How are these groups connected to al-Qaeda?
Experts say bin Laden’s terror network grew in part out of Egyptian extremist groups, and many of al-Qaeda’s leaders are Egyptians. In recent years, bin Laden brought two leaders of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Ayman al-Zawahiri and the late Muhammad Atef, into the top echelons of al-Qaeda. In addition, some members of Jamaat al-Islamiyya have reportedly joined al-Qaeda. Overall, dozens of Egyptian militants passed through al-Qaeda training camps in Taliban-run Afghanistan.

Many experts think Zawahiri, who was jailed in Egypt for his part in President Anwar al-Sadat’s 1981 assassination, and Atef were the brains behind al-Qaeda’s deadliest terrorist operations, including the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in East Africa and the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. (Atef was reportedly killed in a U.S. bombing raid in Afghanistan shortly after September 11.)

What has Egypt done to combat these groups?
Egypt has waged a bitter campaign of state violence, mass arrests, and financial crackdowns against Jamaat al-Islamiyya, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and other Islamist groups during much of the 1990s. Experts say the government has largely succeeded in stopping them from carrying out terrorist attacks inside Egypt. But human rights groups say that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s regime has often used torture as part of its crackdown and sometimes has taken family members of Islamist leaders hostage.

What is Jamaat al-Islamiyya?
This organization, whose name means “the Islamic group,” is Egypt’s largest Islamist militant organization. Jamaat al-Islamiyya has a presence both in Egypt and worldwide. Its spiritual leader, the blind cleric Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, is serving a life sentence in the United States for his involvement in the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center. (In April 2002, the Justice Department charged that Abdel Rahman had tried to direct further terrorist operations from his cell in Minnesota.) Following a violent campaign of attacks against governmental, Christian, and other targets in Egypt, Jamaat al-Islamiyya has largely honored a March 1999 cease-fire with the Egyptian government. According to the State Department, Jamaat al-Islamiyya has not specifically attacked U.S. citizens or facilities, but exiled members of Jamaat al-Islamiyya are known to have joined al-Qaeda and trained at its camps in Afghanistan.

What is Egyptian Islamic Jihad?
This Islamist group, also known as the Society of Struggle, is closely tied to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network and has conducted many armed attacks against Egyptian government targets over the years. Egyptian Islamic Jihad has long maintained a small cadre of loyal militants with specialized skills and training. Operating mainly outside Egypt since the late 1990s, Egyptian Islamic Jihad has gradually turned its sights toward U.S. targets.