Egypt has decided to strip two leaders in Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network of their citizenship, according to Al Ahram Al Arabi magazine.
The magazine, in its Saturday edition, said withdrawing the nationalities of Ayman Al Zawahri and Mohammad Atef Abu Hafs was based on "legal rulings against them on charges of terrorist crimes threatening the Egyptian security, besides being fugitives and a threat to Egypt’s domestic and external interests.”
The magazine, cited by the Kuwaiti official news agency (KUNA), said the government's decision was constitutional and might be extended to 30 more suspected terrorists, currently at large.
Zawahri was the leader of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which fought the Egyptian government since 1992, and recently joined forces with bin Laden’s Al Qaeda.
Both Zawahri and Atef are listed as top wanted terrorists by the US. Abu Hafs is heading Al Qaeda's military wing.
Kuwait has stripped Al Qaeda’s spokesman Youssef Abu Ghaith from citizenship for the same charges – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
