Laden's right-hand man imprisoned in Iran: Reports

The Times of India ^ | 17 february 2002 | AP

[knighthawk]

TEHRAN: The right-hand man of suspected terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden was arrested several days ago and is imprisoned in the Iranian capital of Tehran, a leading Iranian daily said on Sunday. Iran's Foreign Ministry denied the report.

The Farsi-language Hayat-e-Nou reported Ayman al-Zawahri was in Tehran's Evin prison, where well-known political prisoners often are held. It did not disclose its sources or provide any other information.

Hayat-e-Nou is run by Hadi Khamenei, an influential legislator and brother of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It is among Iran's most reliable newspapers.

"The news that has been published in Hayat-e-Nou newspaper is not true, we deny it," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said.

Experts on Bin Laden's movements had assumed al-Zawahri, a doctor and Bin Laden's spiritual adviser and potential successor as head of the terrorist network al-Qaeda, would be with Bin Laden in hiding.

Hayat-e-Nou did not mention the whereabouts of Bin Laden, subject of an intense manhunt since being blamed for the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Iran's reported detention of a key al-Qaeda figure comes amid signs Tehran is trying to defuse tensions with the United States, which has accused it of trying to destabilize neighboring Afghanistan by harboring al-Qaeda militants.

CIA Director George J Tenet said recently that Tehran had failed "to move decisively against al-Qaeda members who have relocated to Iran from Afghanistan."

Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency reported last week that authorities had arrested about 150 people, including a number of Arabs, for questioning over links to al-Qaeda or the Taliban, the Afghan militia that had harbored Bin Laden.

Iran shares long and porous borders both with Pakistan and Afghanistan, where al-Qaeda was based before a US military campaign was launched to uproot the network and arrest its top leaders.

After the September 11 attacks and until the recent US allegations, relations between the estranged governments seemed to improve slightly as Iran condemned the attacks and reminded the world it was a vigorous opponent of the Taliban.

But US President George W Bush in his State of the Union speech lumped Iran together with Iraq and North Korea as an "axis of evil."

Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network already is believed to have been stripped of the ability to pull off another complex attack like the September 11 strikes, but it remains dangerous. The FBI last week issued a warning that militants linked to al-Qaeda were planning an attack against the United States.

If al-Zawahri's detention is confirmed, he would be the second top Bin Laden aide to be taken out of action. Bin Laden's second key lieutenant, military chief Mohammed Atef, was killed in an airstrike near Kabul in November, US officials have said.

The US State Department included al-Zawahri, Bin Laden and 20 other men on a "most wanted terrorist" list issued in 2001 and offered rewards of up to $25 million for information leading to the arrest of terrorists.

In December, a Muslim activist in London reported al-Zawahri's wife and three daughters had been killed in Afghanistan by US bombs, but al-Zawahri was not believed to have been with his family at the time. A US official in Washington had said the United States had credible reports that members of al-Zawahri's immediate family were killed in a US airstrike.

[knighthawk]

Ping

[Oldeconomybuyer]

FILE - This image taken from video released by Qatar's Al-Jazeera televison broadcast Oct. 5, 2001 is said to show Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, at an undisclosed location. Al-Jazeera did not say whether the image was taken before or after the Sept. 11 attacks or how they obtained it. At right is bin Laden's top lieutenant, Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahri. Bin Laden is believed to have been at a celebration of the union of his al-Qaida network and al-Zawahri's Egyptian Jihad group. Graphic at top right reads "Exclusive to Al-Jazeera." At bottom right is the station's logo which reads "Al-Jazeera." For the moment, top intelligence officials said al-Qaida can reconstitute itself. At least six top leaders are dead, and tow more are in U.S. cusody, but more than a dozen key lieutenants remain at large.(AP Photo/Al-Jazeera via APTN) - Feb 07 10:00 PM ET

[Nix 2]

Lest we forget. Zawahiri founded Islamic Jihad.

Al Jihad
(aka Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Al-Jihad, Al-Islami Al-Jihad, Islamic Jihad, Jihad Group)

Organization and Leadership

Al Jihad is a Cairo-based terrorist organization considered a key component of Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network.

Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri emerged as the group's leader in the wake of factional conflicts in the late 1980s. A child of privilege like bin Laden, Zawahiri's grandparents included an ambassador and a prominent Muslim cleric. The 1977 peace accord between Egypt and Israel radicalized Zawahiri, and he served three years in prison for his role in the 1981 assassination of Anwar Sadat.

After his release from prison in 1986, Zawahiri became bin Laden's personal physician and chief ideologue in Afghanistan. It is believed that he was instrumental in turning bin Laden's attention toward global jihad, and he is now considered to be the second most powerful member of the Al Qaida network.

Shaykh Omar Abdel Rahman, jailed in the U.S. for his role in the earlier attempts to bomb New York landmarks , is considered the spiritual leader of both Al-Islam and its sister organization, Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya.

The U.S. State Departments 2000 terrorism report estimates the Al-Islam's hardcore membership at several hundred. The group is based in Cairo, but has expanded its network to Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Lebanon, United Kingdom, and now the U.S.

[Catspaw]

Are they going to turn Zawahiri over to us? If not, putting him in an Iranian prison--were he can be let out on whim--is worthless.

[Victor]

I thought Al-Zawahiri was killed early in the Afghanistan action. I remember seeing several reports about this.

[knighthawk]

The report does not say he was alive when they arrested him, LOL!

[JohnBovenmyer]

They don't even have to let him out, an Iranian prison could be a good base of operations if the Mullahs wished it.

[barker]

ANd not just killing farmers - I was beginning to not be able to sleep at night.

Bet the families of the 9-11 attack victims have a hard time sleeping too. For a newbie you sure have been busy being a bleeding heart for the poor "farmers" who want to kill us.

[Balding_Eagle]

Your bleeding heart is beginning to bore us

[Shermy]

Zawahiri long ago at the Tehran Hilton.

[Shermy]

Zawahiri long ago in Iran.