TA-INDIVIDUALS: Ayman Al-Zawahiri

Ayman Al-Zawahiri has been indicted for his alleged role in the August 7, 1998, bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. Considered to be smarter and more dangerous than Osama Bin Laden, we take a look at the profile of:
AYMAN AL-ZAWAHIRI


Description:

Date of Birth Used: June 19, 1951
Hair: Brown/Black
Place of Birth: Egypt
Eyes: Dark
Height: Unknown
Sex: Male
Weight: Unknown
Complexion: Olive
Build: Unknown
Citizenship: Egyptian
Languages: Arabic, French
Scars and Marks: None known

Aliases: Abu Muhammad, Abu Fatima, Muhammad Ibrahim, Abu Abdallah, Abu al-Mu'iz, The Doctor, The Teacher, Nur, Ustaz, Abu Mohammed, Abu Mohammed Nur al-Deen, Abdel Muaz, Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri

Al-Zawahiri is a physician and the founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad. This organization opposes the secular Egyptian Government and seeks its overthrow through violent means. Al-Zawahiri is believed to now serve as an advisor and doctor to Usama Bin Laden and is currently thought to be in Afghanistan.

While Bin Laden has the charisma and the funds that built the Al-Qaeda (The Base) network of Islamic fundamentalists, mainly from the men who followed him during the fighting against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s, al-Zawahiri is widely seen by counterterrorism and Islamic specialists as the intellect and ideological driving force behind the organisation.

According to Arab analysts, al-Zawahiri was instrumental in forging the coalition of al-Jihad (or the wing of it he now controls after its fragmentation by Egyptian security authorities several years ago), Bin Laden�s forces, two Pakistani groups and another from Bangladesh in February 1998 with the purpose of waging war on the USA. The hundreds of al-Jihad members � estimates range as high as 1,000, about one-third of Bin Laden�s force in Afghanistan � with al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan formed a hard core of seasoned militants around which the coalition, the International Front for Fighting Jews and Crusaders, has been built.

Al-Zawahiri wrote several books on Islamic movements, the best known of which is The Bitter Harvest, a critical assessment of the Muslim Brotherhood. He worked as a paediatrician, but abandoned his practice to follow a path of violent opposition to the secular Cairo government and by the late 1970s he had taken over Islamic Jihad. On 6 October 1981, al-Jihad activists, disguised as soldiers, assassinated President Anwar Sadat at a military parade outside Cairo to mark the anniversary of the 1973 Ramadan War against Israel. Sadat was murdered because he had made peace with Israel in 1979.

The Rewards For Justice Program, United States Department of State, is offering a reward of up to $25 million for information leading directly to the apprehension or conviction of Ayman Al-Zawahiri.

SOURCES:
FBI Most Wanted
Janes.com










[Edited on 14-3-2004 by TrickmastertricK]