Zawahiri: Egypt’s shadowy son and al Qaeda ideologist

DUBAI – The devastating al Qaeda-linked attacks in Sharm el-Sheikh that left at least 88 dead have turned the spotlight once more on Osama bin Laden’s deputy and Egypt’s most shadowy son, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Saturday’s co-ordinated attacks at the Red Sea resort were swiftly claimed by the al Qaeda Organisation in the Levant and Egypt, “as part of the response against the global evil powers which are spilling the blood of Muslims”. The United States believes Zawahiri, who has a US$25 million bounty on his head, is the main strategist and key ideologist in the al Qaeda hierarchy.In his most recent appearance, on a videotape aired by Arab television channel Al Jazeera in June, Zawahiri singled out Egypt for criticism, along with his usual calls for more jihad (holy war).In the tape, Zawahiri referred to demonstrations in Egypt in May during which female activists protesting against the slow pace of democratic reform were molested by civilian-clothed ruling party supporters.He “criticised what he deemed to be violations of women’s rights during demonstrations demanding an amendment of the constitution in Egypt”, the satellite channel said.Before becoming Bin Laden’s right-hand man, Zawahiri was the leader of the Jihad group, which spearheaded with the Jamaa Islamiya organisation a wave of attacks that rocked Egypt in the 1990s.”Ayman al-Zawahiri is the brain of Osama bin Laden.It was only after the two met that Bin Laden became so well known,” said Egyptian Islamist lawyer Muntasser al-Zayat, who knew him well.Zawahiri, implicated in the 1981 assassination of president Anwar Sadat and the massacre of foreign tourists at Luxor in 1997, often appears in video tapes at Bin Laden’s side.An eye surgeon by training from a wealthy Egyptian family, he faces a death sentence in Egypt.He has published several books and studies on Islamic fundamentalism and has come to symbolise the radical Islamist movement.Zawahiri became involved with Egypt’s radical Muslim community at a young age and was reportedly arrested at the age of 15 for being a member of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, the Arab world’s oldest fundamentalist group.He was married in 1979 and trained as a surgeon in Cairo.His father was a reputed physician, while one of his grandfathers was an imam at Cairo’s Al-Azhar institute, the highest authority for Sunni Muslims.He founded the Jihad organisation, and spent three years in Egyptian jails after being convicted of organising combat training camps, ordering an insurrection as well as the assassination of top officials.Zawahiri left Egypt in the mid-1980s initially for Saudi Arabia, but soon he headed for the northern Pakistani city of Peshawar where the resistance to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan was based.He worked as a doctor treating wounded fighters and linked up with Arab Islamic militants who came to take part in the ‘Jihad’, or holy war, against the Soviets, including Bin Laden.In the early 1990s Zawahiri is believed to have lived in Europe before linking up again with Bin Laden in Afghanistan.In 1998 he was one of five signatories to Bin Laden’s “fatwa” calling for attacks against US civilians and began appearing regularly at the al Qaeda leader’s side.He is listed on the US government’s indictment for the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and he was sentenced to death in absentia by an Egyptian court a year later.In December 2001, London-based Egyptian Islamist Hani al-Sibai said Zawahiri’s wife, son and two daughters had been killed in a US air raid on Kandahar, Afghanistan – but added that Zawahiri himself had survived.”He is by nature a very calm person, from a good family, and someone who you can get along with easily,” said Yasser al-Serri, an exiled former Jihad member who runs the Islamic Observatory Centre in London.Zawahiri’s goal is the foundation of a united Muslim nation, “based on the principles of the Sharia (Islamic law)”, according to Serri.- Nampa-AFPThe United States believes Zawahiri, who has a US$25 million bounty on his head, is the main strategist and key ideologist in the al Qaeda hierarchy.In his most recent appearance, on a videotape aired by Arab television channel Al Jazeera in June, Zawahiri singled out Egypt for criticism, along with his usual calls for more jihad (holy war).In the tape, Zawahiri referred to demonstrations in Egypt in May during which female activists protesting against the slow pace of democratic reform were molested by civilian-clothed ruling party supporters.He “criticised what he deemed to be violations of women’s rights during demonstrations demanding an amendment of the constitution in Egypt”, the satellite channel said.Before becoming Bin Laden’s right-hand man, Zawahiri was the leader of the Jihad group, which spearheaded with the Jamaa Islamiya organisation a wave of attacks that rocked Egypt in the 1990s.”Ayman al-Zawahiri is the brain of Osama bin Laden.It was only after the two met that Bin Laden became so well known,” said Egyptian Islamist lawyer Muntasser al-Zayat, who knew him well.Zawahiri, implicated in the 1981 assassination of president Anwar Sadat and the massacre of foreign tourists at Luxor in 1997, often appears in video tapes at Bin Laden’s side.An eye surgeon by training from a wealthy Egyptian family, he faces a death sentence in Egypt.He has published several books and studies on Islamic fundamentalism and has come to symbolise the radical Islamist movement.Zawahiri became involved with Egypt’s radical Muslim community at a young age and was reportedly arrested at the age of 15 for being a member of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, the Arab world’s oldest fundamentalist group.He was married in 1979 and trained as a surgeon in Cairo.His father was a reputed physician, while one of his grandfathers was an imam at Cairo’s Al-Azhar institute, the highest authority for Sunni Muslims.He founded the Jihad organisation, and spent three years in Egyptian jails after being convicted of organising combat training camps, ordering an insurrection as well as the assassination of top officials.Zawahiri left Egypt in the mid-1980s initially for Saudi Arabia, but soon he headed for the northern Pakistani city of Peshawar where the resistance to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan was based.He worked as a doctor treating wounded fighters and linked up with Arab Islamic militants who came to take part in the ‘Jihad’, or holy war, against the Soviets, including Bin Laden.In the early 1990s Zawahiri is believed to have lived in Europe before linking up again with Bin Laden in Afghanistan.In 1998 he was one of five signatories to Bin Laden’s “fatwa” calling for attacks against US civilians and began appearing regularly at the al Qaeda leader’s side.He is listed on the US government’s indictment for the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and he was sentenced to death in absentia by an Egyptian court a year later.In December 2001, London-based Egyptian Islamist Hani al-Sibai said Zawahiri’s wife, son and two daughters had been killed in a US air raid on Kandahar, Afghanistan – but added that Zawahiri himself had survived.”He is by nature a very calm person, from a good family, and someone who you can get along with easily,” said Yasser al-Serri, an exiled former Jihad member who runs the Islamic Observatory Centre in London.Zawahiri’s goal is the foundation of a united Muslim nation, “based on the principles of the Sharia (Islamic law)”, according to Serri.- Nampa-AFP