Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Egypt has linked Salafist protests against the military
regime to Al Qaida.

Egyptian security sources have identified the brother of Al Qaida
commander Ayman Zawahiri as a leader of the Salafist protests against the
ruling military council.

So far, at least 22 people have been killed in clashes between regime supporters and Salafist protesters in Cairo in late April and early May.

“Mohammed Zawahiri is on the ground and rallying the forces to threaten law and order,” a security source said.

The sources said Mohammed Zawahiri was directing the protest at the
Egyptian Defense Ministry in Cairo. They said Zawahiri, the elder brother of the Al Qaida leader, also played a major role in the massive rally against the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces on May 4 in which a soldier was killed and 400 protesters were injured. The rally prompted a decision by the council to impose a curfew in parts of Cairo.

In 2011, the elder Zawahiri was released from an Egyptian prison amid an attempt by the regime to reconcile with the Islamic opposition. He had been
extradited and imprisoned in Egypt in 1998 on charges of undergoing military
training in Albania and planning operations against Cairo.

The sources said Zawahiri was also linked to Gamiat Islamiya,
responsible to the killing of 69 tourists in 1997. They said Gamiat, in
cooperation with the Muslim Brotherhood, was helping mobilize opponents
against the military regime.

“The Brotherhood wants to threaten the SCAF by flexing its muscles and
calling for mass protests, which show its ability to mobilize the street,”
the Free Front for Peaceful Change, an opposition group, said.

  Ayman Zawahiri, Egypt says Zawahiri’s brother behind anti-military protests, Free Front for Peaceful Change, Mohammed Zawahiri, Muslim Brotherhood, Supreme Council of the Armed Forces