London-based Saudi weekly Al-Majallah has published in its latest edition (Dec. 16-22) a telephone interview it conducted with Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man and leader of Egypt’s Jihad group. The Egyptian born, 50 year-old physician has been indicted for his alleged role in the August 7, 1998, bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. He is currently on the F.B.I’s Most Wanted List, and was dubbed by Western intelligence agencies as the ‘operational brains’ behind the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
With the exception of the telephone interview with Al-Majallah, he has remained a shadowy figure, carefully avoiding the media. There are conflicting reports that he is injured.
However, Al-Zawahiri told Al-Majallah that his family, and that of his Arab fighters were alive and well. He stated that many of the families of the Arab and other fighters were in Kabul, Kandahar, Jalalabad and other main Afghan cities. He added that he believed that the family members were safe as they were civilians, though some women had been raped in Jalalabad and Kabul, contrary to what he believed was the ‘pure’ nature of the Afghan people.
For more information and details from this interview, see the news section.
