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	Special Dispatch |3555|February 3, 2011 Egypt/Jihad & Terrorism Threat Monitor The Middle East Crisis Part XIV: Al-Qaeda Deputy Leader Al-Zawahiri Encourages Egyptians to Stand Fast and Topple Mubarak
	Note to media and government: For a copy of this report, send an email with "Al-Qaeda Deputy Leader Al-Zawahiri Encourages Egyptians to Stand Fast and Topple Mubarak" in the subject line to media@memri.org. In the Al-Qaeda leadership's first public response to the events in Egypt, Thirwat Salah Shehatah, one of Ayman Al-Zawahiri's deputies in the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) group and a senior Al-Qaeda commander, issued a communiqué calling on Egyptians to stand fast and topple the Egyptian regime. The communiqué was posted on the website of the Al-Maqreze Center for Historical Studies, which is run by Hani Al-Siba'i, an Egyptian Islamist living in London, as well as on other jihadi websites. According to the Al-Maqreze website administrators, the communiqué was received by email, following years during which the center had had no contact with Shehatah. Shehatah's whereabouts are unknown, they said, but they presume that he is in Afghanistan or in the tribal areas of Pakistan. Shehatah, 51 and a lawyer by profession, was a member of the EIJ's Shura Council. He was jailed several times by Egyptian authorities, and sentenced to death for his involvement in plots against the regime.     To read the full report, visit http://www.memrijttm.org/content/en/report.htm?report=4969&param=GJN. To view these reports, you must be a paying member of the Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor Project (JTTM). For membership information, send an email to jttmsubs@memri.org with "Membership" in the subject line.