Ayman Al-Zawahiri
Ayman Al-Zawahiri is a prominent leader of the terrorist group al-Qaeda. Listed as the second most wanted terrorist in the world, al-Zawahiri has been involved in some of the most horrific terrorist attacks in history, including, the attacks on the World Trade Centers, Pentagon, USS Cole, and other terrorist operations in Africa[1].
He is seen today as the number two man behind Al-Qaeda's leader Osama bin Laden. Born into an upper class Egyptian in home, Zawahiri's involvement in the Islamic Jihad movement began at the early age of sixteen, when he became heavily involved in Islamic groups in Egypt, including a plot by the Islamic Brotherhood to overthrow the government of Gamal Abdel Nasser. His radical views came largely from the writings and life of Sayyid Qutb, a Muslam who led the Muslam Brotherhood before he was killed under Nessar's regime. His Uncle Mahfouz Azzam,who was a former student of Qutb and later worked as Qutb's personal lawyer, told Zawahriri of Qutb's beleifs and story of his fight for Jihad.[2]
After graduating from Cairo Medical School Zawari began his own practice in his hometown of Maadi. While filling in for a another doctor at the Muslim Brotherhood clinic, he was asked to travel to Pakistan to tend to the Afghan refugees, which were the result of the Soviets occupation of the country, he readily agreed to the proposition. Zawari dreamed of creating a total Islamic state that would be a vanguard for other countries to follow, he saw Afghanistan's terrain as a more suitable location for this jihad[3]. During his work in Pakistan, he made several visits across the border into Afghanistan.
In 1980, Zawari returned to Cairo where he began work as a recruiter for jihad. After Egypt's President Anwar Sadat was assassinated by a radical group in 1981, Zawari and other members of the Muslam Brotherhood were arrested. ref> http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/people/shows/zawahiri/profile.html</ref>.
In 1985, amidst the Soviet war in Afghanistan, he worked as a surgeon treating wounded Islamic fighters. While working in Afghanistan he met bin Laden, then a prominent leader of the Mujahedeen.
In 1998, the two Jihad leaders announced the joining of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and al-Qaeda to form the World Islamic Front for the Jihand Against Jews and Crusaders[4]. In 1998, the United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzaria were destroyed by suicide bombers; the United States later indicted both Ben Laden and al-Zawahiri for the attacks which killed 224 people. In retaliation the United States lunched cruise missiles, however, both terrorist leaders escaped.
Occasionally appearing on tapes claiming responsibility for attacks on the United States, Zawahiri has become the main spokesperson for the terrorist network. Zawahiri was sentenced to death by an Egyptian court in 1999 for his role in organizing variety terrorist attacks, and the United States State Department has offered a $25 million award for information leading to his apprehension after the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centers and Pentagon[5]. Although information on his location is not well known, Zawahiri, who is fluent in English, is suspected of being located in Afghanistan after traveling around Europe looking for refuge[6].
External Links
References
- ↑ http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jir/jir011003_1_n.shtml
- ↑ The Looming Tower, al-Qaeda and the road to 9/11 (book), by Lawrence Wright, pg 36
- ↑ The Leaning Tower, L. Wright, pg. 45.
- ↑ http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jir/jir011003_1_n.shtml
- ↑ http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/islam/blfaq_islam_zawahiri.htm
- ↑ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/zawahiri.htm
