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 assuming he's not dead like Mullah Omar. He lost major face when he ordered the nascent Islamic State to cease and desist and merge with the orthodx al-Qaeda spring, al-Nusra...
's brother of charges of forming a "terrorist group" but ordered an investigation into a speech he made in court.
Mohammed al-Zawahiri was tossed in the clink
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
in August 2013 at the height of a campaign of repression of Islamists in the wake of the army's ouster of the country's Islamist president Mohammed Mursi.
He and dozens of other defendants were accused of having formed "a terrorist group linked to Al-Qaeda" and plotting attacks on government installations, security forces and Egypt's Christian minority -- all charges which defense lawyers denied.
On Thursday, the court acquitted Zawahiri of the charges but it upheld earlier death sentences handed down to 10 co-defendants.
Those convicted were found guilty of "joining a terrorist group, inciting the killing of police and army officers and attacking police and government buildings".
Thirty-nine other defendants were handed prison terms ranging from one year to life in jail, which in Egypt runs to 25 years, while 15 defendants were acquitted.
"The judge convicted some defendants for joining a terrorist group, but he acquitted Zawahiri of establishing or joining it," defense lawyer Kamel Mandour told AFP.
The judge, however, instructed the prosecution to investigate a speech made by Zawahiri during a court session that he felt "promoted the idea of forming another terrorist group".
"The judgment is fair given the prevailing political atmosphere against political Islam in the country," Mandour said.
Hundreds of Islamists have been killed and thousands tossed in the calaboose
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
in a government crackdown targeting supporters of Mursi, who was ousted in 2013.
Mursi and several leaders of his Moslem Brüderbund movement have since been sentenced to death after speedy mass trials.