Lapid welcomes US’ targeting of Al-Qaida commander Al-Zawahiri
Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid has congratulated US President Joe Biden, the US Military, and “all who took part in the successful American operation” targeting Al-Qaida commander Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Ayman Al-Zawahiri Photo: FBI
Al-Zawahiri was killed in a US drone strike while standing on a roof in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday.
“The world is a safer place today,” Lapid declared on Tuesday. “Terrorist groups and their sponsors must know: You’re living on borrowed time. The forces of freedom will bring you to justice.”
“Justice has been delivered, and this terrorist leader is no more,” Biden stated when announcing the successful counterterrorism operation.
“People around the world no longer need to fear the vicious and determined killer. The United States continues to demonstrate our resolve and our capacity to defend the American people against those who seek to do us harm. We make it clear again tonight that no matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out,” he said.
Among the multiple attacks and the thousands of deaths that al-Zawahiri is responsible for, he is believed to be behind the 2008 attack on Israel’s embassy in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania. The terrorists injured three bystanders, including a French woman at a nearby nightclub. There were no Israeli casualties.
According to the US-based IntelCenter, al-Zawahiri had called for attacks on the Israeli ambassador in 2007.
The Rewards For Justice Program, United States Department of State, had offered a reward of up to $25 million for information leading directly to the apprehension or conviction of Ayman Al-Zawahiri.
Al-Zawahiri was a physician and the founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ). This organisation opposes the secular Egyptian Government and seeks its overthrow through violent means. In approximately 1998, the EIJ led by Al-Zawahiri merged with Al Qaeda.
It it hard to believe that this bloke was an Egyptian medical doctor in an earlier “career”.