(Aiman) Al-Zawahri

Interpol issued an arrest warrant yesterday for Osama bin Laden's top general, an Egyptian doctor many regard as second-in-command of the global terrorist network blamed for suicide attacks in the United States two weeks ago.

At the request of Egyptian authorities, the international police agency posted a "Red Notice" calling on its 179 member countries to arrest Aiman Al-Zawahri, the 50-year-old leader of the Egyptian Al Jihad and a powerful member of bin Laden's al Qaeda organization.

Al Jihad is suspected of using Canada as a support base. Two Egyptian refugees with alleged ties to Al Jihad -- one of whom worked for bin Laden in Sudan -- have been arrested in Toronto in the past year.

CSIS has also investigated claims by witnesses that Al Jihad's blind spiritual leader, Sheik Umar Abd Al-Rahman, secretly visited mosques in eastern Canada in the early 1990s.

Interpol also passed a unanimous resolution at its assembly in Budapest vowing a non-stop battle against terrorism and pledging full co-operation in bringing to justice those responsible for the Sept. 11 airliner attacks that killed nearly 7,000.

Dr. Zawahri was described as "one of the key figures" in the bin Laden empire.

He is accused of recruiting and training terrorists, financing weapons purchases and masterminding terrorist operations.

The Giza-born surgeon was one of the 27 individuals and organizations whose assets were ordered frozen this week by George W. Bush, the U.S. President, in an attempt to cripple bin Laden by targeting his clandestine financial web.

But Dr. Zawahri will not be easy to find. He has not been seen for several years and is highly secretive.

Canadian Security Intelligence Service documents say he uses the aliases Abu-Mahommad and Abu Fatimah.

He also possesses a passport from Switzerland in the name Amin Uthman and a passport from Holland bearing the name Mohmud Hifnawi.

Following the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan in 1989, bin Laden formed al Qaeda to unite Islamic extremist groups around the world.

At a meeting in 1996, Dr. Zawahri, who had established a camp in Pakistan to receive Egyptians volunteering to battle the Soviets, agreed to accept financing for Al Jihad from the Saudi-born terrorist.

In 1997, Dr. Zawahri announced that Al Jihad would unite with bin Laden's al Qaeda to form the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, which called for the killing of Americans, Jews and their allies.

Both bin Laden and Dr. Zawahri have been indicted for murder by New York prosecutors for masterminding the bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

Bin Laden, al Qaeda and Al Jihad are also suspects in the December, 2000, bombing of a U.S. destroyer in Yemen that killed 17 U.S. sailors.

More recently, Dr. Zawahri has been mentioned as a suspect in the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.