Police denies presence of carjackers on desert road

CAIRO – 19 June 2018: A security source has comforted many Egyptians as he put an end to some rumors that circulated on social media over the past two days about the presence of 150 carjackers on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road.

According to the Middle East News Agency (MENA), the security source denied the rumor, affirming the presence of patrols along the two sides of the road, in addition to policemen and other facilities.

Major General Magd al-Basiouny said that the Cairo-Alexandria road is secured by the four major security directorates of Giza, Menoufia, Beheira and Alexandria governorates, in addition to the Public Security Sector and other security facilities which operate 24 hours a day. Basiouny also confirmed the presence of surveillance cameras linked to the security directorates and the police cars existing along the road.

In an interview with Egypt Today, Tharwat al-Kherbawy, a former Muslim Brotherhood leader, who split from the group in 2002, said that the MB, which has been designated by the Egyptian state as a terrorist group, deliberately spreads rumors and frustration.

Kherbawy said that the MB group has a division that is specialized in choosing the suitable time for spreading rumors, adding that these rumors usually impact and intimidate people.

Kherbawy said that this division is based in other countries particularly Turkey, Qatar, England and the United States, while a small part of the division exists inside Egypt to activate these rumors.

Kherbawy claimed that the division was established by Mohamed Kamal, a former MB member, who was declared eliminated after fire exchange with the security forces in 2016.