Posted on 03/29/2004 9:03:38 AM PST by guadianangel
Right after Richard Crarke's interview on 60 minutes, Ed Bradley of CBS's 60 minutes interviewed Mamoun Fandi, a professor at the government's National Defense University in Washington. Professor Fandi is an expert on Islamic fundamentalists. He remembers al-Zawahri as a campus radical when Fandi was a university student in Egypt.
Ed Bradley interviews
"In the early '90s, basically what you're saying is that Egypt said, 'Hey, here's a problem,' and the United States and European countries ignored it," says Bradley.
"Yes, for sure. And they didn't even ignore it--just ignore it," says Moneim. "They helped the people who are wanted by Egypt. They did." One of those wanted by Egypt was al-Zawahri, who had been tried in absentia and sentenced to death.
But because he faced the death penalty, European countries would not extradite him, so for some 10 years, he was able to travel freely in Europe and reportedly even made two fund-raising trips to the United States. Egyptians say that money was used to blow up their embassy in Pakistan.
"A terrorist is like a wolf, and wolves do not quench their thirst by water, but they quench their thirst with their victim's blood, even if it's the blood of those who give them shelter," says Al-Rouby.
Around 1995, al-Zawahri moved to the Sudan, where he once again linked up with Osama bin Laden, whom he had first met during the Afghan war against Russia. In 1998, they joined forces to form a new group, the International Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, a group which had the following creed: To kill Americans--military and civilian--is an individual duty of every Muslim who is able.
Six months later, the American embassies were bombed.
Is al-Zawahri capable of committing these crimes of which he's been accused?
"He is, without a doubt, capable of planning attacks of such a scale," says Al Zayat, who was in prison with al-Zawahri 20 years ago. He's now a lawyer who has represented him and Islamic Jihad in court. "The most distinguishing feature of Zawahri is that he is a brilliant planner."
According to intelligence analysts, most of bin Laden's closest aides are Zawahri's men. In fact, the core of al Qaeda's leadership is Egyptian -- Islamic Jihad loyalists who have helped turn it into the most lethal terrorist organization in the world.
"When Osama bin Laden met Ayman al-Zawahri in the mid-'80s, Osama bin Laden was a rich Saudi without any organizational vision," says Al Zayat. "I describe Ayman al-Zawahri as being the brains behind Osama bin Laden."
Whose influence in this relationship is stronger, or the most important?
"Ayman al-Zawahri wields a greater influence on bin Laden, certainly," adds Al Zayat. In fact, al-Zawahri is credited with shifting al Qaeda's focus from Arab countries to attacking the United States.
Was Al Zayat surprised that a doctor, a pediatrician, could be so violent?
"Maybe he doesn't surprise us, but rather, he earns our respect. Ever since I've known him, he could have had a good life," says Al Zayat. "He comes from a wealthy family, but he has a certain set of beliefs and has devoted himself to implementing them."
Chief among those beliefs is that America has committed terrible crimes against the Muslims.
"I know that guy as a good Muslim, trying his best to serve his belief," says Omar Azzam, Zawahri's cousin.
Although he hasn't seen him in more than 15 years, he says he can't believe al-Zawahri is the violent terrorist authorities say he is.
"Nobody received facts from the side of Ayman to say that he is the one responsible or he is the one not responsible," says Azzam.
But Professor Fandi believes that the case against al-Zawahri is as clear as is his importance to al Qaeda: "If you want to cripple the brain of the organization, the operational structure of the organization, you start with Ayman al-Zawahri, and then probably, if bin Laden dies along with him, that's fine."
"We have this sense that we've been led to believe you go in and you cut off the head -- the head is Osama bin Laden -- the rest will die," says Bradley to Fandi.
"I think the head is Ayman al-Zawahri," says Fandi. "If you cut off Osama bin Laden, the whole snake is still living, and that snake is Ayman al-Zawahri."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/19/60minutes/main607481.shtml
Clinton claimed "executive privilege" over MONICA and the media is SCREAMING about President Bush claiming it on NATIONAL SECURITY. They make me sick.
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