On Monday, August 14, Zambian authorities announced the seizure of two planes at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in the capital, Lusaka. They found one of the planes, recently arrived from Cairo, to be with 602 pieces of suspected weighing 127.2 kg, as well as five weapons and over $5 million in cash. They detained ten suspects, including nine foreigners, six of whom were said to be Egyptians.
Then, the Ministry of Minerals in Zambia that the gold was fake. The ingots were merely gold-plated and contained other metals, mostly copper and zinc. Officials initiated the investigation as one of international fraud. The race to uncover more information about the passengers, plane and cargo then began.
Using open source information, Egyptian independent media outlet Saheeh Masr (鈥淭rue Egypt鈥�) quickly an investigation which found that plane is managed 鈥� according to Eurocontrol, which specializes in databases of civil and military aircraft 鈥� by a company called , which has its headquarters in Dubai.
Arab Digest has often in the past on the UAE鈥檚 role in African gold, a that funds armed conflict, costs producing countries tax revenue and has significant consequences on public health and the environment.
Saleeh Masr also the seized which was in San Marino to an unknown owner, had recently visited Libya and Saudi Arabia at the same time as high level Egyptian security delegations, while other independent media outlets claimed to have also traced the plane鈥檚 path to Tel Aviv. A photo emerged of the Egyptian Minister of Interior using the plane on an to Tunisia on 28 February.
Who was detained?
On 17 August, another independent Egyptian fact-checking website, (鈥淒on鈥檛 Believe It鈥�), acquired a copy of a Zambian the identities of five of the six Egyptians who had been detained. They were:
鈥� Muhammad Abd al-Haq Muhammad Judeh. US State Departmentshow 鈥淎bdul-Haq鈥� was an assistant military attach茅 at
the Egyptian embassy in Washington from 2011 and 2012 while
he was a major in the Egyptian army. He appeared in an
for a cancer charity two years ago.
He reportedly retired around five years ago with the rank of
colonel.鈥� Michael Adel Michel Botros. Botros鈥檚 states he is a
goldsmith, but he has also been involved in producing a .
The lists him as the owner of a
firm called Amstone International Limited. The Amstone
says Amstone is an Egyptian defense company with
offices in the US, UAE, Egypt, France, Greece, England and
Poland. It also says Amstone is an approved supplier to the
Egyptian Ministry of Defense and claims to provide a very wide
array of advanced military services and hardware, including
aircraft, helicopters, drones and rocket and missile systems.
Speaking at the Egyptian arms fair Edex in 2021, an Amstone
representative :
We are an Egyptian company with Egyptian capital. We have a partnership with five international companies in the field of military and military manufacturing, in the manufacture of anti-tank missiles and attack drones. We keep pace with the vision of the political leadership in implementing these projects in Egypt with Egyptian hands.
Matsda2sh also that Botros was chairman of a
Qatari company called Al Manara Holding. In April 2015
and reported that Al Manara Holding signed
a$6 billion contract to build a luxury development project in
Oman called 鈥淥man Oasis.鈥� At the time, this was billed as 鈥渢he
largest residential tourist resort in the Sultanat.鈥� However, in
2016 the Omani Minister of Tourism that the project was
fictitious.鈥� Mounir Shaker Gerges Awad, aka Al-Khawaja. A jewelry factory
owner and , Mounir Shaker runs a firm called
鈥溾�� with branches in Zagazig
and Cairo, as well as a at the Helnan Landmark Hotel in
Cairo鈥檚 fashionable Fifth Settlement. On August 7, Mounir
Shaker the opening of a new gold shop in Port
Fouad taking place on August 18. On August 16, soon after the
plane was seized, his son announced the opening had been
to August 25 without giving a reason.鈥� Walid Rifaat Fahmy Boutros Abdel Sayed, aka Walid Al-Rubai.
Via an Al-Ahram published in May 2017, Matsda2sh
Walid Rifaat Fahmy as a police lieutenant colonel
with an uncle who was a major general in the Ministry of
Interior. He is now thought to be working in the private
security sector.鈥� Yasser Mukhtar Abdul Ghafour Al-Shishtawi. Two former
Egyptian state security officers in exile identified Colonel Al-
Shashtawi as a former commander in the elite Thunderbolt Unit
777 and they posted of him . Unit 777 is Egypt鈥檚
military counter-terrorism unit and it actively trains with
Western special operations groups including the US Army鈥檚
Delta Force, US Navy鈥檚 SEAL Team Six and the French GIGN.
So far, none of the foreigners in the case have formally been with any crime. Last Thursday, a French law firm, Vey & Associ茅s, which once Julian Assange, issued a complaining about their detention and some important details about the bust as described by Zambian authorities.
Speculation is now rife regarding the identity of the sixth Egyptian national who has been detained. Given the prolonged secrecy, it is widely believed he must be someone extremely important, and opposition media outlets are he has connections to the President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi鈥檚 son , deputy head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate.
Friends in high places
Another close Sisi ally who has been linked to the plane is Ibrahim al-Arjani. Last week, and independent media 鈥� separately, unofficially and without any confirmation 鈥� both named him as the sixth man. Arjani in Egyptian state media last Wednesday however, so this theory has now been discredited.
Nevertheless, many links between Arjani and the Zambia plane have been uncovered, showing that even though he is not the sixth man, he used the plane in the past. In April, Arjani鈥檚 son a picture of him and his father standing in front of what appears to be the same plane. The plane was also last year at Sharm El-Sheikh Airport, which is in South Sinai.
Born and raised in Sheikh Zuweid in North Sinai, Ibrahim al-Arjani is a wealthy and notorious warlord who heads the Tarabin Bedouin tribe in Sinai. The tribe works closely with intelligence services in Sinai and Gaza. In recent months, he has been allowed to play an increasingly prominent diplomatic function. In May he not only in bilateral security talks in Libya, but he some of the meetings. Another sign of his influence came last year when Arjani became the major of Egypt鈥檚 premier football club Al Ahly, a move denounced by the opposition as sportswashing.
According to Haaretz, Egypt is careful that all its reconstruction work in Gaza is done through Arjani鈥檚 company 鈥� not by the Egyptian army 鈥� even if the army is supervising the work. In 2021, reported that 鈥淎rjani, who owns some of the largest construction firms in Egypt, takes his orders from Egyptian intelligence 鈥� and also a big cut of Egypt鈥檚 aid to Gaza, and from the movement of goods from Egypt into Gaza, mostly those that pass through the Saladin checkpoint in Rafah.鈥�
A ham-handed cover-up
So far, there has been no official comment from Sisi or any other high-level regime member about the Zambia gold plane, let alone any sign of an investigation or anyone being held accountable.
But while the truth about what was going on remains unknown, top security officials being detained by an African police service with allegedly fake gold, in a plane used frequently by the security services, is a heavy blow to the regime and it is likely to have far-reaching consequences, especially given the acute economic crisis.
State media was obviously not ready for what happened. The Sinai Tribes Union published a hasty that neither it nor any Egyptian businessmen were involved in any smuggling. The tweet was a short time later.
At least two other regime websites鈥� 鈥� 鈥�Al-Masry Al-Youm and Cairo24鈥� 鈥� also took down their articles about the plane a few hours after they were published.
Middle East News Agency published a report that according to 鈥渁n informed source,鈥� the plane is a 鈥減rivate plane, and it was subject to inspection and ensuring that it meets all safety and security rules.鈥� This was promptly by the BBC, which said that planes in transit in Cairo are not inspected.
Caught with its pants down, the regime鈥檚 anger and humiliation has prompted it to revert to what it knows best: arresting journalists and blaming the Muslim Brotherhood. Just like in the Covid crisis, when the regime doctors, politicians, journalists and other prominent public figures, regime have attacked Matsda2sh and Sahih Masr as being 鈥渁ffiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.鈥�
On August 19, Matsda2sh published an urgent saying its platform had been subjected to a 鈥渃oordinated attack鈥� leading to a 鈥渟erious breach of security.鈥� A day later, two of its journalists were detained in Cairo without charge, before being released on Sunday. The investigation continues.
[ first published this piece.]
[ edited this piece.]
The views expressed in this article are the author鈥檚 own and do not necessarily reflect 51吃瓜鈥檚 editorial policy.
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