United States/Sinai – The State Department on the 9 Apr 14 added Ansar Jerusalem (Ansar Bayt al Maqdis, or ABM) to the US government's lists of designated terrorist entities. Based in the Sinai, ABM was founded in the aftermath of the uprisings in Egypt in 2011. The group attracted early attention by conducting attacks, including daring guerrilla-style raids, in Israel and against Egyptian security forces in the Sinai. Following the overthrow of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, ABM has escalated its attacks inside Egypt, including in the country's urban areas. As the State Department notes, ABM has also expanded its targets to include foreign tourists. The State Department's designation follows a similar move by the British government, which designated ABM as a terrorist entity earlier this month. The designations are intended to prevent citizens in either the US or the UK from supporting the terrorist organization. The State Department says that "ABM - who shares some aspects of AQ ideology, but is not a formal AQ affiliate and generally maintains a local focus - was responsible for a July 2012 attack against a Sinai pipeline exporting gas to Israel." But it is not clear what aspects of al Qaeda's ideology the group does not share. It is also not known, based on publicly available information, whether or not ABM is an unannounced branch of al Qaeda. It may not be, but other groups, such as Shabaab in Somalia and the Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant in Syria, have operated within al Qaeda's sphere of influence long before any formal announcement of allegiance was made public. ABM's "local focus" is also entirely consistent with al Qaeda's priorities. Both seek to impose a harsh version of Sharia law within Egypt. And ABM has frequently portrayed its attacks, both against Israel and inside Egypt, as being a part of al Qaeda's global jihad. In turn, al Qaeda's most senior leader, Ayman al Zawahiri, has repeatedly praised ABM's attacks. The Jul 12 attack on the Sinai pipeline mentioned by the State Department is a good illustration of this point. ABM released a video on the 24 Jul 12 in which it claimed responsibility for 13 pipeline attacks. The video is peppered with clips of Zawahiri praising the pipeline bombings, which he has heralded on several occasions. Zawahiri provides an economic justification for the attacks, saying they damage Israel's economy. "The greeting goes to the heroes who blew up the gas pipeline and who represent the dignity of the Egyptian people," Zawahiri says in one clip used in the ABM video. "May Allah bless them, until they see the Islamic Caliphate ruling over the countries of Islam. I ask Allah to grant them patience and determination, and to reward them in the best way in this life and the hereafter." Other high-profile ABM attacks have been portrayed as consistent with al Qaeda's global jihad as well.
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