The world of terrorism most people associate with Osama bin Laden is actually a mixed world of terrorism based as much on the views and actions of an Egyptian physician, Ayman al-Zawahiri. As a lawyer who was jailed with al-Zawahiri, Montasser al-Zayat, notes: ôAyman is for bin Laden like the brain to the bodyö (Lacayo, 2001, 77). Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri now has a price of twenty-five million dollars on his head due to his involvement with the Pakistan and Africa embassy bombings, the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole, and both attacks on the World Trade Centers. Ayman al-Zawahiri is now thought to lead Qaeda al-Jihad, the organization that is the product of both his and bin-LadenÆs former terrorist organizations û Al Qaeda and Egyptian Islamic Jihad.
For decades al-Zawahiri and bin Laden tried to establish dominance in the Arab world. Al-Zawahiri is thought to have been involved in the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and campaigns of violence aimed at toppling the Egyptian regime. Both al-Zawahiri and bin Laden became disillusioned during the Arab-Israeli War. They eventually met and joined forces on the borders between Afghanistan and Pakistan (Jidda), after both had been unsuccessful in gathering the support and control desired in their homelands. By all accounts al-Zawahiri has had the most influence on bin-Laden as opposed to the reverse being true. Al-Zawahiri is better educated, more political, and his views of Islam are even more radical than bin-LadenÆs. While both bin-Laden and Al-Zawahiri support worldwide jihad (Holy War) against Jews, Americans and their supporters, al-Zawahiri is more political while bin-Laden is more religious. Al-Zawahiri is the chief ideologue of Takfir and Hijra (Anathema and Exile). This marked a turning point in Islamic extremism because Western infidels are not the only target but also other Muslims.
Al-ZawahiriÆs worldview began to take concrete form after the Arab-Is...