I just attended a lecture about this guy given by Steven Coll.
He, Zawahiri, has no direct connections with the Muslim Brotherhood, though they both preach Qtbism. (However, he and bin Laden are hand-in-hand. When certain authorities let bin Laden slip the noose, Zawahiri was within arm’s reach, too. Could have killed them both with the same bomb.)
Now, although not as popular as they once were, both are running loose and eyeing the growing leadership vacuum in the Middle East. Not cool.
Steve Coll is clueless.
Al-Z got where he's at by joining the Muslim Brotherhood when he was 14 years old. The MB is still in existence today and the organization is well-organized and pulling the strings in Egypt at this moment. Don't think for a moment MB isn't exploiting this crisis. They are probably using it as a recruiting tool to recruit future terrorists to topple other governments in that region and to destroy Israel.