect?”

A: “Abdel Moneim Abdel Raouf is responsible for the training exercises, and Mahdi Akef assists him in terms of sports and physical skill.”

Q: “What are Salah Shadi’s duties?”

A: “Salah Shadi is one of the members of the Supreme Authorities Committee, as I mentioned previously.”

Q: “Who are the people responsible for the Special Apparatus in the regions?”

A: “Nasr Gad in Ismailia, who is the head of one faction, and his next in line, writer Othman Siddiq, as well as Mohamed Soleiman, who is in the water department of the Canal Company, Mustafa Tartour from the platoon members, Abdel Qader Ashour in the Irrigation and Ismailia Department, a person named Khader Bekal in Mohamed Ali Street, my brother Moussa Talaat, who is a plumber in Saad Street, Essa Mohamed Essa in the Coca-Cola Company, and Nagi Awadallah on the phones. In Port Said, the official, carpenter Mohamed El-Nahry, has weapons that were seized. I remember that his manager, Mohsen, had weapons in Dahr al-Gabal, and Abdel Ghaffar al-Hamalawy in Ismailia in Arashiyah Omar on Amiri Hospital Street. The one responsible for the apparatus in Suez is Malik Nar, and in Sharqiya, Fares Fareeg has two factions, while Dakahlia is the responsibility of Mohamed al-Dawwa, a teacher in Mansoura, and he has two factions. Farag al-Najjar, a shop owner who resides in the Mit Khaqan district, is responsible for Menoufiya, and he has three factions and is responsible for the location of weapons. In Alexandria, Mohamed Selim, a maintenance clerk, is responsible, and Mostafa Fahmy, who was arrested, had weapons in Alexandria, and he is a subordinate to Mohamed Selim. There is a faction in Alexandria, while Beheira has two groups, and the person in charge of them is Ahmed Naguib Al-Fawal, a merchant. In Qalyubia, Dr. Abdel Meguid Al-Ajami is in charge, who was transferred south and was going to establish and apparatus, and this directorate is considered a part of Sharqeya. The person in charge of Gharbeya is Ahmed Al-Bass, a teacher at a compulsory school in Basyoun and residing there; he has three factions and is the one responsible for weapons. Mustafa Al-Basati is responsible for Fayoum, and he has five or six people, and Beni Suef is under someone named Abdel Tawwab, who is a financial clerk. There is a faction close to Minya under Sheikh Mahmoud Abdel Meguid, a retired teacher, and he is responsible for about ten people, while Fouad Bakhit, a survey clerk, is responsible for Assiut, and he has one or two groups.”

Q: “Did the instructions of the plan communicated by Ibrahim El-Tayeb to the heads of the factions and regions in Cairo reach the heads of the factions in the regions?”

A: “No, it was not communicated, and this plan did not reach Alexandria; it was limited to Cairo, because the men of the government are present there.”

Q: “Khamis admitted that he issued an order to you to prevent the publication of a secret publication against the government, and that you disobeyed it and actually sent the publication?”

A: “It’s not published. It’s a pamphlet title “The Brotherhood in Battle”. What happened is that on the same day it was sent, I showed him the picture, and he told me that it’s not to be sent, so I asked him if in the case it had been sent, and he said it was not correct that it was sent and that this is considered a wrong action.”

Q: “Dr. Khamis confessed that the Special Apparatus does not have to listen, but listen and obey only the Guide, and his words were understood that the Guide gave you orders to implement during his trip in Syria, so what do you say?”

A: “This dispute actually occurred on the day of the publication.”

Q: “Sheikh Farghali and Dr. Khamis admitted in their statements that the Guide told them, after his return from his trip in Syria, that he found a dispute between Mustafa al-Siba'i, the Brotherhood’s guide in Syria, and the members of the Special Apparatus there. What is your information about the Special Apparatus in Syria?”

A: “I did not attend the Guide’s talk on this subject, and I know that for about two years, Adel Kamal had traveled there and formed an organization in Syria, and that there is an ongoing dispute over the formation of a Secret Apparatus for the Brotherhood in Syria.”

Q: “Is the Secret Apparatus in Syria based on the same foundations as the apparatus in the Egyptian group?”

A: “I do not know and have never contacted the Syrians.”

Q: “Do you not think that the leader is connected to Syria to organize the plans by which the two political systems of the Brotherhood in the two brotherly countries operate?”

A: “I do not know. All I know is that the Guide is the person to whom the decisions of the Supreme Committee are presented to the authorities for decision.”

Q: “What is the reason for choosing you within the Supreme Committee of the group in the Special Apparatus?”

A: “In my capacity, I am responsible for these formations and I am the advocate of the call. The one who nominated me to lead these special formations was Dr. Khamis, after the dismissal of Abdul Rahman Al-Sindi, before the recent decision to dissolve the Brotherhood a few weeks ago, about four or five weeks.”

Q: “What is the connection between reconfiguring this apparatus and the decision to dissolve the Brotherhood?”

A: “The only reason is the dismissal of Abdul Rahman Al-Sindi.”

Q: “Who is responsible for writing and printing the Brotherhood's secret publications?”

A: “The person responsible for writing the secret publications is Mohamed Shadid, and the person responsible for the printing is a person named Mohamed Abdulaziz Nassar, while Sayyid Qutb cooperates with Mohamed Shadid in drafting the publication, and that was for a short period, and he drafted the publications of the agreement that will not pass.”

Q: “Mohamed Shadid admitted during his interrogation about two publications that are under preparation and written in his handwriting, and that Ibrahim El-Tayeb was the one who dictated them to him, so what is your information?”

A: “They must cooperate with each other.”

Q: “Who was the person who was printing the leaflet that was seized in the house where you were arrested?”

A: “I went to find it printed, and the people who mentioned them frequently must be the ones who printed it.”

Q: “What is your information about Mohamed Naguib's publication criticizing the agreement?”

A: “This publication was presented to Ibrahim El-Tayeb, and he told me that it was Abdel Qadir Odeh who gave it to me and told me that it was coming through Mohamed Naguib, but he did not explain it to me more than that.”

Q: “What is your information about the publication of the statements of a former minister in the government of the revolution and how it transformed from a government of struggle to a government of kindness and begging?”

A: “This leaflet is from Alexandria, and Ahmed Hassanein, who is responsible for the apparatus of the regions, sent it to me. He told me that this was a speech that Professor Soleiman Hafez wanted to publish in the Brotherhood newspaper, so I handed it to Ibrahim El-Tayeb so that he could print it. In fact, the publication contained a speech in addition to what was printed, and we prevented it and published the part that was printed.”

Q: “Can you prove that the source of this publication is Soleiman Hafez?”

A: “It is Ahmed Hassanein who can prove it to you through the person who brought this speech to him.”

Q: “Who gave instructions to the members of the Special Apparatus not to surrender and to resist until death?”

A: “Abdel Moneim Abdel Raouf is the one who gave this order to the faction leaders.”

Q: “You previously said that Abdel Moneim Abdel Raouf received the order from Ibrahim El-Tayeb, and Ibrahim El-Tayeb received the order from you, so was this order sequenced in this way?”

A: “This particular order did not happen, and I objected and told the brothers that this is not correct.”

Q: “How do you justify changing this order when you previously mentioned that among the plan is for the Muslim Brotherhood to resist if there is an attack on the part of the government against the popular demonstrations?”

A: “The opinion of the resistance if there is an attack from the government is the opinion of Abdel Moneim Abdel Raouf.”

Q: “Who was assigned to bring weapons and explosive materials from the Brotherhood?”

A: “The head of the region is responsible for this, and Ibrahim El-Tayeb is the one who knows the person responsible for purchasing weapons for all regions, and the weapons were distributed equally with the knowledge of Ibrahim El-Tayeb, and Abdel Moneim Abdel Raouf was a technical advisor.”

Q: “How did you know that weapons were distributed equally among the factions?”

A: “I heard from Ibrahim El-Tayeb.”

Q: “How did you get the price of these weapons?”

A: “A public subscription was made with the intention of guaranteeing homes, and I was the one who told Ibrahim to buy weapons for use, because it is an old policy and we are following this policy.”

Q: “What do you mean by saying the old policy?”

A: “I mean, the Brotherhood is buying weapons for the general jihad against the British and other colonial Islamic countries.”

Q: “You said in your statements that weapons were distributed to the factions a month and a half ago, so what is the reason for that, and that these weapons were distributed inside Cairo in various areas such as Shubra, Helwan, Giza and Sharabiya? Was it intended to fight the British in the Canal or Maghreb in North Africa?”

A: “Weapons were distributed according to the presence of men in the areas.”

Q: “Were the weapons in the Canal sufficient for the members of the Special Apparatus there?”

A: “Not enough.”

Q: “If the purpose was to fight the British, why did the Brotherhood not join the camps of the National Guard, knowing that the weapons in these camps were distributed with the knowledge of the government without the individuals paying the price of these weapons?”

A: “The nature of the Brotherhood is that an individual possesses a private weapon that is not known to the government.”

Q: “Why did you not complete the missing weapons in the Canal area instead of distributing them in Cairo?”

A: “This was really a mistake.”

Q: “How many factions were formed in the Canal region?”

A: “There is one faction in Ismailia, one faction in Port Said, and two factions in Suez.”

Q: “Do you think that these factions are sufficient to fight the British in the Canal region, knowing that there are twelve factions in Cairo alone, and what is the reason?”

A: “This is due to the large number of people in Cairo and the small number of them in the Canal.”

Q: “What do you know about the Abu Sultan Bridge incident?”

A: “I don’t know anything about it; I was present at that time in Cairo.”

Q: “Why did you disappear after this incident?”

A: “I thought I would be arrested.”

Q: “Is there a reason for your arrest?”

A: “There were brothers who were arrested, and it was the night of Eid.”

Q: “Do you have anything else to say?”

A: “No.”