Egyptians deny joining al-Qaeda

Gamaa Islamiya was blamed for the Luxor attack in 1997

Egypt's Gamaa Islamiya militant group has denied joining the al-Qaeda network led by Osama Bin Laden.

Al-Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, claimed recently that the group had joined forces with al-Qaeda.

Gamaa Islamiya was once Egypt's largest militant group. It mounted attacks on tourists and Christians in the 1990s.

It declared a ceasefire in 1999 and some of its leaders went on to renounce violence. Hundreds of the group's members have been freed since then.

Attacks blamed on the group include the November 1997 assault at Luxor which killed 58 people, most of them foreign tourists.

Karam Zohdy, one of the Gamaa Islamiya's most senior leaders, told he al-Jazeera news network: "What Ayman al-Zawahri has said is sheer fabrication and lying."