Mohammed Showqi Al-Islambouli ( ar, محمد شوقي الإسلامبولي) (born January 21, 1957), a younger brother of Khalid Ahmed Islambouli, was one of the key members of the

World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...

and was based in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

during the 1990s.

Militant life

Islambouli organised the first teams of Egyptian

mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term th ...

entering Afghanistan to battle the Soviet invasion, and by 1983 he had established a network smuggling people and weapons through

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and Egypt that still functioned towards the dawn of the

War on Terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international Counterterrorism, counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campa ...

in 2001. In late May 1995, Hassan al-Turabi met with

Ayman al-Zawahiri Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri (June 19, 1951 – July 31, 2022) was an Egyptian-born terrorist and physician who served as the second emir of al-Qaeda from June 16, 2011, until his death. Al-Zawahiri graduated from Cairo University with ...

to discuss the future of the

Vanguards of Conquest The Vanguards of Conquest (''Talaa'al al-Fateh'') is a terrorist organization that was originally founded in 1993 as a branch of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad operating in Somalia but became a separate faction that eventually folded back into the grou ...

; now to operate solely out of Egypt. al-Zawahiri and Mustafa Hamzah organised a meeting in

Ferney-Voltaire Ferney-Voltaire () is a commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. It lies between the Jura Mountains and the Swiss border; it forms part of the metropolitan area of Geneva. History Ferney was first no ...

on the French-Swiss border, attended by a colleague of Tal'at Fu'ad Qasim, an associate of Showky Al-Islambouli and the son of

Said Ramadan Said Ramadan ( ar, سعيد رمضان; April 12, 1926 in Shibin Al Kawm, Al Minufiyah – August 4, 1995 in Geneva) was an Egyptian political activist and humanitarian, and one of the preeminent leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood. He was the so ...

. The group decided to focus their efforts on

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

, and that their veteran members would come together under the leadership of Islambouli. Al-Islambouli came close to assassinating the

Egyptian President The president of Egypt is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointer of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the Constitution of Egypt following the Egy ...

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in t ...

on 22 June 1995 on the way from Addis Ababa International Airport to an African summit in the city. Showky and his associates opened fire on the armor-plated limousine destroying most of the escort vehicles. However, Mubarak was saved by the skills of his chauffeur, who U-turned the damaged limousine and raced back to the airport where the presidential plane was waiting with running engines.
Mubarak 1995 assassination attempt Over the winter of 1996–97, Al-Islambouli was commanding a team of

al-Gama'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 ...

members, and allocated them to travel to Somalia to bolster the forces of the Islamic Liberation Party. Al-Islambouli returned to Egypt in May 2011. He was arrested upon arrival at

Cairo International Airport Cairo International Airport (; ''Maṭār El Qāhira El Dawly'') is the principal international airport of Cairo and the largest and busiest airport in Egypt. It serves as the primary hub for Egyptair and Nile Air as well as several other ...

and was retried on terrorism charges. An Egyptian military court in Cairo ordered his release on health grounds in February 2012.

References

Egyptian Islamists Living people 1957 births {{Egypt-bio-stub