Egyptian security sources said on Monday that security forces rearrested Mohamed al-Zawahiri, brother of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, the organization’s second-in-command.
A prominent member of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization led by his brother Ayman, he received a life sentence in 1999. On Thursday, the military released him with 59 detainees who had been convicted of belonging to Islamist groups.
The security official said on Monday that the Egyptian Mohamad al-Zawahiri was sentenced in absentia by a military court in a case known to the media as “The returnees from Albania.”
The sources said by revisiting the records of al-Zawahiri, the authorities found that he was charged in another case. After 3 days from releasing him, the police re-arrested al-Zawahiri, and he awaits trial.
The name "Albania returnees" was given to the Islamist militants who were said to have been active in the Balkans for years of war side-by-side with Muslim residents of the region against attacks by groups, organizations, and state governments.
It is recalled that the influx of these Mujahideen into the Balkan region began with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 under the pretext of supporting the resistance. Some then returned to Egypt while others went to fight other wars in Albania and the Balkans during the 1990’s.
The Egyptian authorities charge the “Returnees” with working to overthrow the government, killing civilians, and targeting tourists and Christians.
Nizar Ghorab, a lawyer, has submitted a report to the attorney general accusing Minister of Interior Mansour al-Essawy of detaining al-Zawahiri and taking him to an unknown destination without a judiciary warrant. Ghorab said it is difficult for him to communicate with his family and lawyers.
Ghorab told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the detention is evidence that the State Security Investigation Service (SSIS), last week declared dissolved by al-Essawy, continues to operate in secret. SSIS offices nationwide were shut down and the service was replaced by the new National Security agency, tasked with countering terrorism without interfering in citizens' personal affairs.
