We'll quash Islam terror threats, says Mubarak

EGYPT'S president said yesterday his security forces would quash Islamist groups threatening stability in Egypt, highlighting worries about al Qaeda building strength in places such as Yemen.Hosni Mubarak also defended building a barrier on the Gaza border, saying it would stop militants crossing. The move has drawn criticism from Arabs who say Cairo is colluding with Israel to blockade the Palestinians.months of suspected members of outlawed Islamist groups, raising concerns about a resurgence of militancy in a country that fought an Islamist rebellion the 1990s.series of arrests in recent "We live in a difficult region and a world fraught with tension, witnessing an expansion of instability across the world from Afghanistan to Pakistan and in Iran and Iraq and Yemen and Somalia and Sudan," Mr Mubarak said.He said the security forces would "continue fiercely confronting the terrorism and extremism for the security of the nation and citizens".The rise of al-Qaeda-linked militants in countries like Yemen and Somalia has prompted analysts to shine a spotlight on Egypt, home of al Qaeda's No 2, Ayman Zawahri, and other leading Islamist thinkers over the decades.Mr Mubarak, speaking live on TV, said there was a "widening circle of Salafi ideology and groups and their false claims to declare people as infidels and to terrorise innocent people and disturb social stability of the nation". Salafi Muslims believe they must follow strictly the practices of the Prophet Mohammad.On the Gaza barrier, Mr Mubarak said: "We have started construction along our borders not to appease anyone but to protect our nation from terrorist plots."