Egypt purging forces, presses Sadat case

October 20, 1981

Egypt announced a purge of its armed forces Monday and a newspaper said a Muslim group accused of plotting President Sadat's murder received foreign money.

Defense Minister Abdel Halim Abu-Ghazala disclosed that 30 officers and 104 men had been dismissed for ''extremist religious affiliations.''

The semiofficial newspaper Al-Ahram said the Muslim group included the rightist Takfir Wal Hejira which has been linked with the assassination. It did not identify the country it alleged had financed the organization. Police have rounded up more than 230 of its members and seized stockpiled weapons, the report added.