Phares’ Op Ed in al Muharer on Zawahiri, the “Prime Minister” of al Qaeda

On October 13, 2006, the weekly pan Arab al Muharer al Arabi published an Op Ed by FDD Senior Fellow, Dr Walid Phares titled: “Dr Ayman Zawahiri, the Prime Minister of Jihad?” The article analyzes the last speech of the Number two of al Qaeda aired on al Jazeera. Phares sees an increasing trend to position Zawahiri as the chief executive of al Qaeda but also the equivalent of a “Prime Minister” of an international “Jihadi state.” The article discusses the strategic choices of the movement and its mounting attacks against moderate Arabs and Muslims in addition to the traditional incitements against the US, France, Great Britain and Western Democracies, without forgetting India but also Pakistan’s Government. Increasingly, writes Phares, “al Qaeda projects itself as the real and only Islamic power versus the rest of the world with its Muslims and non Muslims alike.   Download al_muharer.pdf