Al-Arjani and the “Union of Arab Tribes” in Egypt… fears and reassurances

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As soon as the launch of the Union of Arab Tribes in Egypt, from North Sinai Governorate, was announced, posts spread on social media, reflecting concerns about the possibility that the entity could act as a “militia,” or that its president, businessman Ibrahim Al-Arjani, would turn into a copy of… Commander of the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti).

However, Mustafa Bakri, the union’s spokesman, a former parliamentarian and strong supporter of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, quickly came out and dispelled all these fears, saying that the bloc is a “civil association” that has nothing to do with the Sinai Tribes Union, which fought with the army and cooperated with it during the battles against the organizations. Terrorism in Sinai.

Political analyst Amr Al-Shobaki, speaking to Al-Hurra website, considered that these fears are “legitimate,” considering that “the government must work to dispel them,” noting that the Union itself was quick to affirm that “Egypt is based on the idea of ​​a national state and does not accept the existence of parallel entities.” .

The launch of the Union of Arab Tribes was announced during a mass conference in the village of Al-Ajra, south of Rafah in North Sinai, on Wednesday.

The union said in a statement that it aims to “create a national popular framework that includes members of the Arab tribes to unify ranks and integrate all tribal entities into one framework, in support of the constants of the national state and confronting the challenges that threaten its security and stability, in addition to the tireless effort to adopt national issues and communicate with all Arab tribes.” “To reach commonalities within the framework of the state, serve its goals, and support President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.”

The statement stressed that the union “in its proposal and vision rises above all party and ideological affiliations… and its message is to the state. Uniting the tribes does not conflict with the principles of the nation, and does not clash with the parties and coalitions to which a hand is extended for cooperation and joint coordination.”

“Tendentious comparisons”

Comparisons between the Sinai businessman, Al-Arjani, and Hemedti spread on social media platforms, and some expressed their fears about the emergence of a “Hemedti scenario in Egypt,” especially since Al-Arjani was head of the Sinai Tribal Union and cooperated with the army forces in locating members of terrorist organizations in Sinai.

Some tweeters on the “X” platform pointed this out, andbooks One of them: “This is what was said about the Rapid Support in Darfur. They work with the army and are most capable of defeating the rebellion in Darfur, and currently they are in Khartoum and the army is fleeing from it.”

But the difference is clear between the reason and how the Janjaweed were formed, from which the Rapid Support Forces emerged, and the Sinai Tribal Union, which cooperated with the army in order to confront terrorist organizations in the Sinai Peninsula, which carried out strong attacks against the army, police, and civilians, following the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood regime more than more than 10 years.

The Sinai Tribal Union was formed to support the armed forces in confronting ISIS in Sinai. In an interview in which Al-Arjani appeared with Bakri in 2015, he said: “There are tribes in Sinai and there is ISIS…either the tribes or ISIS. When the tribesmen were absent, the sheep became [داعش] Prestige,” he explained, “The Takfirists will be eliminated.”

The Secretary-General of the Congress Party in North Sinai Governorate, Musa Abu Akiresh, said in statements to the “Al-Hurra” website that such comparisons are “tendentious,” adding: “Those who say that the Union of Arab Tribes is armed and like the Hemedti militias of Sudan… all this talk is not “His existence.”

He continued: “We are a state of law and we are not in an estate. There are institutions, an army, police, and intelligence, and at a certain time we supported the army with information at the largest level.”

The Egyptian army is ranked No. 15 in the world, according to… Opportunity “Global Fire Power”, during the site’s current classification for the year 2024.

Turkey is ranked 8th and Iran is ranked 14th in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the Janjaweed militia was established with the aim of confronting the rebellion movement led by figures of African origin in Darfur, where the former regime, led by Omar al-Bashir, decided to form the armed group to include Arab fighters, according to Agence France-Presse.

The Janjaweed were accused of being responsible for what the US government described as the first genocide of the twenty-first century. A report by the US Government Accountability Office stated that “the US State Department reported that a total of 98,000 to 181,000 people died between March 2003 and January 2005,” while estimates indicate that 400,000 people were killed.

The International Criminal Court opened an investigation in 2005, and in early 2009, ousted President Al-Bashir became the first head of state against whom an arrest warrant was issued. Despite international persecution, in 2013, the Sudanese president established the Rapid Support Forces out of the Janjaweed, headed by Dagalo, nicknamed Hemedti.

When asked whether the new entity in Egypt means the presence of a militia, Bakri said during the “Al-Hekaya” program on MBC Misr, on Friday, that “the constitution and the law prevent the formation of military militias, as everyone who works to form them is subject to the law and the constitution.” That is, Militias they are talking about, and we say that the entity is a civil society association within the framework of the Civil Associations Law?

For his part, Al-Shobaki considered that “fears on social networking sites are legitimate, because Egypt is not accustomed to this type of unions and associations, especially since it was launched under the leadership of a person from a sensitive region like Sinai, which has gone through many problems.”

He continued: “The state is supposed to confirm in the end that all matters are done under its mandate and institutions, and it works to dispel those fears and addresses public opinion transparently.”

Regarding the comparison with the situation in Sudan, Al-Shobaki said: “I do not think that this is happening in Egypt, whatever it is. The issue is far-fetched because the other (Hemedti) was part of the military establishment, but the situation in Egypt is not like that. The Union of Tribes cannot be compared to rapid support.”

He explained, “Egypt and the Egyptian state have always affirmed that it has one national army… and any political manifestation from the days of Muhammad Ali’s rule until now is based on the idea of ​​the national state and its institutions, and does not accept the existence of parallel entities.”

In turn, Al-Arjani said during his speech at the union’s inauguration conference that it came “based on their national and social responsibility, awareness and awareness of the challenges facing the nation in all strategic directions, and an emphasis on the historical role played by tribes and families in the march of this nation and supporting its institutions.”

Al-Arjani is considered one of the few Egyptian businessmen who have a license to export goods to Gaza from Egypt. He is one of the leaders of the Tarabin tribe in Sinai and has become close to the Egyptian government and a member of the National Authority for Sinai Development.

Al-Arjani also appeared in Libya, where he signed contracts for reconstruction work with the Executive Director of the Fund for the Reconstruction of Derna and Affected Areas, Belkacem Khalifa Haftar, the son of the commander of the “Libyan National Army” (Khalifa Haftar), who controls the east of the country and has strong ties to Cairo.

The “Al-Hurra” website had previously revealed, based on the testimonies of five people from the Gaza Strip, distributed among the United States, Egypt, Germany, and Turkey, an exploitation operation whose threads all intersect in the office of the “Hala” company, whose board of directors is also chaired by Al-Arjani.

What are the differences?

Abu Akiresh was also a member of the Sinai Tribes Union, headed by Al-Arjani, who attended the inauguration ceremony of the Arab Tribes Union. He stressed that “the two entities are completely different, as the second has political goals.”

The definition of the Sinai Tribal Union, through its account on the “X” platform, indicates that it is “a unified tribal front that includes the vast majority of Sinai tribes to support the Egyptian state in confronting extremist organizations and supporting the development and reconstruction process.”

Abu Akiresh told Al-Hurra: “The Union of Sinai Tribes is affiliated with Sinai only, while the Union of Arab Tribes includes all the Arab tribes in Egypt from Upper Egypt, Cairo, Sharqia, and the rest of the governorates, and the goal is to bring these tribes together in one word on any political matters related to the country (their strength is about 28 million people). …We aim to be the largest political entity and bloc that actually exists.”

Regarding the role of the Sinai Tribes Union, he said: “The fighting here has ended and the state exists… and the union was cooperating with the armed forces in eliminating terrorism. Things are completely over and there are no battles (in Sinai) and we would not have held such a conference if Sinai was not safe.”

These statements were consistent with the statement of Bakri, who confirmed: “The experience of the Sinai Tribes Union was different, as it worked in cooperation with the armed forces and the police in Sinai to achieve a specific goal, which is to provide information about the locations of terrorists and help in confronting them. It was a national mission carried out by the people of Sinai during the period of the operation.” “Comprehensive military, and it’s over.”

For his part, Al-Shobaki said that the state indicated that the union “is not a faction of the army, as Egypt has one national army, but it is important for the state to discuss these concerns and listen to them because they are sincere concerns.”