Mohammed Ibrahim Makkawi Cairo – Akram Ali Egyptian security officials have said the man they arrested at Cairo airport on Tuesday believing him to be a senior Al-Qaeda leader is an Egyptian Islamist wanted in his homeland not an Al-Qaeda operative.
"He is wanted for involvement with the Al-Jihad (group). He is not Saif al-Adel," said a source at the National Security apparatus.
Officials and state media earlier said that senior Al-Qaeda leader Mohammed Ibrahim Makkawi (alias Al-Adel) had been arrested in Cairo.
Saif Al-Adel (the “sword of justice” in Arabic) was arrested in Cairo International Airport, where he was traveling on an Emirates Airline flight, according to airport officials.
Officials told state media they knew he was intending to hand himself in.
Egyptian state news agency Mena quoted security official saying Al-Adel, 50, was flying to Egypt from Pakistan via Dubai.
Reports also meantione a statement to journalists at Cairo Airport, Al-Adel stated that he was a former officer in the Egyptian Special Forces, however, his refusal to accept the Camp David agreement led to his persecution, which eventually forced him to flee the country.
He allegedly met Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden shortly afterwards and therein began a strong association however, he split when he found out that Bin Laden was s “US agent” and did not aim to serve Islam as he claimed.
Intelligence agencies worldwide, particularly the US, have proclaimed his involvement in acts of sabotage against them, which he stoutly denies. Al-Adel supposedly took over the leadership of Al-Qaeda following the death of Bin Laden.
As for the real reason behind his return to Cairo, despite being aware that he would be captured at the airport, the man stated that he "suffered a great deal in Pakistan and longed to return to Egypt where he could die near his family".
Officials said they had received information about the man's plans to return to Egypt and hand himself over the authorities.
All flights from Asia were monitored as he was expected to come from either Afghanistan or Pakistan, and eventually his name was spotted on the passenger list of an Emirates Airline flight, they added.
The man has been handed over to the Higher State Security Prosecution for interrogation. Mena did not say where is being held.
Makkawi, a former Egyptian military officer, was dishonourably discharged for joining Jihadist fighters in the 1980s.  
He is on the FBI’s most-wanted list for the bombings of the US embassies in Dar El-Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya in 1998. The FBI offered a $5 million reward for his arrest.
Makkawi who in recent years was believed to be living in Iran under house arrest, was briefly Osama Bin Laden’s security chief, overseeing Al-Qaeda's military operations, and remains a senior member of the organisation.
He was considered a chief rival of Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who took over as commander of Al-Qaeda after Nin Laden was killed by US Navy SEALs in a raid in 2011.
He was also suspected of training Somali fighters who killed 18 US servicemen in Mogadishu in 1993, and some of the 9/11 hijackers.
According to Egyptian sources, Makkawi has been wanted by the Egyptian authorities since 1987, when he was accused of trying to establish a military wing of the Egyptian Islamist group Al-Jihad, and trying to overthrow the government.