"The fight against religious extremism and for a more progressive and tolerant Pakistan has to be fought on these fronts, but, regrettably, it is nowhere to be found. Until that happens, what the president has said will remain empty rhetoric."

Egyptian retort to London allegations.

The British authorities accused an Egyptian biochemist , living in Leeds , who had returned to Cairo several days before the 7/7 London attacks of a connection, soon realized that its abrupt conclusions were resented by Egypt's interior minister, Habib al-Adli, who criticized the British police for coming to "hasty conclusions". The reports of the scientists' links to al-Qaida were groundless, he said. The prosecutor general, Maher Abdel Wahid, also pointedly reminded that Egypt and the UK had no extradition treaty, so even if the chemist were charged in Britain, Cairo need not send him back.

Attack on Egypt ’s resort – A US ally and Israel facilitator;

Egypt itself again became terrorist’s target when multiple bombings on 23 July killed scores of tourists including a dozen foreigners at its luxury Red Sea holiday resort in Sharm El Sheikh. There were many claimants for the vile deed including professed affiliates of the al Qaida to a previously unknown Sinai-based group defending Bedouins, 3,000 were arrested after last October Taba attacks of which 200 people were still being detained according to the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights.

It was claimed as a “devastating blow to the Crusaders and the Zionists and the infidel Egyptian regime.” The advertising campaign of luxurious life style of the resort on CNN and BBC interposed with news of mayhem in Iraq and Palestine looked incongruous. The attacks will adversely Egypt’s tourism trade from which it earns many billions of dollars.

“I believe that these attacks were masterminded by Al Qaida,” said Makram Mohammed Ahmed, an editorialist for the government-owned Al-Ahram daily and an expert on terrorism. “Following the assassination of the Egyptian envoy in Iraq, Ihab al-Sharif, and the Al Qaida statement claiming the murder and accusing the Egyptian regime of being under the ‘orders of the Crusaders’, it is clear that Egypt is being targeted because of its regional and international policies,” he said.

“Al Qaida considers Egypt an integral part of the US-led coalition,” Ahmed said.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 and is seen to facilitate US and Israeli policies in the region. Washington’s aid package to Cairo is second after Israel.

“Besides, one should not forget that Al Qaida second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is Egyptian and that he and his men have long been persecuted by the Egyptian authorities,” the analyst added. Before joining bin Laden as his top adviser, Zawahiri led the Jihad group, which spearheaded with the Jamaa Islamiya organization a wave of terror attacks in Egypt during 1990s.

Egypt’s Interior Minister Habib al-Adly also seemed to agree. “Although we cannot speculate on the perpetrators of the Sharm El Sheikh bombings, it is obvious that these operations are very sophisticated, well-organized and require substantial funding,” analyst Diaa Rashwan said. “The planners chose to target a city under tight security which is one of the seats of power,” said the analyst from the Al-Ahram Center for Strategic Studies. Mubarak is often stays there and Tony Blair has holidayed there too.

Another expert, Nabil Abdel Fattah, said that the attacks “were aimed at discrediting the Egyptian regime by challenging its ability to secure its own stability even as it poses as the guarantor of regional security.” A top Israeli defense official bluntly questioned the quality of the regime’s intelligence services and accused Cairo of having failed to learn the lessons of earlier Taba bombings. There have been a few smaller attacks on tourists in Cairo.

Egyptian police now believe that the organizers of the bomb attacks were homegrown militants rather than the followers of al-Qaida,

Cairo accusations against Pakistanis denied.

Egypt, at least its media, first suspected a group of Pakistanis with fake passports who allegedly traveled from Cairo to the resort and then disappeared. State television even showed pictures of two Pakistanis. But after a testy response from Pakistan, the reports were denied, by the Egyptian Ambassador Hussein Haridy in Islamabad too, in an unusual step. Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Naeem Khan denied any connection with the blasts and Haridy clarified that at no time did the Egyptian government accuse Pakistanis of involvement in the bombings. The Egyptian ambassador added that his country had cordial relations with Pakistan and both countries would continue to co-operate in the war on terror.

NATO Ally Turkey ;

Another US NATO ally, Turkey, which has a party with Islamic roots in power, was targeted on 16 July at its Kusadasi sea resort, popular with British holidaymakers. The bomb blew off the roof and sides of a minibus carrying 14 holidaymakers traveling with UK tour company Thomas Cook. It clearly reinforced the idea of a concerted terrorist campaign against British targets worldwide, with increasing evidence pointing to al-Qaida.

The author has written how the US administration helped in early 1990s transport many thousands of Al Qaida fighters from Afghanistan to the Balkans to fight against Serbia, thus providing them exposure in Europe and international experience. Reportedly, many of these fighters married local girls and settled down there, thus becoming sleepers cells .It will a constant menace to the Europeans. European nations remain as opaque and nationalistic on the question of fully sharing intelligence on terrorists as on Common Agriculture Policy and other matters.

During French Premier’s just concluded visit to London to coordinate counter terrorist measures, it was revealed that UK has still not extradited a French national charged with the bombing of Paris Underground ten years ago. To a question, Tony Blair expressed hope that the British Courts would expedite it. And the same time UK expects Egypt, Pakistan and others to handover suspects.

Turkey and USA have snapped at each other frequently ever since Turkey denied USA use of its bases in southeast Turkey to open a second front in north Iraq in March 2003. They now have major differences in their policies on the Middle East and the region. Turkey's 40 -year-old journeys to join European Union now face opposition from Europe’s Christian populations. At best, EU-Turkey agreement can be considered a long-term engagement without likely consummation of the marriage. But any major rebuff to Turkey could strengthen nationalistic, fascist and Islamists tendencies and elements, as has happened in the past. There are millions of Turks in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.