http://www.alexconstantine.50megs.com/Bin Laden Deputy: Brilliant Idealogue
By T. CHRISTIAN MILLER, TIMES STAFF WRITER
MAADI, Egypt -- The doctor once ran a flourishing medical clinic in this wealthy neighborhood of grand villas and trendy art galleries.
He was a scion of one of Egypt's most respected families, a graduate of an exclusive preparatory school, a learned scholar, accomplished surgeon and poet.
But that was long ago, when the world seemed a less threatening place and the doctor worked more to heal than to hate. Now Ayman Zawahiri is the world's second-most-wanted man.
The 50-year-old Egyptian is believed to be Osama bin Laden's most important aide. Earlier this year, he was even mentioned as the next leader of the Al Qaeda terrorist network after reports surfaced that Bin Laden was suffering from kidney disease.
Zawahiri is a brilliant and forceful intellect, the man who provides much of the ideological and strategic grounding to Bin Laden's war against the West, according to friends, family and terrorism experts.
He also brings experience. Zawahiri's terrorist record dates back more than 20 years. He faces a death sentence in Egypt stemming from his role as leader of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group responsible for the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat.
Zawahiri has been indicted as one of the key planners of the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Interpol recently released a worldwide alert for his arrest.
Zawahiri's long, slow rise illustrates the ideological evolution of Islamic fundamentalists' struggle. Under his leadership, fundamentalist groups moved from attacking supposedly corrupt Arab governments to targeting civilians on U.S. soil.
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