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Al-Qaida founder blasts successors Osama bin Laden, left, and Ayman al-Zawahiri.
 (AP)
Last update - 14:43 22/02/2009
Qaida founder blasts successor bin Laden for 'immoral terror'
By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: osama bin laden, israel news 

One of Al-Qaida's founders, Sayyid Imam al-Sharif, has waged a harsh verbal attack on the terrorist organization's leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Sharif's criticism of the Al-Qaida ideology and the failures of its leadership have unleashed a heated debate within the global Jihad movement and it has been publicized in several western media outlets.

Sharif, who is serving a life sentence in a Cairo prison, recently wrote a book in which he said, "every drop of blood that was shed or is being shed in Afghanistan and Iraq is the responsibility of bin Laden and Zawahiri and their followers."
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The Al-Qaida figurehead also said called the September 11 terror attacks immoral and counterproductive.

"Attacking America has become the shortest road to fame and leadership among the Arabs and Muslims," wrote Sharif, who also goes by the nom de guerre Dr. Fadl. "But what good is it if you destroy one of your enemy's buildings, and he destroys one of your countries? What good is it if you kill one of his people, and he kills a thousand of yours? That, in short, is my evaluation of 9/11."

Sharif also criticizes Muslims who move to the West only to perpetrate terror attacks in their adopted countries. "If they gave you permission to enter their homes and live with them, and if they gave you security for yourself and your money, and if they gave you the opportunity to work or study, or they granted you political asylum" wrote Sharif, then it is "not honorable" to "betray them, through killing and destruction."

According to Reuven Paz, an expert on Islamist movements, Sharif is considered one of the leading ideologues within the Egyptian group that cultivated Jihad starting in the 1970s.

Together with Zawahiri, he struggled against Egypt's leadership and also fought against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

Sharif's writings have enraged Zawahiri's followers, who claim Sharif is working for Egyptian intelligence.

Dr. Paz said that American intelligence sources who study global Jihad have in recent months expressed hope that Sharif will influence the younger generation.

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  • Qaida No. 2: Hezbollah started rumor that Israel planned 9/11
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      1.   Must be trying to get a reduction in his sentence 11:53  |  Aussie Michael 22/02/09
      2.   Hamas take a look at this quotation 14:02  |  Krystal 22/02/09
      3.   Very wise words, let`s hope they didn`t only come..... 14:08  |  Swiss (Dino) 22/02/09
      4.   Will the youths in the Muslim world listen....???? 14:16  |  Swiss (Dino) 22/02/09
      5.   Immoral terror..? 14:34  |  Stephen. 22/02/09
      6.   qaida founder in egyptian prison 14:40  |  elliot 22/02/09
      7.   and moral terror... 14:40  |  joel 22/02/09
      8.   Bin Laden the boogeyman. 15:02  |  meital 22/02/09
      9.   lo ra (= not bad), if Al Qaida can split maybe others can - 15:23  |  ivo 22/02/09
      10.   KRYSTAL # 2 - IT JUMPS OUT AT YOU 15:26  |  Roger 22/02/09
      11.   Nobody gets it.... 16:01  |  Jimmy 22/02/09
      12.   It is the "efficiency" of terror attacks that is being criticized 16:12  |  Boris 22/02/09
      13.   Finally ! 16:21  |  The Teacher/Instruct 22/02/09
      14.   #3 Swiss Dino 16:23  |  H 22/02/09
      15.   A Jihadist with a brain 16:33  |  Bobby 22/02/09
      16.   Zawahiri: "YOU CAN`T HANDLE THE TRUTH" 16:42  |  Conroy 22/02/09
      17.   Dino trying to be funny today? 16:55  |  ME 22/02/09
      18.   Issue a Fatwa 17:08  |  real vision 22/02/09
      19.   Thank You George W. Bush 17:49  |  Texan 22/02/09
      20.   #12, Boris, did you read the whole article? 18:09  |  newageblues 22/02/09
      21.   There is a Corrolary 18:43  |  Brad 22/02/09
      22.   Al-Sharif Looses Leadership Of Al Qaida To Bin Laden! 20:08  |  Jeff Northridge 22/02/09
      23.   Since when is terror moral ? 20:08  |  Esther Schomberg 22/02/09
      24.   Fatwa NOW 21:42  |  leonard Nash 22/02/09
      25.   This is important. 22:21  |  Neutered Observer 22/02/09
      26.   Alqaeda is criminal organization 23:37  |  Sammy the Moslem 22/02/09
      27.   Stephen 00:18  |  John 23/02/09
      28.   #27.John. 07:47  |  Stephen. 25/02/09
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