Tal'at Fu'ad Qasim (also spelled Qassim, ar, طلعت فؤاد قاسم; born 1957?), also known as Abu Talal al-Qasimi ( ar, أبو طلال القاسمي) (possibly executed in 1995), was the leader of Egypt's militant

al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya ( ar, الجماعة الإسلامية, "the Islamic Group"; also transliterated El Gama'a El Islamiyya; also called "Islamic Groups" and transliterated Gamaat Islamiya, al Jamaat al Islamiya, is an Egyptian Sunni Islamist movement, and ...

(Gama'a Islamiyya) organization until he obtained Right of asylum, political asylum in Denmark. He was executed in secret in 1995, following the first modern "extraordinary rendition" at the hands of U.S. authorities.

Background

Qasim got his start in the Gama'a Islamiyya in the late 1970s, when he was head of the Student Union at Minya University in Upper Egypt; according to some sources, he was the immediate superior in the organization of Anwar Sadat's killer, Khalid Islambouli. He was arrested and imprisoned following the assassination, escaping after serving eight years in prison. He then joined the jihad against the Soviet–Afghan War, Soviets in Afghanistan (actually operating from Peshawar, Pakistan); in 1989 he became head of the Gam'a Islamiyya. After being sentenced to death by an Egyptian security court, he obtained asylum in Denmark, despite his public espousal and embrace of terrorism, terrorist violence against civilians.

Capture and aftermath

In September 1995, he was kidnapped in Croatia during a trip to war-torn Bosnia. His capture was orchestrated by U.S. authorities, who had concluded that he posed a threat to U.S. interests. After questioning aboard a United States Navy, U.S. Navy vessel, he was handed over to Egyptian authorities in international waters.Jane Mayer, Mayer, Jane, ''The Dark Side (book), The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals'', 2008. p. 33 Qasim, who had been tried and convicted ''trial in absentia, in absentia'' by a military tribunal in 1992, was then apparently executed by the Egyptian government, allegedly after torture. The Egyptian government refused to acknowledge the detention and execution. According to Human Rights Watch, Qasim's was the first case of "extraordinary rendition"; predating by six years the September 11 attacks, Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. In 2017, Qasim was removed from the US sanctions list twenty-two years after his death.

References

1950s births 1990s deaths 20th-century executions by Egypt Egyptian military leaders Enforced disappearances in Egypt Fugitives Kidnapped people Minya University alumni Leaders of Islamic terror groups Terrorism in Egypt Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain

External links

Black Hole Islamists
{{Militant Islamism in the Middle East