There were no terrorist attacks against Americans or US interests in Egypt in 1991, despite concerns of such attacks in support of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

US and Egyptian security services cooperated closely on security and antiterrorism matters. During the Persian Gulf war, Egyptian security forces reported several apparent terrorist threats against US interests in Egypt. Egyptian security agents arrested a number of individuals suspected of planning terrorist acts against Egyptian or Western targets.

In early September, Egyptian authorities arrested armed agents of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) who had entered Egypt with the intention of committing terrorist acts. In November, Israeli security forces intercepted four armed Palestinians who had entered the Israeli Negev from the Sinai. It is quite likely that these terrorists entered Egypt from a third country with the intention of infiltrating into Israel for future terrorist attacks. There are unconfirmed reports that two bodies found on a Gaza beach in December were terrorists who drowned while attempting an attack that may have been launched from Egyptian territory.

The radical Islamic group Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiyaa is believed responsible for a number of armed robberies of local Egyptian merchants in 1991 but has conducted no major terrorist incident since the October 1990 assassination of assembly speaker al-Mahgoub. This group seeks the violent overthrow of the Government of Egypt but is not known to have attacked US or other Western targets. More important, it receives support from Iran and has established networks with several counterparts in the Arab world and elsewhere.

Source: United States Department of State, April 1992.