Page 52 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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Al-Zawahiri, Ayman (1951– )———25

Al-Mughassil eventually selected the Khobar and his doctor. Viewed as the mastermind who led bin
Towers, which housed approximately 2,000 U.S. Laden and Al Qaeda into creating instruments of mass
military personnel, as a bombing target. murder, al-Zawahiri numbers among the 22 men
According to the indictment, on the evening declared “most wanted terrorists” by the FBI. He is
of June 25, 1996, al-Mughassil drove a tanker truck said to be the most likely successor to bin Laden and
filled with more than 5,000 pounds of explosives and is suspected of playing a key role in the September 11,
parked it near the Khobar Towers. He and a cohort 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the
then jumped into a waiting getaway car and drove off, Pentagon.
and the truck bomb exploded within minutes. Al-Zawahiri’s family is prominent in both Egypt’s
Fellow Saudi Hezbollah members al-Mughassil,Ali politics and religion. His father taught at the
Saed bin Ali el-Hoorie, and Abdelkarim Hussein University of Cairo, his grandfather was a well-known
Mohamed al-Nasser were indicted with al-Yacoub and imam, and his uncle was the first secretary general of
are also on the FBI’s “most wanted” list. Eleven of the the Arab League. Al-Zawahiri took a very different
men charged are in Saudi custody; three remain fugi- path and was arrested at age 15 for involvement in
tives. The Saudi government has disputed U.S. juris- Muslim Brotherhood, a militant group banned in
diction in the Khobar case and has refused to extradite Egypt.
the men on the grounds that the attack was made on According to his autobiography, al-Zawahiri was
Saudi soil and was committed by Saudi citizens for the transformed in 1980 after leaving work at a Cairo
most part. A reward of up to $25 million for informa- Muslim Brotherhood clinic to go to Pakistan and give
tion leading directly to the arrest or indictment of al- medical aid to Afghan refugees. A founding member
Yacoub is being offered by the U.S. State Department. of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, al-Zawahiri built up the
organization during the 1970s and became its leader.
See also AHMAD IBRAHIM AL-MUGHASSIL; ABDELKARIM
The group, said to be a major influence on bin Laden’s
HUSSEIN MOHAMED AL-NASSER; ALI SAED BIN ALI
Al Qaeda, opposes the secular Egyptian govern-
EL-HOORIE; HEZBOLLAH; KHOBAR TOWERS BOMBING
ment and advocates its overthrow through violence.
Further Reading Al-Zawahiri admitted planning the 1981 assassination
of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, in which Islamic
Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Most Wanted Terrorists.” Jihad members disguised themselves as soldiers to
http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/terrorists/fugitives.htm, reach and assassinate Sadat in full view of Egyptian
October 2001. television. Al-Zawahiri was arrested for illegal posses-
Melson, Kenneth E. United States Attorney. “Khobar sion of firearms and spent three years in jail following
Indictment.” U.S. District Court, Eastern District of
Virginia, Alexandria Division. http://www.usdoj.gov/ Sadat’s death but was never charged in the killing.
opa/pr/2001/June/khobarindictment.wpd, May 23, 2001. In the aftermath of Sadat’s death, Egyptian security
“A Nation Challenged: The Hunted; The 22 Most Wanted officials held suspects without trial and tortured many
Suspects, in a Five-Act Drama of Global Terror.” of them. Members of Islamic Jihad began to flee
New York Times, October 14, 2001, 1B. Egypt in large numbers. Al-Zawahiri left Egypt in
Walsh, Elsa. “Louis Freeh’s Last Case.” The New Yorker, 1986 and went to Saudi Arabia, then traveled to
May 14, 2001. Pakistan, caring for Afghan soldiers wounded in the
guerrilla war against the Soviet Union. During this
time, al-Zawahiri met bin Laden and merged his
AL-ZAWAHIRI, AYMAN (1951– ) Islamic Jihad group with Al Qaeda in the mid-1990s,
giving Al Qaeda a more radical anti-American stance.
aka Abu Muhammad, Abu Fatima, Muhammad Using disguises and false documents, al-Zawahiri
Ibrahim, Abu Abdallah, Abu al-Mu’iz, the Doctor, traveled through many Western countries, even visit-
the Teacher, Nur, Ustaz, Abu Mohammed, Abu ing the United States in the 1990s on a fundraising
Mohammed Nur al-Deen, Abdel Muaz, mission.
Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri
Al-Zawahiri worked very closely with bin Laden
in Al Qaeda’s majlis al shura or consultation council.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian physician, is Al Qaeda, an Arabic word meaning “The Base,” is an
alleged to be both Osama bin Laden’s closest adviser international network that uses force and violence