Report: Jihad Leader Overthrown

Sunday, January 23, 2000 3:57 PM EST

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- A close confidant of Osama bin Laden and a leader of the Muslim militant group Jihad has been overthrown by his followers, the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported Sunday.

Members of Jihad, which is responsible for the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, forced Ayman al-Zawahri to give up his leadership post, Al-Hayat said. He was head of the group in Egypt.

The newspaper report, which was credited to sources close to Jihad, could not be independently confirmed. Jihad members in Saudi Arabia denied the report in a telephone call to The Associated Press, saying that without al-Zawahri the group could crumble. They asked not to be identified.

Al-Zawahri is considered Egypt's most wanted militant. An Egyptian court sentenced him to death in absentia in 1999 for charges including subversion and membership in an outlawed group. He is believed to be living in Afghanistan.

Al-Zawahri is believed to be a close confidant of Osama Bin Laden, the Saudi millionaire blamed for the 1998 U.S. embassy attacks in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 250 people.

In its report, Al-Hayat said Jihad members were angered over the 1998 alliance between al-Zawahri and bin Laden in a coalition of extremist groups called the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders.

The alliance, whose founding principle is to attack Americans and their interests, ``plunged Jihad members into battles with the United States that are unnecessary at this time,'' the newspaper quoted the sources as saying.

In the wake of the embassy attacks, countries including Azerbaijan, Albania and the United Arab Emirates arrested Muslim militants and extradited them to Egypt for trial. Several militants have since been sentenced to death, some in absentia.