Communication with Ahmad (Abu Raida) and His Goals in Sinai
Ahmad used to call me every now and then, and sometimes he would disappear for ten or fifteen days, which made me extremely worried about him. When he would call, I would say to him, "Ahmad, you've delayed calling me, I was worried about you," and he would reply, "No, my mother, I am fine, praise be to God, and we are happy."
He would ask me, "Have you seen the gas? They have blown it up again," and I would say to him, "Yes, Ahmad," and he would say to me, "Pray for us, our group is the one that blows it up; it is not possible for this gas to go to Israel." He would inform me that they would enter to carry out operations when we heard about explosions inside Israel, and he would say, "Pray for us, we are the Mujahideen and our target is Israel, we are waiting for Israel because it is entering us in any case and we are ready for it."
The last operation he carried out, which I knew about, was striking "Eilat" with rockets from Sinai; this was one of his last operations against Israel. All his purpose and work there was directed against the occupation, from continuously blowing up gas lines since his release from prison and his travel there, to rocket shelling. He would make me happy and say to me, "Look what we have done," and this was all they focused on.
Family Suffering and Torture by State Security
Before that, they arrested his younger brother "Akram" and his sister's husband, tortured them, and detained them for about a month in Nasr City, subjecting them to various forms of torture. We endured that, but they began to threaten me with taking all my children and getting rid of them, and even threatened to take my young daughters. His brother and sister's husband remained detained for a month until they finished torturing them and then released them.
After that, they continued to pursue Ahmad and search for him until they were able to arrest him on the Pyramids Road. He was arrested by a State Security officer named "Ali Al-Sharqawi," and he was detained with them for three months, during which he saw torture that cannot be described or imagined by the mind. He was transferred for a month and a half in "6 October" (Al-Qalaa) and a month and a half in "Lazoghli."
They tortured him to the extent that if he uttered the words "Ya Rab" or "Ya Allah" or mentioned the name of God, they would burn his mouth to prevent him from mentioning Him. When he came out of prison and we began to visit him, I saw strange marks on his body, and I would ask him about them, and he would say to me, "No, my mother," and he did not want to tell me the truth of what they did to him. However, he was strong mentally, and he considered all that for the sake of God, and he would always say to me, "It does not matter to me, my mother, I was with God no matter what they did to me."
After the Revolution and Moving to Sinai
After the revolution, I started running everywhere to get him out of prison, and indeed he was released thanks to God. He sat with us for only one week, then he said to me, "My mother, the state is still pursuing us," especially after harassing his brother, so he decided to go to Sinai saying, "I will sit there."
He stayed in Sinai for about a year and a half, during which I did not see him, and he would talk to me for a few minutes every week or ten days to reassure me about him and his condition.
The Truth of the Border Events and the Request to Receive the Body
When the attack on the border occurred during Ramadan, I contacted him and was very worried, and I asked him, "Ahmad, do you have anything to do with this matter?" He answered me clearly, "No, my mother, not at all, we are completely far from this matter and have nothing to do with it, we are safe and reassured." This was our last call, and after that, his news was completely cut off.
We started asking about him and searching until we found out that he was martyred. His body is now in Al-Arish, and we are trying hard to receive it to bury it here, but we cannot. They took samples (DNA) from his two daughters and from his wife, and we are still waiting for someone to allow us to take him to bury him.
We ask the government and every responsible person to "honor the dead by burying him." We consider my son a martyr to God, and I do not want anything from anyone except my son so that I may know his way and bury him. Ahmad was never a criminal, and he did not transgress against anyone. If he were a criminal as they claim, he and his companions would have avenged themselves on the officers who tortured them with the worst means, for electricity was a simple matter compared to what they endured. They came out of the prisons and the country without security, and they could have reached those who tortured them, but they did not do that.
I appeal to the Salafi brothers: Why do you not defend them? Why do you leave them to be falsely accused?