Montasser el-Zayat () or Muntasir al-Zayyat ( ') (born 1956) is an Egyptian lawyer and author whose former clients, according to press reports, included

Ayman al-Zawahiri Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri (; 19 June 195131 July 2022) was an Egyptian-born pan-Islamism, pan-Islamist militant and physician who served as the second general emir of al-Qaeda from June 2011 until Killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri, his dea ...

, since 2011 the leader of

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

, the terrorist organization, and

al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (, "Islamic Group") is an Egyptian Sunni Islamist movement, and is considered a terrorism, terrorist organization by the United Kingdom and the European Union, but was removed from the United States list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations i ...

.UNHCR information on al-Zayyat and other Egyptians
/ref> Following the 1981 assassination of

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...

, as a young man, el-Zayat was one of the hundreds of politically active Egyptians who were rounded up.U.S. policies causing Islamists rage, some say
, ''

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review The ''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'', also known as "the Trib", is the second-largest daily newspaper serving the Greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area of Western Pennsylvania. It transitioned to an all-digital format on December 1, 2016, but rema ...

'', 1 December 2002 He was detained for three years although he was never tried or convicted.

Early life and education

Montasser al-Zayat was born in 1956 in Egypt and educated there. His family is of Nubian descent. As a young man of 21, he was arrested along with hundreds of other politically active Egyptians after the assassination of Anwar Sadat. He was detained for three years without trial and finally released.

Career

Al-Zayyat became an attorney in Egypt. His former clients are said to have included

, since 2011 the leader of

, the terrorist organization based in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also defended

. He has written a book entitled ''Ayman al-Zawahiri as I Knew Him'' (2006),Militant Ideology Atlas
, Combating Terrorism Center,

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

which is strongly critical of al-Zawahiri. El-Zayat claims that al-Zawahiri responded to his criticism by electronic mail.Keeping Al-Qaeda in His Grip: Al-Zawahiri Presses Ideology, Deepens Rifts Among Islamic Radicals
''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', 16 April 2006 The ''

'' reported that el-Zayat has said of al-Zawahiri, "He always thinks he is right, even if he is alone." El-Zayat also represented Ahmad Ibrahim al-Sayyid al-Naggar in the 1999 case of the Returnees from Albania. On 1 December 2002 the ''

'' reported that el-Zayat "accused the United States of 'invading the region and imposing its policies — it wants to interfere with our life, and it wants us to modify our religious curriculum. ... This is why the people approved of what happened in

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

and

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

". El-Zayat is currently the lawyer for the Egyptian cleric, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr. He was living in exile in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

when he was allegedly abducted by the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

Special Activities Division The Special Activities Center (SAC) is the center of the United States Central Intelligence Agency responsible for covert operations. The unit was named Special Activities Division (SAD) prior to a 2015 reorganization. Within SAC there are at le ...

under the direction of

Robert Seldon Lady Robert Seldon Lady (born February 2, 1954, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras; nicknamed "Mister Bob") is an American intelligence officer. Lady was the CIA' station chief in Milan during the Abu Omar case. For his role in the case, Italian authoriti ...

.Abducted imam seeks return to Italy
'' ANSA'', 8 April 2006''

Invited to defend a Guantanamo captive

In May 2009, ''

Al Arabiya Arabiya (, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel. It is based in Riyadh and is a subsidiary of MBC Group. The channel is a flagship of the media c ...

'' reported that el-Zayat had been invited to defend

Mustafa al-Hawsawi Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi (; born August 5, 1968) is a Saudi Arabian citizen. He is alleged to have acted as a key financial facilitator for the September 11 attacks in the United States. Mustafa al-Hawsawi was captured in Pakistan by Pakist ...

, one of the fourteen high-value detainees held at the

Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by p ...

, before a

Guantanamo military commission The Guantanamo military commissions were established by President George W. Bush through a military order on November 13, 2001, to try certain non-citizen terrorism suspects at the Guantanamo Bay prison. To date, there have been a total of eight ...

. El-Zayat described thinking at first that he was the target of a hoax.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zayat, Montasser al- 20th-century Egyptian lawyers Living people 1956 births Egyptian people of Nubian descent 21st-century Egyptian lawyers