Al Qaeda leader’s brother proposes peace deal with West

PanARMENIAN.Net - The brother of al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri is proposing to mediate a peace deal between the West and Islamists.

In an interview with CNN, Mohamed al Zawahiri unveiled his proposal for the first time, saying he is in a unique position to help end the violence and that both sides need to make concessions.

As the al Qaeda leader's brother, he says they are ideologically inseparable, and that if anyone can talk his brother out of violence it's him.

Mohamed spent 14 years in Egyptian jail on charges including terrorism and involvement in the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat 1981. He denies the charges. He wants peace, he says, between Muslims and non-Muslims and has written a proposal that outlines the terms.

He says he's offering to be an intermediary between Islamists and the United States and the west. "I don't represent a certain group. My role is a mediator between the West and them."

A source with direct knowledge of Egyptian government talks with jihadists in the Sinai says Zawahiri is helping negotiations. The source says Zawahiri has the respect of the Islamists and the trust of the new government.

Zawahiri says his offer puts him at risk from radical Islamists, but says he is not acting from weakness or for personal gain.

His six-page proposal offers a 10-year truce if the following terms are met. In brief they are: U.S. and West to stop intervening in Muslim lands; U.S. to stop interfering in Muslim education; U.S. to end the war on Islam; U.S. to release all Islamist prisoners.

The document also calls on Islamists to change their behavior too: Stop attacks on Western and U.S. interests; Protect legitimate Western and U.S. interests in Muslim lands; Stop provoking the U.S. and the West.

Osama bin Laden had a similar proposal in 2004, it was quickly followed a year later by the deadly 7/7 subway attack in London killing 52 people.