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| The Alliance |
| Zawahri sez America "world's biggest criminal" |
| 2001-10-07 |
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) Egypt has said it will help battle global terrorism, but that campaign is likely to pit it against some of its own, including two Egyptians with strong links to Osama bin Laden and the Sept. 11 terror attacks. One man, Ayman al-Zawahri, has been identified as bin Laden's most trusted deputy. Mohamed Atef is now believed to be the operational mastermind behind the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Both men are Egyptian and former members of Egypt's militant Islamic Jihad. They have been sentenced to death in absentia in Egypt, but have long been out of the government's reach. They are believed to be holed up in Afghanistan along with bin Laden, enjoying the protection of Afghanistan's Taliban government. Sunday marked the first time in years that the world had heard from al-Zawahri, who appeared beside bin Laden in a pre-recorded video broadcast on the Arabic satellite station Al-Jazeera. "America has committed crimes against Muslims that are unbearable. America is the world's biggest criminal. Your government is killing Iraqi children and sponsoring corrupt regimes. Your government is leading you toward certain defeat." The tape, which showed bin Laden and al-Zawahri kneeling side-by-side in a cave, was apparently made sometime after Sept. 11 but before the U.S. retaliated on Sunday. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |