ASSESSMENTS

The Al-Zawahiri Letter: Insights into the Jihadist Movement

Oct 19, 2005 | 23:59 GMT

A U.S. Humvee passes a billboard showing the portrait of al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Baghdad on Oct. 8, 2005, a day after U.S. officials said they seized a letter allegedly sent to al-Zarqawi by al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri, in which he raised concerns over the impact on Arab opinion of videotaped executions.
A U.S. Humvee passes a billboard showing the portrait of al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Baghdad on Oct. 8, 2005, a day after U.S. officials said they seized a letter allegedly sent to al-Zarqawi by al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri, in which he raised concerns over the impact on Arab opinion of videotaped executions.

(SABAH ARAR/AFP/Getty Images)

Al-Zawahiri understands that al-Zarqawi is much more of a hard-liner in his views than the mainstream al Qaeda leadership and that his success in staging the majority of jihadist operations in the world has boosted his confidence....

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