Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate
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The General Intelligence Service (GIS) (Arabic:جهاز المخابرات العامة Jihaz al-Mukhabarat al-Amma) is the national intelligence agency of Egypt. It is part of the Egyptian intelligence community which also includes the Directorate of Military Intelligence and Reconnaissance (Arabic: ادارة المخابرات الحربية والاستطلاع, transliteration: Idarat al-Mukhabarat al-Harbyya wa al-Istitla) and the State Security Investigations Service (Arabic: جهاز مباحث أمن الدولة, transliteration: Jihaz Mabahith Amn al-Dawla).
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[edit] History
The decision to establish an advanced intelligence service in Egypt was made by the late Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser ( 1918-1970), in 1955 Nasser assigned to his comrade-in-arms Zakareia Mohy El Dien [1](1918 - ) The task of establishing an intelligence apparatus to be responsible for Egypt's national security.
However the real start of this apparatus took place in 1957 when Nasser assigned to this task a fellow officer who was Salah Nasr[2](1920-1982). Salah Nasr was the director of the General intelligence Service form 1957 to 1967 in that period he made the foundation of this vital department which all his successors used , Salah Nasr was the first to establish a separate building for the GIS, he was the first to establish separate divisions for Radio, Computer, Forgery and Dirty tricks. In order to cover high expenses of intelligence work, Nasr established Al Nasr company of export & import to be a GIS secret front in addition to use its income in financing the apparatus, the company business flourished and eventually it was separated from GIS and had an independent management. However it is almost certain that the GIS owns many companies in Egypt especially in the fields of tourism, aviation and constructions.
For several years the name of GIS director was a secret only known to high officials and government Newspepers chief editors, However General Omar Soliman[3] who became the Chief of the GIS since 1993 till today (2007) was the first one the break this tabo , his name was released many times in the press before he himself became a Known face in media after being envoyed by the Egyptian president Mubarak to Israel, USA and Ghaza in many occasions.
1957, Moscow-Soviet Egyptian heads of state meeting . Salah Nasr director of EGID, seen at the seventh seat on Nasser's right side'''
[edit] Achievements
In spite of the rule which says "success in intelligence world is a buried secret while failure is a world wide scandal" the GIS did achieve many successes a few of which were released and dramatized in Egyptian TV and Cinema
1- The GIS managed to plant Egyptian Agent among Jewish immigrants to Israel, that Agent " Rafaat Al Haggan" [4]managed to live 18 years in Israel without being discovered in those years he established a network of Spies in Various fields of Israeli community.
2- in 1970 the GIS managed to hunt an Israeli Oil Rig while being shipped from Canada to Sinai, Clandestine GIS agents and frogmen succeeded in tracing the Oil Rig to Abedgan, Cote d evour and planeted sets of explosives, had them detonated and crippled the rig. Ironically , this was done while the city was full , not only of MOSSAD agents protecting the Oil Rig , but also while it was full of CIA agents who were guarding the NASA astronauts in their visit to " COTE D'IVOIRE " , this operation was published in 1985 under the name of ( Al -Haffar) it was supervised at that time by EGID director " Ameen Heweedy" (1921–)
3- between 1968 and 1972 GIS managed to infiltrate residence of American diplomatic delegation in Cairo and plant tape recorders (refer to reference 1)
4- perhaps the major success of the GIS was handling the Egyptian strategic deception plan that was carried out from 01/1970 to 10/1973 and aimed to conceal the Egyptian plans to launch massive military attack against Israel on 06/10/1973 starting the Yom Kippur war- the plan included planting false information and hidden implied data in Egyptian president Sadat's speeches and newspapers Articles -For example the GIS prepared to the military operations and evacuated complete sections of Cairo hospitals to be ready for receiving war casualties, this evacuation that took place few days before the war started, was done after declaring false information that those hospitals were infected with Titanus .
The plan included a major operation whose details are still not published. This operation aimed at getting detailed information of American Spy satellites covering Middle East, by knowing exact trajectories and timing of those Satellites the GIS prepared complicated logistic movement schedules for all Egyptian Army units to avoid moving mass troops in timings where they could be spotted by satellites.
[edit] Current Status
Despite declared peace between Egypt and Israel , every few years the GIS declares arrest of Israeli espionage networks, yet till Israel has not declared arrest of any Egyptian spies on its soil.
[edit] Declared GIS Chiefs in chronological order
- Zakareia Mohy El Dien
- Salah Nasr Al Nogomy
- Ameen Heweedy
- Hafez Ismail
- Ahmad Kamel
- Ahmad Ismail Ali
- Mohammad Saed Al Mahy
- Foad Nassar
- Kamal Hassan Aly
- Omar Negm
- Nour El Dien Afeefy
- Rafaat osman Jibrel
- Omar Suleiman
[edit] References
- 1973- Weopons and Diplomacy- Heikal, Mohammd Hassanien - Printed 1993 - Al Ahram- Egypt
- Auto biography of Salah Nasr- Printed 1998- Dar Al Khayal - Egypt
