Terrorist threats on Knights of Malta in Cairo
A message posted on Islamist websites close to al-Qaeda is urging jihadists to carry out a terrorist attack on the embassy of the Roman Catholic Order of Malta in Cairo, adnkronos.com reported.
"Do not stint on your attacks, Egyptians, either with car or truck bombs," reads the message. It is accompanied by photos of the embassy building and entrance. "These are photos of the Order of Malta embassy in Cairo. I ask Allah to have it closed down or blown up, along with those inside it, who hate Islam and Muslims," the Internet message continued.
adnkronos.com said that the message urging the jihadi attack on the charitable organisation - follows the publication of an editorial in the United Arab Emirates daily al-Bayan, by Jordanian MP Jamal Muhammad Abidat entitled 'The Knights of Malta - more than a conspiracy'.Abidat accuses the Order of Malta of being run by men who are close to US president George W. Bush and neo-conservative political circles, taking a cue from a report transmitted on the Arab network, Al-Jazeera, on 24 April this year.
"You cannot exaggerate it. The Order of Malta is a hidden government or the most mysterious government in the world," said Abidat in the editorial.
The Rome-based Order of Malta, also known as The Knights of Malta began as an organisation founded in Jerusalem in 1080, to care for poor and sick pilgrims to the Holy Land.
The Order of Malta retains its claim of sovereignty under international law and has been granted permanent observer status at the United Nations. It issues its own passports, stamps and coins and has formal diplomatic relations with 99 states.