The new Chief of Egypt’s Intelligence Agency, Abbas Kamel, has ousted seven senior officials fearing that they would work to undermine the efforts of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to stand for a new term in office, Thenewkhalij.org revealed on Friday.

On Wednesday, Egyptian security sources reported that, dozens of officers joined Ansar Al-Islam during the past few months, an Al-Qaeda-linked organisation is led by former Special Forces officer Hisham Ashmawi.

A suspected dissident and deserter from the IS-affiliated Sinai Province has accused the group of carrying out the deadly attack against Rawda mosque last year, after joining the rival Al-Qaeda inspired militia Jund al-Islam.

Egyptian political sources have confirmed that President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi made major changes to the intelligence agency, which included dismissing the director of the agency, along with other intelligence officials and officers.

An Egyptian secret service agent ordered a prominent TV host to prepare a showreel of footage to discredit former presidential hopeful Ahmed Shafiq as a Muslim Brotherhood sympathiser, according to a leaked conversation.

The Egyptian state, three talk-show hosts and a well-known actor have denied claims by the New York Times that an Egyptian intelligence officer urged them to promote last month’s decision by the United States to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel.

An Egyptian intelligence officer urged a number of prominent talk show hosts in the country to persuade their viewers to accept the US position that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, the New York Times reported.

The number of civilians sentenced to death in Egypt’s military courts leapt from 60 in 2016 to at least 112 in 2017, according to two independent rights groups.

Egyptian authorities executed five people early on Tuesday who allegedly belonged to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group. The defendants were convicted of executing a terrorist attack in Kafr al-Sheikh governorate in April of 2015.

The reasons behind President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s unexpected decision to dismiss his Armed Forces’ Chief of Staff Mahmoud Hegazy on October 28 remain unclear, but available information hints at recent tensions between two men who have a history of personal rapport.