Egyptian Islamic Jihad was founded in the 1970s as a violent Islamist opposition to secular government. It paralleled Jamaat al-Islamiyya in that many of its members belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood but regarded it as too moderate, and that many of the EIJ members eventually affiliated with al-Qaeda and other organizations with a scope beyond Egypt. It is not known to have carried out an operation in Egypt since 1993. In general, however, it appears to be dormant or have been superseded. It was founded by Abd al-Qadir bin ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, who was replaced by Ayman al-Zawahiri; the two have accused one another of plagiarism.
One of its leaders, who has been a source on Osama bin Laden's thinking, is Ahmed Ibrahim al-Sayed al-Naggar.[1]
During its active life, it was involved in the
They have been reported to have provided documents, communication and funds to al-Qaeda in the 1998 bombings of U.S. Embassies in Africa.[2]