Zawahiri... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as
the real brains of the outfit.Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is...
on Friday said moderate Islamists in Egypt and Tunisia were in part responsible for their recent political setbacks, accusing them of having been too conciliatory.
A 16-minute audiotape of Zawahiri released on jihadist forums focused on his native Egypt, where he said military-backed authorities were waging war on Islam at the behest of Israel and the United States.
On July 3, Egypt's military overthrew the country's first freely elected president, the Islamist Mohammed Morsi
...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the
One Man, One Vote, One Timeprinciple, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator...
, following massive protests against his year-long rule.
Morsi hailed from the moderate Moslem Brüderbund, an Islamist group that has long been at odds with the more radical al-Qaeda, which rejects any participation in democratic elections.
Zawahiri said the increasingly violent conflict between Morsi's Islamist backers and security forces was a "conflict against Islam, a conflict against sharia (Islamic law), a conflict against admitting the right of the Lord ... in legislation," according to a translation by the U.S.-based SITE Monitoring Service.
He called on Egyptian Mohammedans to "rid Egypt of this criminal gang that jumped on power with iron and fire and took advantage of the concessions of some factions in their drooling behind the mirage of the delusional reconciliation," in an apparent reference to the Brotherhood.
Zawahiri said the same "tragedy" was unfolding in Tunisia, where the ruling Ennahda, another moderate Islamist party, has agreed to hand power over to a government of independents following a months-long crisis sparked by an opposition MP's liquidation.