Muhammad al-Zawahiri

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Muhammad al-Zawahiri
محمد الظواهري
Born1952/1953
Dokki, Giza, Egypt
Died(2024-02-13)13 February 2024 (aged 71)
RelativesAyman al-Zawahiri (brother)

Muhammad Rabie al-Zawahiri (

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri
.

Early life

Muhammad Rabie al-Zawahiri was born in Dokki, Giza, Egypt around 1953.[2][3]

A 1974 graduate of the engineering college at Cairo University,[3][4] al-Zawahiri moved to Saudi Arabia and took work with a construction firm.[4]

In 1981, his name was among those indicted

World Islamic Relief Organization, and traveled to Indonesia, Bosnia, and Malawi, where he helped build schools and medical clinics.[4]

Married with six children, al-Zawahiri moved to Yemen with his family, and then joined his older brother in Khartoum, where al-Jihad had begun to congregate. But after the group was forced to leave following the execution of the teenaged son of Ahmad Salama Mabruk, Ayman went to Afghanistan while Muhammad took his family back to Yemen and began working with engineering contractors.[4]

Arrest

Al-Zawahiri's Yemeni contractor work saw him frequently travel to the United Arab Emirates for business, but following his in absentia conviction in the Returnees from Albania trial, he was arrested in March or April 1999 in the United Arab Emirates and renditioned to Cairo.[4][6] Here, he was accused of conspiring with Khaled Abdul Samee.[who?][5] His wife did not contact the Egyptian embassy in Sanaa until October, and they confirmed his arrest. She was granted permission to return to Cairo with the children herself, and was detained and interrogated for three days before being released.[4]

Al-Zawahiri's younger brother, Hussain, was arrested while driving to work, while working at Multidiscovery, a Malaysian construction firm in late 1999 in a joint operation involving the

CIA, Egyptian intelligence and Malaysian security forces.[4]

Captivity

For several years, no news was released on al-Zawahiri and his family presumed he had been executed in accordance with the sentence from the trial. In October 2001, the United States requested a sample of his DNA to match against bodies found in Afghan caves hoping to identify one of the bodies as belonging to his older brother.[4]

In February 2004, the

Mukhabarat, Egypt's intelligence service. Egypt announced they were re-convening a new tribunal to look at his case.[4]

In July 2006, lawyer Mamdouh Ismail reported about an individual with the alias Sharif Hazaa (شريف هزاع Šarīf Hazāʿ), whom he believed to be the al-Zawahiris' associate Abu Ayyub al-Masri.[7][8] The further fate of al-Masri conflicts with Ismail's assessment, and it may be that "Hazaa" was actually Muhammad al-Zawahiri (or some other Returnee from Albania prisoner).

In April 2007, he and other Islamists pushed for a review of their sentences and sought

commutation based on revising their previously-held beliefs in the necessity of terrorism. He was represented by lawyer Montasser el-Zayat.[6]

Release

In March 2011, he was released from prison in Egypt, but quickly re-arrested.[9] He was subsequently re-tried in an Egyptian military court on terrorism charges and acquitted of all charges, and was released in March 2012.[10]

In September 2012, Zawahiri offered to mediate a 10-year

war on Islam", and release all Islamist prisoners.[11]

In an interview which aired on Egypt's CBC TV on 4 October 2012 (as translated by

MEMRI), Al-Zawahiri denied "belong[ing] to Al-Qaeda or any other organization" but stated that "ideologically speaking, I am in agreement with all these organizations. Our common denominator is the Islamic shari'a." Regarding Israel and Jews, Al-Zawahiri declared that "Fighting Israel, fighting the Jews is a religious duty incumbent upon all. The Egyptian government should have been fighting the Jewish enemy...This is a religious duty incumbent upon all Muslims."[12]

Later activities

Muhammad al-Zawahiri was involved in the organization of the 11 September 2012 protest at the

United States embassy in Cairo
. [13]

On 18 January 2013, he organized a protest outside France's embassy in Cairo against

Islamic peoples" and stated that France was at war with Islam.[14]

In August 2013, in the wake of the overthrow of President Morsi, Zawahiri was arrested.[15] In April 2014 Zawahiri, with 67 others, was charged with forming a terrorist group and seeking to undermine security across Egypt.[16] On 17 March 2016, Zawahiri was released from prison.[17]

Muhammad al-Zawahiri died on 13 February 2024, at the age of 71.[18][19][20]

References

  1. ^ Mother Jones, Disappearing Act: Rendition by the Numbers, 3 March 2008
  2. ^ "Zawahry, 67 others referred to criminal court". Cairo Post. 7 April 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  3. ^ a b Zawahiri, Zayman al-. As-Sahab, The Open Meeting with Al-Zawahiri Archived 26 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Human Rights Watch, Chapter VI: Muhammad al-Zawahiri and Hussain al-Zawahiri
  5. ^
    al-Zayat, Montasser
    , "The Road to al-Qaeda", 2002
  6. ^ a b Top Al Qaeda Ideolgue and Zawahiri's Brother to Denounce Violence, AP, 20 April 2007
  7. ^ "Zarqawi successor 'in Egypt jail'" al-Jazeera, 6 July 2006
  8. ^ "Iraq al-Qaeda chief jail mystery" BBC, 6 July 2006
  9. ^ "Egypt rearrests Zawahiri's brother after release". Reuters. 20 March 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  10. ^ "Egypt acquits Qaeda leader brother, others in retrial". Reuters. 19 March 2012. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014.
  11. ^ "Exclusive: Al Qaeda leader's brother offers peace plan". CNN. 10 September 2012. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  12. ^ Egyptian Salafist Muhammad Al-Zawahiri, Brother of Al-Qaeda Leader: We Don't Recognize Elections or President Morsi; Calls for Jihad against the Jews, MEMRITV, Clip No. 3611 (transcript), 4 October 2012.
  13. The Long War Journal
    . Public Multimedia Inc. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  14. AFP (18 January 2013). "Brother of Al-Qaeda chief at Cairo anti-France demo". The Daily Star. Archived from the original
    on 24 March 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  15. ^ Al-Youm, Al-Masyr (17 August 2013). "Jihadi Mohamed al-Zawahiri arrested". Egypt Independent. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  16. AFP (6 April 2014). "The brother of Qaeda chief Zawahiri to stand trial in Egypt". The Daily Star
    . Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  17. The Long War Journal
    . Public Multimedia Inc. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  18. ^ وفاة محمد الظواهري الشقيق الأصغر لزعيم القاعدة السابق (in Arabic)
  19. ^ "عاجل.. وفاة محمد الظواهري شقيق زعيم القاعدة السابق". Elbashayer. 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  20. ^ "من هو محمد الظواهري وما سبب وفاته؟". Almashhad. 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Muhammad_al-Zawahiri&oldid=1208768265"