WATER POLLUTION

Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies (e.g. lakes, rivers, oceans and groundwater).

Water pollution affects plants and organisms living in these bodies of water; and, in almost all cases the effect is damaging not only to individual species and populations, but also to the natural biological communities.

Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds.
Contents

* 1 Introduction
* 2 Water pollution categories
o 2.1 Point source pollution
o 2.2 Non–point source pollution
* 3 Groundwater pollution
* 4 Causes of water pollution
o 4.1 Pathogens
o 4.2 Chemical and other contaminants
o 4.3 Thermal pollution
* 5 Transport and chemical reactions of water pollutants
* 6 Measurement of water pollution
o 6.1 Sampling
o 6.2 Physical testing
o 6.3 Chemical testing
o 6.4 Biological testing
* 7 Control of water pollution
o 7.1 Domestic sewage
o 7.2 Industrial wastewater
o 7.3 Agricultural wastewater
o 7.4 Construction site stormwater
o 7.5 Urban runoff (stormwater)

Introduction
Millions depend on the polluted Ganges river.

Water pollution is a major problem in the global context. It has been suggested that it is the leading worldwide cause of deaths and diseases,and that it accounts for the deaths of more than 14,000 people daily.An estimated 700 million Indians have no access to a proper toilet, and 1,000 Indian children die of diarrheal sickness every day.Some 90% of China's cities suffer from some degree of water pollution,and nearly 500 million people lack access to safe drinking water.In addition to the acute problems of water pollution in developing countries, industrialized countries continue to struggle with pollution problems as well. In the most recent national report on water quality in the United States, 45 percent of assessed stream miles, 47 percent of assessed lake acres, and 32 percent of assessed bay and estuarine square miles were classified as polluted.

Water is typically referred to as polluted when it is impaired by anthropogenic contaminants and either does not support a human use, like serving as drinking water, and/or undergoes a marked shift in its ability to support its constituent biotic communities, such as fish. Natural phenomena such as volcanoes, algae blooms, storms, and earthquakes also cause major changes in water quality and the ecological status of water.
Water pollution categories

Surface water and groundwater have often been studied and managed as separate resources, although they are interrelated.Sources of surface water pollution are generally grouped into two categories based on their origin.
Point source pollution
Point source pollution - Shipyard - Rio de Janeiro.

Point source pollution refers to contaminants that enter a waterway through a discrete conveyance, such as a pipe or ditch. Examples of sources in this category include discharges from a sewage treatment plant, a factory, or a city storm drain. The U.S. Clean Water Act (CWA) defines point source for regulatory enforcement purposes.The CWA definition of point source was amended in 1987 to include municipal storm sewer systems, as well as industrial stormwater, such as from construction sites.
Non–point source pollution

Non–point source (NPS) pollution refers to diffuse contamination that does not originate from a single discrete source. NPS pollution is often the cumulative effect of small amounts of contaminants gathered from a large area. The leaching out of nitrogen compounds from agricultural land which has been fertilized is a typical example. Nutrient runoff in stormwater from "sheet flow" over an agricultural field or a forest are also cited as examples of NPS pollution.

Contaminated storm water washed off of parking lots, roads and highways, called urban runoff, is sometimes included under the category of NPS pollution. However, this runoff is typically channeled into storm drain systems and discharged through pipes to local surface waters, and is a point source. However where such water is not channeled and drains directly to ground it is a non-point source.
Groundwater pollution
See also: Hydrogeology

Interactions between groundwater and surface water are complex. Consequently, groundwater pollution, sometimes referred to as groundwater contamination, is not as easily classified as surface water pollution. By its very nature, groundwater aquifers are susceptible to contamination from sources that may not directly affect surface water bodies, and the distinction of point vs. non-point source may be irrelevant. A spill or ongoing releases of chemical or radionuclide contaminants into soil (located away from a surface water body) may not create point source or non-point source pollution, but can contaminate the aquifer below, defined as a toxin plume. The movement of the plume, a plume front, can be part of a Hydrological transport model or Groundwater model. Analysis of groundwater contamination may focus on the soil characteristics and site geology, hydrogeology, hydrology, and the nature of the contaminants.
Causes of water pollution

The specific contaminants leading to pollution in water include a wide spectrum of chemicals, pathogens, and physical or sensory changes such as elevated temperature and discoloration. While many of the chemicals and substances that are regulated may be naturally occurring (calcium, sodium, iron, manganese, etc.) the concentration is often the key in determining what is a natural component of water, and what is a contaminant.

Oxygen-depleting substances may be natural materials, such as plant matter (e.g. leaves and grass) as well as man-made chemicals. Other natural and anthropogenic substances may cause turbidity (cloudiness) which blocks light and disrupts plant growth, and clogs the gills of some fish species.

Many of the chemical substances are toxic. Pathogens can produce waterborne diseases in either human or animal hosts. Alteration of water's physical chemistry includes acidity (change in pH), electrical conductivity, temperature, and eutrophication. Eutrophication is an increase in the concentration of chemical nutrients in an ecosystem to an extent that increases in the primary productivity of the ecosystem. Depending on the degree of eutrophication, subsequent negative environmental effects such as anoxia (oxygen depletion) and severe reductions in water quality may occur, affecting fish and other animal populations.
[edit] Pathogens
A manhole cover unable to contain a sanitary sewer overflow.

Coliform bacteria are a commonly used bacterial indicator of water pollution, although not an actual cause of disease. Other microorganisms sometimes found in surface waters which have caused human health problems include:

* Burkholderia pseudomallei
* Cryptosporidium parvum
* Giardia lamblia
* Salmonella
* Novovirus and other viruses
* Parasitic worms (helminths).

High levels of pathogens may result from inadequately treated sewage discharges.This can be caused by a sewage plant designed with less than secondary treatment (more typical in less-developed countries). In developed countries, older cities with aging infrastructure may have leaky sewage collection systems (pipes, pumps, valves), which can cause sanitary sewer overflows. Some cities also have combined sewers, which may discharge untreated sewage during rain storms.

Pathogen discharges may also be caused by poorly managed livestock operations.
Chemical and other contaminants
Muddy river polluted by sediment. Photo courtesy of United States Geological Survey.

Contaminants may include organic and inorganic substances.

Organic water pollutants include:

* Detergents
* Disinfection by-products found in chemically disinfected drinking water, such as chloroform
* Food processing waste, which can include oxygen-demanding substances, fats and grease
* Insecticides and herbicides, a huge range of organohalides and other chemical compounds
* Petroleum hydrocarbons, including fuels (gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuels, and fuel oil) and lubricants (motor oil), and fuel combustion byproducts, from stormwater runoff
* Tree and bush debris from logging operations
* Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as industrial solvents, from improper storage. Chlorinated solvents, which are dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs), may fall to the bottom of reservoirs, since they don't mix well with water and are denser.
* Various chemical compounds found in personal hygiene and cosmetic products

Inorganic water pollutants include:

* Acidity caused by industrial discharges (especially sulfur dioxide from power plants)
* Ammonia from food processing waste
* Chemical waste as industrial by-products
* Fertilizers containing nutrients--nitrates and phosphates--which are found in stormwater runoff from agriculture, as well as commercial and residential use
* Heavy metals from motor vehicles (via urban stormwater runoff) and acid mine drainage
* Silt (sediment) in runoff from construction sites, logging, slash and burn practices or land clearing sites

Macroscopic pollution—large visible items polluting the water—may be termed "floatables" in an urban stormwater context, or marine debris when found on the open seas, and can include such items as:

* Trash (e.g. paper, plastic, or food waste) discarded by people on the ground, and that are washed by rainfall into storm drains and eventually discharged into surface waters
* Nurdles, small ubiquitous waterborne plastic pellets
* Shipwrecks, large derelict ships

Potrero Generating Station discharges heated water into San Francisco Bay.
Thermal pollution
Main article: Thermal pollution

Thermal pollution is the rise or fall in the temperature of a natural body of water caused by human influence. A common cause of thermal pollution is the use of water as a coolant by power plants and industrial manufacturers. Elevated water temperatures decreases oxygen levels (which can kill fish) and affects ecosystem composition, such as invasion by new thermophilic species. Urban runoff may also elevate temperature in surface waters.

Thermal pollution can also be caused by the release of very cold water from the base of reservoirs into warmer rivers.
Transport and chemical reactions of water pollutants
See also: Marine pollution

Most water pollutants are eventually carried by rivers into the oceans. In some areas of the world the influence can be traced hundred miles from the mouth by studies using hydrology transport models. Advanced computer models such as SWMM or the DSSAM Model have been used in many locations worldwide to examine the fate of pollutants in aquatic systems. Indicator filter feeding species such as copepods have also been used to study pollutant fates in the New York Bight, for example. The highest toxin loads are not directly at the mouth of the Hudson River, but 100 kilometers south, since several days are required for incorporation into planktonic tissue. The Hudson discharge flows south along the coast due to coriolis force. Further south then are areas of oxygen depletion, caused by chemicals using up oxygen and by algae blooms, caused by excess nutrients from algal cell death and decomposition. Fish and shellfish kills have been reported, because toxins climb the food chain after small fish consume copepods, then large fish eat smaller fish, etc. Each successive step up the food chain causes a stepwise concentration of pollutants such as heavy metals (e.g. mercury) and persistent organic pollutants such as DDT. This is known as biomagnification, which is occasionally used interchangeably with bioaccumulation.
A polluted river draining an abandoned copper mine on Anglesey

Large gyres (vortexes) in the oceans trap floating plastic debris. The North Pacific Gyre for example has collected the so-called "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" that is now estimated at 100 times the size of Texas. Many of these long-lasting pieces wind up in the stomachs of marine birds and animals. This results in obstruction of digestive pathways which leads to reduced appetite or even starvation.

Many chemicals undergo reactive decay or chemically change especially over long periods of time in groundwater reservoirs. A noteworthy class of such chemicals is the chlorinated hydrocarbons such as trichloroethylene (used in industrial metal degreasing and electronics manufacturing) and tetrachloroethylene used in the dry cleaning industry (note latest advances in liquid carbon dioxide in dry cleaning that avoids all use of chemicals). Both of these chemicals, which are carcinogens themselves, undergo partial decomposition reactions, leading to new hazardous chemicals (including dichloroethylene and vinyl chloride).

Groundwater pollution is much more difficult to abate than surface pollution because groundwater can move great distances through unseen aquifers. Non-porous aquifers such as clays partially purify water of bacteria by simple filtration (adsorption and absorption), dilution, and, in some cases, chemical reactions and biological activity: however, in some cases, the pollutants merely transform to soil contaminants. Groundwater that moves through cracks and caverns is not filtered and can be transported as easily as surface water. In fact, this can be aggravated by the human tendency to use natural sinkholes as dumps in areas of Karst topography.

There are a variety of secondary effects stemming not from the original pollutant, but a derivative condition. An example is silt-bearing surface runoff, which can inhibit the penetration of sunlight through the water column, hampering photosynthesis in aquatic plants.
Measurement of water pollution
Environmental Scientists preparing water autosamplers.

Water pollution may be analyzed through several broad categories of methods: physical, chemical and biological. Most involve collection of samples, followed by specialized analytical tests. Some methods may be conducted in situ, without sampling, such as temperature. Government agencies and research organizations have published standardized, validated analytical test methods to facilitate the comparability of results from disparate testing events.
Sampling

Sampling of water for physical or chemical testing can be done by several methods, depending on the accuracy needed and the characteristics of the contaminant. Many contamination events are sharply restricted in time, most commonly in association with rain events. For this reason "grab" samples are often inadequate for fully quantifying contaminant levels. Scientists gathering this type of data often employ auto-sampler devices that pump increments of water at either time or discharge intervals.

Sampling for biological testing involves collection of plants and/or animals from the surface water body. Depending on the type of assessment, the organisms may be identified for biosurveys (population counts) and returned to the water body, or they may be dissected for bioassays to determine toxicity.
Physical testing

Common physical tests of water include temperature, solids concentration like total suspended solids (TSS) and turbidity.
Chemical testing
See also: water chemistry analysis and environmental chemistry

Water samples may be examined using the principles of analytical chemistry. Many published test methods are available for both organic and inorganic compounds. Frequently used methods include pH, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), nutrients (nitrate and phosphorus compounds), metals (including copper, zinc, cadmium, lead and mercury), oil and grease, total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), and pesticides.
Biological testing
Main article: Bioindicator

Biological testing involves the use of plant, animal, and/or microbial indicators to monitor the health of an aquatic ecosystem.

For microbial testing of drinking water, see Bacteriological water analysis.

Control of water pollution
Domestic sewage
Main article: Sewage treatment
Deer Island Waste Water Treatment Plant serving Boston, Massachusetts and vicinity.

Domestic sewage is 99.9% pure water, the other 0.1% are pollutants. While found in low concentrations, these pollutants pose risk on a large scale.In urban areas, domestic sewage is typically treated by centralized sewage treatment plants. In the U.S., most of these plants are operated by local government agencies, frequently referred to as publicly owned treatment works (POTW). Municipal treatment plants are designed to control conventional pollutants: BOD and suspended solids. Well-designed and operated systems (i.e., secondary treatment or better) can remove 90 percent or more of these pollutants. Some plants have additional sub-systems to treat nutrients and pathogens. Most municipal plants are not designed to treat toxic pollutants found in industrial wastewater.

Cities with sanitary sewer overflows or combined sewer overflows employ one or more engineering approaches to reduce discharges of untreated sewage, including:

* utilizing a green infrastructure approach to improve stormwater management capacity throughout the system, and reduce the hydraulic overloading of the treatment plant
* repair and replacement of leaking and malfunctioning equipment
* increasing overall hydraulic capacity of the sewage collection system (often a very expensive option).

A household or business not served by a municipal treatment plant may have an individual septic tank, which treats the wastewater on site and discharges into the soil. Alternatively, domestic wastewater may be sent to a nearby privately owned treatment system (e.g. in a rural community).
Industrial wastewater
Main article: Industrial wastewater treatment
Dissolved air flotation system for treating industrial wastewater.

Some industrial facilities generate ordinary domestic sewage that can be treated by municipal facilities. Industries that generate wastewater with high concentrations of conventional pollutants (e.g. oil and grease), toxic pollutants (e.g. heavy metals, volatile organic compounds) or other nonconventional pollutants such as ammonia, need specialized treatment systems. Some of these facilities can install a pre-treatment system to remove the toxic components, and then send the partially treated wastewater to the municipal system. Industries generating large volumes of wastewater typically operate their own complete on-site treatment systems.

Some industries have been successful at redesigning their manufacturing processes to reduce or eliminate pollutants, through a process called pollution prevention.

Heated water generated by power plants or manufacturing plants may be controlled with:

* cooling ponds, man-made bodies of water designed for cooling by evaporation, convection, and radiation
* cooling towers, which transfer waste heat to the atmosphere through evaporation and/or heat transfer
* cogeneration, a process where waste heat is recycled for domestic and/or industrial heating purposes.

Agricultural wastewater
Main article: Agricultural wastewater treatment
Riparian buffer lining a creek in Iowa

Nonpoint source controls
Sediment (loose soil) washed off fields is the largest source of agricultural pollution in the United States.Farmers may utilize erosion controls to reduce runoff flows and retain soil on their fields. Common techniques include contour plowing, crop mulching, crop rotation, planting perennial crops and installing riparian buffers.

Nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) are typically applied to farmland as commercial fertilizer; animal manure; or spraying of municipal or industrial wastewater (effluent) or sludge. Nutrients may also enter runoff from crop residues, irrigation water, wildlife, and atmospheric deposition.Farmers can develop and implement nutrient management plans to reduce excess application of nutrients.

To minimize pesticide impacts, farmers may use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques (which can include biological pest control) to maintain control over pests, reduce reliance on chemical pesticides, and protect water quality.
Confined Animal Feeding Operation in the United States

Point source wastewater treatment
Farms with large livestock and poultry operations, such as factory farms, are called concentrated animal feeding operations or confined animal feeding operations in the U.S. and are being subject to increasing government regulation.Animal slurries are usually treated by containment in lagoons before disposal by spray or trickle application to grassland. Constructed wetlands are sometimes used to facilitate treatment of animal wastes, as are anaerobic lagoons. Some animal slurries are treated by mixing with straw and composted at high temperature to produce a bacteriologically sterile and friable manure for soil improvement.
Construction site stormwater
Silt fence installed on a construction site.

Sediment from construction sites is managed by installation of:

* erosion controls, such as mulching and hydroseeding, and
* sediment controls, such as sediment basins and silt fences.

Discharge of toxic chemicals such as motor fuels and concrete washout is prevented by use of:

* spill prevention and control plans, and
* specially designed containers (e.g. for concrete washout) and structures such as overflow controls and diversion berms.

Urban runoff (stormwater)
Main article: Urban runoff
Retention basin for controlling urban runoff

Effective control of urban runoff involves reducing the velocity and flow of stormwater, as well as reducing pollutant discharges. Local governments use a variety of stormwater management techniques to reduce the effects of urban runoff. These techniques, called best management practices (BMPs) in the U.S., may focus on water quantity control, while others focus on improving water quality, and some perform both functions.

Pollution prevention practices include low impact development techniques, installation of green roofs and improved chemical handling (e.g. management of motor fuels & oil, fertilizers and pesticides).Runoff mitigation systems include infiltration basins, bioretention systems, constructed wetlands, retention basins and similar devices.

Thermal pollution from runoff can be controlled by stormwater management facilities that absorb the runoff or direct it into groundwater, such as bioretention systems and infiltration basins. Retention basins tend to be less effective at reducing temperature, as the water may be heated by the sun before being discharged to a receiving stream

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CASSOWARY VERY DANGER BIRD

For other uses, see Cassowary (disambiguation).
Cassowary
Fossil range: Pliocene to present
Southern Cassowary at Jurong Bird Park, Singapore
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Casuariiformes
Family: Casuariidae
Genus: Casuarius
Brisson, 1760
Species

Casuarius casuarius
Southern Cassowary
Casuarius unappendiculatus
Northern Cassowary
Casuarius bennetti
Dwarf Cassowary
†Casuarius lydekki

The cassowary (genus Casuarius) is a very large flightless bird native to the tropical forests of New Guinea, nearby islands and northeastern Australia.[2]

The Southern Cassowary is the third tallest and second heaviest living bird, smaller only than the ostrich and emu.

Cassowaries feed mainly on fruits, though all species are truly omnivorous and will take a range of other plant food including shoots, grass seeds, and fungi in addition to invertebrates and small vertebrates.

Cassowaries are very shy, but when disturbed, they are capable of inflicting serious injuries to dogs and children.
Contents


* 1 Taxonomy and evolution
* 2 Description
* 3 Behaviour
o 3.1 Reproductive
o 3.2 Diet
* 4 Distribution and habitat
* 5 Threats
* 6 Cassowary attacks
* 7 Role in seed dispersal and germination

Taxonomy and evolution

Cassowaries (from the Malay name kesuari)are part of the ratite group, which also includes the Emu, rheas, ostriches, and kiwis, and the extinct moas and elephant birds. There are three extant species recognized today and one extinct:

* Casuarius casuarius, Southern Cassowary or Double-wattled Cassowary, found in southern New Guinea, northeastern Australia, and the Aru Islands,mainly in lowlands.
* Casuarius bennetti, Dwarf Cassowary or Bennett's Cassowary, found in New Guinea, New Britain, and on Yapen,mainly in highlands.
* Casuarius unappendiculatus, Northern Cassowary or Single-wattled Cassowary, found in the northern and western New Guinea, and Yapen,mainly in lowlands.
* Casuarius lydekki Extinct

Presently, most authorities consider the above monotypic, but several subspecies have been described of each (some have even been suggested as separate species, e.g., C. (b) papuanus).It has proven very difficult to confirm the validity of these due to individual variations, age-related variations, the relatively few available specimens (and the bright skin of the head and neck–the basis of which several subspecies have been described–fades in specimens), and that locals are known to have traded live cassowaries for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, some of which are likely to have escaped or deliberately introduced to regions away from their origin.
Illustration of cassowary skull

The evolutionary history of cassowaries, as of all ratites, is not well known. A fossil species was reported from Australia, but for reasons of biogeography this assignment is not certain and it might belong to the prehistoric "emuwaries", Emuarius, which were cassowary-like primitive emus.
Description

The Northern and Dwarf Cassowaries are not well known. All cassowaries are usually shy birds of the deep forest, adept at disappearing long before a human knows they are there. Even the more accessible Southern Cassowary of the far north Queensland rain forests is not well understood.

Females are bigger and more brightly coloured. Adult Southern Cassowaries are 1.5 to 1.8 metres (59–71 in) tall, although some females may reach 2 metres (79 in),[5] and weigh 58.5 kilograms (129 lb).

All cassowaries have feathers that consist of a shaft and loose barbules. They do not have retrices (tail feathers) or a preen gland. Cassowaries have small wings with 5-6 large remeges. These are reduced to stiff, keratinous quills, like porcupine quills, with no barbs.A claw is on each second finger.The furcula and coracoid are degenerate, and their palatal bones and sphenoid bones touch each other.These, along with their wedge-shaped body, are thought to be adaptations to ward off vines, thorns and saw-edged leaves, allowing them to run quickly through the rainforest.

A cassowary's three-toed feet have sharp claws. The second toe, the inner one in the medial position, sports a dagger-like claw that is 125 millimetres (5 in) long[6]. This claw is particularly fearsome since cassowaries sometimes kick humans and animals with their enormously powerful legs (see Cassowary Attacks, below). Cassowaries can run up to 50 km/h (31 mph) through the dense forest. They can jump up to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft)[citation needed]and they are good swimmers, crossing wide rivers and swimming in the sea as well.
Detail of a Southern Cassowary head.

All three species have horn-like but soft and spongy crests called casques on their heads, up to 18 cm (7 in).These consist of "a keratinous skin over a core of firm, cellular foam-like material".Several purposes for the casques have been proposed. One possibility is that they are secondary sexual characteristics. Other suggestions include that they are used to batter through underbrush, as a weapon for dominance disputes, or as a tool for pushing aside leaf litter during foraging. The latter three are disputed by biologist Andrew Mack, whose personal observation suggests that the casque amplifies deep sounds.However, the earlier article by Crome and Moore says that the birds do lower their heads when they are running "full tilt through the vegetation, brushing saplings aside and occasionally careening into small trees. The casque would help protect the skull from such collisions." Mack and Jones also speculate that the casques play a role in either sound reception or acoustic communication. This is related to their discovery that at least the Dwarf Cassowary and Southern Cassowary produce very-low frequency sounds, which may aid in communication in dense rainforest.This "boom" is the lowest known bird call, and is on the edge of human hearing.

The average lifespan of wild cassowaries is believed to be about 40 to 50 years.
Behaviour

Cassowaries are solitary birds except during courtship, egg-laying, and sometimes around ample food supplies.[8] Male cassowaries defend a territory of about 7 square kilometres (2.8 square miles) for itself and its mate, while females have overlapping territories of several males.
Southern Cassowary at Brevard Zoo, USA
Reproductive

The breeding season starts in May or June. Females lay three to eight large, dark bright green or pale green-blue eggs in each clutch into a prepared heap of leaf litter.These eggs measure about 9 by 14 centimetres (3.5 by 5.5 in) — only Ostrich and Emu eggs are larger. The female does not care for the eggs or the chicks but moves on to lay eggs in the nests of several other males. The male incubates the eggs for 50–52 days, removing or adding litter to regulate the temperature, then protects the brown-striped chicks who stay in the nest for about nine months, defending them fiercely against all potential predators, including humans. The young males then go off to find a territory of their own.

"Young cassowaries are brown and have buffy stripes. They are often kept as pets in native villages [in New Guinea], where they are permitted to roam like barnyard fowl. Often they are kept until they become nearly grown and someone gets hurt. Mature cassowaries are placed beside native houses in cribs hardly larger than the birds themselves. Garbage and other vegetable food is fed them, and they live for years in such enclosures; for in some areas their plumage is still as valuable as shell money. Caged birds are regularly bereft of their fresh plumes."

Diet

Cassowaries are predominantly frugivorous, but they will take flowers, fungi, snails, insects, frogs, birds, fish, rats, mice, and carrion. Fruit from at least twenty-six plant families have been documented in the diet of cassowaries. Fruits from the laurel, podocarp, palm, wild grape, nightshade, and myrtle families are important items in the diet.The cassowary plum takes its name from the bird.

Where trees are dropping fruit, cassowaries will come in and feed, with each bird defending a tree from others for a few days. They move on when the fruit is depleted. Fruit is swallowed whole, even items as large as bananas and apples.

Cassowaries are a keystone species of rain forests because they eat fallen fruit whole and distribute seeds across the jungle floor via excrement.

As for eating the Cassowary, it is supposed to be quite tough. Australian administrative officers stationed in New Guinea were advised that it "should be cooked with a stone in the pot: when the stone is ready to eat so is the Cassowary".
Distribution and habitat

Cassowaries are native to the humid rainforests of New Guinea and nearby smaller islands, and northeastern Australia.They will, however, venture out into palm scrub, grassland, savanna, and swamp forest.It is unclear if some islands' populations are natural or the result of trade in young birds by natives.
Threats
A road sign in Cairns, Queensland, Australia

The Southern Cassowary is endangered in Queensland, Australia. Kofron and Chapman (2006) assessed the decline of this species. They found that, of the former cassowary habitat, only 20 - 25% remains. They stated that habitat loss and fragmentation is the primary cause of decline.They then studied 140 cases of cassowary mortality and found that motor vehicle strikes accounted for 55% of them, and dog attacks produced another 18%. Remaining causes of death included hunting (5 cases), entanglement in wire (1 case), the removal of cassowaries that attacked humans (4 cases), and natural causes (18 cases), including tuberculosis (4 cases). 15 cases were for unknown reasons.

Hand feeding of cassowaries poses a big threat to their survival, because it lures them into suburban areas. There, the birds are more susceptible to vehicles and dogs.Contact with humans encourages Cassowaries to take food from picnic tables.

Feral pigs are a huge problem. They destroy nests and eggs but their worst effect is as competitors for food, which could be catastrophic for the Cassowaries during lean times.
Cassowary attacks

Cassowaries have a reputation for being dangerous to people and domestic animals. During World War II American and Australian troops stationed in New Guinea were warned to steer clear of them. Many internet entries about cassowaries state that they can disembowel a human or dog with one kick, with the long second toe claw cutting the gut open.

In his book "Living Birds of the World" from 1958, Ornithologist Thomas E. Gilliard wrote;

"The inner or second of the three toes is fitted with a long, straight, murderous nail which can sever an arm or eviscerate an abdomen with ease. There are many records of natives being killed by this bird."

However, Gilliard did not include any such records or any references for them, and although this assessment of the danger posed by cassowaries has been repeated in print by authors including Gregory S. Paul (1988)and Jared Diamond (1997), recent research on hundreds of cassowary attacks has only been able to find one human death. A 2003 study of attacks by the Southern Cassowary in Queensland found no wounds larger than punctures about 1.5 cm in diameter.Of 221 attacks studied, 150 were against humans. 75% of these were from cassowaries that had been fed by people. 71% of the time the bird chased or charged the victim. 15% of the time they kicked. Of the attacks, 73% involved the birds expecting or snatching food, 5% involved defending natural food sources, 15% involved defending themselves from attack, 7% involved defending their chicks or eggs. Of all 150 attacks there was only one human death.

The one documented human death caused by a cassowary was that of Phillip McClean, aged 16, and it happened on 6 April 1926. He and his brother, aged 13, were attempting to beat the cassowary to death with clubs. They were accompanied by their dog. The bird kicked the younger boy, who fell and ran away. Then the older boy struck the bird. The bird charged and knocked the older boy to the ground. While on the ground, Phillip was kicked in the neck, opening a 1.25 cm wound. Phillip got up and ran but died shortly afterwards from the hemorrhaging blood vessel in his neck.

Cassowary strikes to the abdomen are among the rarest of all, but there is one case of a dog that was kicked in the belly in 1995. The blow left no puncture, but there was severe bruising. The dog later died from an apparent intestinal rupture.
Role in seed dispersal and germination
Casuarius casuarius scat

Cassowaries feed on the fruits of several hundred rainforest species and usually pass viable seeds in large dense scats. They are known to disperse seeds over distances greater than a kilometre, and thus play an important role in the ecosystem. Germination rates for seeds of the rare Australian rainforest tree Ryparosa were found to be much higher after passing through a cassowary's gut (92% versus 4%).
In popular culture

In the video game series Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, the main antagonist of the series is a mammal-loathing cassowary named Boss Cass.

Cassowaries were in the animated film Ferngully: The Last Rainforest

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ABOUT GREEN ANACONDA

This article is about the snake. For other uses, see Anaconda (disambiguation).
"Anaconda" is often used to refer only to the green anaconda, Eunectes murinus.

Anacondas are large, nonvenomous boas of the genus Eunectes. They are found in tropical South America.

The most familiar species is the green anaconda, Eunectes murinus, notable for being one of the world's largest snakes. Green anacondas can grow to more than 5.21 m (17 ft) in length and weighing 97.5 kg (215 lb).[1] They are found east of the Andes in Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, and on the island of Trinidad.

Other anacondas are the yellow anaconda, Eunectes notaeus, a smaller species found in eastern Bolivia, southern Brazil, Paraguay and northeastern Argentina, the dark-spotted anaconda, Eunectes deschauenseei, a rare species found in northeastern Brazil, coastal French Guiana and Guyana; and the Bolivian anaconda, Eunectes beniensis, discovered in 2002 in the flood plains of Bolivia's Pando province. It was the first new anaconda species identified since 1936, and became only the fourth known type of that reptile, according to the WWF.

All four species are aquatic snakes that prey on other aquatic animals, including fish, river fowl, caiman, and capybaras. Some accounts exist of anacondas preying on domestic animals such as goats[citation needed] and ponies[citation needed] that venture too close to the water.

While encounters between people and anacondas may be dangerous, they do not regularly hunt humans. Nevertheless, threat from anacondas is a familiar trope in comics, movies and adventure stories set in the Amazon jungle. Anacondas have also figured prominently in South American folklore, where they are sometimes depicted as shapeshifting mythical creatures called encantados. Local communities and some European explorers have given accounts of giant anacondas, legendary snakes of much greater proportion than any confirmed specimen.

Applied loosely, the term "anaconda" may also refer to any large snake that "crushes" its prey by constricting.
Etymology

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary states the word is probably a modification of the Sinhalese word henakandayā,which is used to refer to a small slender green whip snake found in Sri Lanka. However, certain other literature state henakandayā refers to a now extinct constrictor once found there. Richard Boyle (the Sri Lankan English consultant to the Oxford English Dictionary) writes in his book 'Sinbad In Serendib':
The first reference to the anaconda in English is by R. Edwin (probably a pseudonym) in a letter to the Scots magazine concerning an encounter with a tiger-devouring serpent in then Dutch-held Ceylon. This was published in the 1768 issue under the discursive heading, "Description of the ANACONDA, a monstrous species of serpent. In a letter from an English gentleman, many years resident in the island of Ceylon, in the East Indies."However, this account of an incident on the outskirts of Colombo is a figment of the imagination, full of the popular misconceptions regarding constrictors in an age of limited scientific knowledge of snakes.
—Richard Boyle

The Oxford English Dictionary gives a first source as John Ray's "List of Indian Serpents" from the Leyden Museum, as "anacandaia of the Ceylonese, i.e. he that crushes the limbs of buffaloes and yoke beasts," but that "anacandaia" is "not now a native name in Sri Lanka, and not satisfactorily explained either in Cingalese [Sinhalese] or Tamil"—though Henry Yule lists "āṇaik'k'onḍa" to means "having killed an elephant" in Tamil.

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David Baltimore (Cal Tech) Part 1: Introduction to Viruses and HIV

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AHMED MOHAMMED HAMED ALI

Aliases: Shuaib, Abu Islam Al-Surir, Ahmed Ahmed, Ahmed The Egyptian, Ahmed Hemed, Hamed Ali, Ahmed Shieb, Abu Islam, Ahmed Mohammed Ali, Ahmed Hamed, Ahmed Mohammed Abdurehman, Abu Khadiijah, Abu Fatima, Ahmad Al-Masri

DESCRIPTION

Date of Birth Used: Approximately 1965 Hair: Dark
Place of Birth: Egypt Eyes: Dark
Height: Approximately 5'6" to 5'8" Sex: Male
Weight: Unknown Complexion: Olive
Build: Medium Citizenship: Egyptian
Language: Arabic
Scars and Marks: None known
Remarks: Ali may have formal training in agriculture and may have worked in this field. He lived in Kenya until fleeing that country on August 2, 1998, to Karachi, Pakistan.

CAUTION

Ahmed Mohammed Hamed Ali was indicted in the Southern District of New York, for his alleged involvement in the bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, on August 7, 1998.

REWARD

The Rewards For Justice Program, United States Department of State, is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading directly to the apprehension or conviction of Ahmed Mohammed Hamed Ali.

SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS

IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS PERSON, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FBI OFFICE OR THE NEAREST AMERICAN EMBASSY OR CONSULATE.
Ahmed Mohammed Hamed Ali (Arabic: أحمد محمّد حامد علي‎) (born about 1965) is an Egyptian national wanted by the United States government in connection with the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi.
Contents


* 1 Aliases
* 2 Life before the bombings
* 3 Role in the 1998 American embassy bombings
* 4 Current operations


Aliases
Shuaib شعيب
Abu Islam Al-Surir أبو إسلام أل-سورير
Ahmed the Egyptian أحمد المصري
Ahmed Hemed أحمد حمد
Hamed Ali حامد علي
Ahmed Shieb أحمد شعب
Abu Islam أبو إسلام
Ahmed Mohammed Ali أحمد محمّد علي
Ahmed Hamed أحمد حامد
Ahmed Mohammed Abdurehman احمد محمّد عبدالرحمن
Abu Khadiijah أبو خديجة
Abu Fatima أبو فاطمة
Ahmad Al-Masri حمد ال-مصري
Life before the bombings

It is thought that, before becoming an accomplice in bombing various American embassies, Hamed Ali worked in the field of agriculture, with formal training in the industry.[1] Hamed Ali lived in Kenya until fleeing the country on August 2, 1998. He located himself in Karachi, Pakistan until the bombings on August 7, 1998.[1]
Role in the 1998 American embassy bombings

For his role in the 1998 American embassy bombings, Ahmed Mohammed Hamed Ali was indicted for conspiracy to kill United States nationals, to murder, to destroy buildings and property of the United States, and to destroy national defense utilities of the United States by a grand jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.[2][1] The United States Government is currently offering a five million dollar reward for information directly leading to the capture of Hamed Ali.
Current operations

Ahmed Mohammed Hamed Ali is considered a current operative of Al-Qaeda.[3]

He was suspected of being in Afghanistan as of October 2001.

On October 10, 2001, Ali was placed on the initial list of the FBI's top 22 Most Wanted Terrorists, which was released to the public by former President Bush.

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Aliases: Anas Al-Sabai, Anas Al-Libi, Nazih Al-Raghie, Nazih Abdul Hamed Al-Raghie

DESCRIPTION

Dates of Birth Used: March 30, 1964;
May 14, 1964 Hair: Dark
Place of Birth: Tripoli, Libya Eyes: Dark
Height: 5'10" to 6'2" Sex: Male
Weight: Unknown Complexion: Olive
Build: Medium Citizenship: Libyan
Languages: Arabic, English
Scars and Marks: Al-Liby has a scar on the left side of his face.
Remarks: Al-Liby recently lived in the United Kingdom, where he has political asylum. He usually wears a full beard.

CAUTION

Anas Al-Liby was indicted in the Southern District of New York, for his alleged involvement in the bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, on August 7, 1998.

REWARD

The Rewards For Justice Program, United States Department of State, is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading directly to the apprehension or conviction of Anas Al-Liby.

SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS

IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS PERSON, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FBI OFFICE OR THE NEAREST AMERICAN EMBASSY OR CONSULATE.
Nazih Abdul-Hamed Nabih al-Ruqai'i alias[1] Anas al-Liby (أنس الليبي) (born March 30, 1964 or May 14, 1964 ), a Libyan, is under indictment[2] in the United States for his part in the 1998 United States embassy bombings. He worked as a computer specialist for al-Qaeda.[3]

His aliases in the indictment are Nazih al Raghie and Anas al Sebai. In the FBI and State Department wanted posters[4][5] about this individual, another variant of his name is transliterated Nazih Abdul Hamed Al-Raghie.

The indictment accuses al-Liby of surveillance of potential British, French, and Israeli targets in Nairobi, in addition to the American embassy in that city, as part of a conspiracy by al-Qaeda and Egyptian Islamic Jihad.
Life

Believed to have been tied to al-Qaeda since its 1994 roots in the Sudan,[6] al-Liby had lived in the United Kingdom, where he was granted political asylum, and was later believed to have fled to Afghanistan to avoid prosecution for his involvement in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings.

He speaks Arabic and English. Because he was tall and bore a passing resemblance to Osama bin Laden, he was often used as a decoy when Bin Laden traveled.[6]

In January 2002, news reports stated that al-Liby had been captured by American forces in Afghanistan [7]. Following this, in March 2002 news reports stated that al-Liby had been arrested by the Sudanese government and was being held in a prison in Khartoum.[8] However U.S. officials soon denied those reports[9] and al-Liby is still being sought.[10]

Al-Liby has been on the USA's list of Most Wanted Terrorists since its inception on October 10, 2001. The United States Department of State, through the Rewards for Justice Program, is offering up to US$5,000,000 (formerly $25,000,000) for information about the location of Anas al-Liby.[4]
“ Mr. Williams' allegations about McMaster [are] on par a par with UFO reports and JFK conspiracy theories...that notion that because there are people on faculty from Egypt that McMaster is then a haven for terrorism is not only logically offensive, it smack of racism. ”

—Lawyer Peter Downard[11]

In October, FBI consultant Paul Williams wrote a book Dunces of Doomsday in which he claimed that Amer el-Maati, Jaber A. Elbaneh and al-Liby had all been seen around Hamilton, Ontario the previous year, and that Shukrijumah had been seen at McMaster University where he "wasted no time in gaining access to the nuclear reactor and stealing more than 180 pounds of nuclear material for the reation of radiological bombs". He was subsequently sued by the University for libel, as there had been no evidence to suggest any part of his story was true. The publisher later apologise for allowing Williams to print statements which "were without basis in fact".[11][12]

A February 2007 Human Rights Watch document[13] claims that al-Liby and others "may have once been held" in secret detention by the CIA, but the document includes no evidence or testimony to support that assertion.

On June 6, 2007, al-Liby was listed as a possible CIA "Secret Prisoner" by Amnesty International, without giving any reason or evidence, and despite the fact he remains on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorist list as of the published date (June 6, 2007). [14]
Aliases
Nazih Abdul-Hamed Nabih al-Ruqai'i نزيه عبد الحمد نبيه الرقيعي The surname is spelled لراجعي in the UN list.[1]
Anas al-Liby أنس الليبي
Abu Anas al-Liby أبو أنس الليبي Some Arabic press reports call him by this name.
Anas al-Sebai أنس السباعي
Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Raghie نزيه عبد الحمد الراغي

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Ayman Al-Zawahiri

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"Abu Muhammad" redirects here. For the Muslim lecturer called Abu Muhammad, see Khalid Yasin.
Ayman al-Zawahiri

Ayman al-Zawahiri in 2007.
Born June 19, 1951 (1951-06-19) (age 59)
Maadi, Cairo, Egypt
Occupation Pediatrician, Al-Qaeda leader

Dr. Ayman Muhammad Rabaie al-Zawahiri[1] (Arabic: أيمن محمد ربيع الظواهري‎, Ayman Muḥammad Rabayaḥ aẓ-Ẓawāhirī; born June 19, 1951) is a prominent leader of al-Qaeda, and was the second and last "emir" of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, having succeeded Abbud al-Zummar in the latter role when Egyptian authorities sentenced al-Zummar to life imprisonment. Al-Zawahiri is a qualified surgeon, and is an author of works including numerous al-Qaeda statements. He speaks Arabic, English[2][3] and French.[citation needed] Al-Zawahiri is under worldwide embargo by the UN 1267 Committee as a member or affiliate of al-Qaeda.[4]

In 1998 al-Zawahiri formally merged Egyptian Islamic Jihad into al-Qaeda. According to reports by a former al-Qaeda member, he has worked in the al-Qaeda organization since its inception and was a senior member of the group's shura council. He is often described as a "lieutenant" to Osama bin Laden, though bin Laden's chosen biographer has referred to him as the "real brains" of al-Qaeda.[5] He was criticized by peoples for branding President-elect Barack Obama a "house negro".[6]
Contents


* 1 Alternate names and sobriquets
* 2 Biography
o 2.1 Upbringing and education
o 2.2 Marriage and family
o 2.3 Attempted coup
o 2.4 Imprisonment and torture
o 2.5 Leaving Egypt
o 2.6 Relation with Islamic Republic of Iran
o 2.7 Attacks in Egypt
o 2.8 Expulsion from Sudan and time spent in Russia
o 2.9 Fatwa with Osama bin Laden
* 3 Views on female combatants
* 4 Video and audio messages
* 5 Wanted in the USA and Egypt
* 6 Online Q&A
* 7 Emergence as Al Qaeda's Chief Commander
* 8 Bibliography
* 9 See also
* 10 References
* 11 External links
o 11.1 Video

[edit] Alternate names and sobriquets

Ayman al-Zawahiri is usually spelled Zawahiri (the pronunciation of his name in his native Egyptian Arabic), but is sometimes spelled "Dhawahiri" if transliterated directly from Modern Standard Arabic, aka Literary Arabic, in certain academic circles. Using the Intelligence Community Standard for the Transliteration of Arabic Names, it is spelled Zawahiri.

Al-Zawahiri has also gone under the names of Abu Muhammad (Abu Mohammed), Abu Fatima, Muhammad Ibrahim, Abu Abdallah, Abu al-Mu'iz, The Doctor, The Teacher, Nur, Ustaz, Abu Mohammed Nur al-Deen, Abdel Muaz (Abdel Moez, Abdel Muez).[7] Ayman Muhammad Rabaie al-Zawahiri is pronounced [ˈʔæjmæn mʊˈħæmːæd rɑˈbiːʕ azˤːɑˈwæːhɪriː] or [aðˤːɑˈwæːhɪriː] in Arabic (the latter is in the Classical).
[edit] Biography
[edit] Upbringing and education

Ayman al-Zawahiri was born to a prominent upper middle class family in Maadi, Egypt, a suburb of Cairo, and was reportedly a studious youth. His father, Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri, was a pharmacologist and a chemistry professor[8] coming from a large family of doctors and scholars, while his mother, Umayma Azzam, came from a wealthy, politically active clan. He excelled in school, loved poetry, "hated violent sports" — which he thought were 'inhumane' — and had a deep affection for his mother.[9]

His family was "religious but not overly pious",[10] and attended the Hussein Sedqi Mosque.[11] Zawahiri became both quite pious and political, under the influence of his uncle Mahfouz Azzam, and lecturer Mostafa Kamel Wasfi.[11]

Qutb preached that to restore Islam and free Muslims, a vanguard of true Muslims modeling itself after the original Companions of the Prophet had to be developed.[12]

By the age of 14, al-Zawahiri had joined the Muslim Brotherhood. The following year the Egyptian government executed Qutb for conspiracy, and al-Zawahiri, along with four other secondary school students, helped form an "underground cell devoted to overthrowing the government and establishing an Islamist state." It was at this early age that al-Zawahiri developed a mission in life, "to put Qutb's vision into action."[13] His cell eventually merged with others to form al-Jihad or Egyptian Islamic Jihad.[14] Al-Zawahiri graduating from Cairo University in 1974 with gayyid giddan. Following that he served three years as a surgeon in the Egyptian Army after which he established a clinic near his parents.[14] In 1978, he also earned a master's degree in surgery.[15]
[edit] Marriage and family

In 1978 he married his wife Azza Ahmed Nowari, who was studying philosophy at Cairo University.[11] Their wedding, at the Continental Hotel in Opera Square,[11] was very pious, with separate areas for both men and women, and no music, photographs, or light hearted humour.[16] Many years later, when the United States attacked Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks in 2001, Azza denied ever knowing that Zawahiri had been a jihadi emir (commander) for the last decade, although at least one acquaintance is skeptical of her ignorance of this fact.[17]

The couple had four daughters, Fatima (b. 1981), Umayma, Nabila (b. 1986) and Khadiga (b. 1987), and a son Mohammed, who was a "delicate, well-mannered boy" and "the pet of his older sisters," subject to teasing and bullying in a traditional all-male environment who preferred to "stay at home and help his mother."[18] Ten years after the birth of Mohammed, Azza gave birth to Assha, who had Down syndrome. In February 2004, Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded, and subsequently stated that Abu Turab Al-Urduni had married one of al-Zawahiri's daughters.[19]

Zaynab Khadr recalled celebrating the engagement of Umayma at the family's house for an all-day party, and al-Zawahiri knocking softly at Umayma's door asking the two girls to please keep their singing and partying quiet as it was nighttime.[20]

Azza and Aisha both died following 9/11. After American bombardment of a Taliban officials building at Gardez, Azza was pinned under debris of a guesthouse roof. Concerned for her modesty, she "refused to be excavated" because "men would see her face." Her four-year-old daughter Aisha had not been hurt by the bombing but died from exposure in the cold night while the rescuers tried to save Azza.[21]

In the first half of 2005, another daughter was born, named Nawwar.[22]
[edit] Attempted coup

He eventually became one of Egyptian Islamic Jihad's leading organizers and recruiters. Zawahiri's hope was to recruit military officers and accumulate weapons, waiting for the right moment to launch "a complete overthrow of the existing order."[23] Chief strategist of Al-Jihad was Aboud al-Zumar, a colonel in the military intelligence whose

plan was to kill the main leaders of the country, capture the headquarters of the army and State Security, the telephone exchange building, and of course the radio and television building, where news of the Islamic revolution would then be broadcast, unleashing – he expected – a popular uprising against secular authority all over the country."[23]

The plan was derailed when authorities were alerted to Al-Jihad's plan by the arrest of an operative carrying crucial information, in February 1981. President Anwar Sadat ordered the roundup of more than 1500 people, including many Al-Jihad members, but missed a cell in the military led by Lieutenant Khalid Islambouli, who succeeded in assassinating Sadat during a military parade that October.[24]
[edit] Imprisonment and torture

Al-Zawahiri was one of hundreds arrested following Sadat's assassination. Al-Zawahiri's lawyer, Montasser el-Zayat, contends that Zawahiri was tortured in prison.[25]

In his book, Al-Zawahiri as I Knew Him, Al-Zayyat maintains that under torture of the Egyptian police, following his arrest in connection with the murder of Sadat in 1981, Al-Zawahiri revealed the hiding place of Essam al-Qamari, a key member of the Maadi cell of al-Jihad, which led to Al-Qamari's "arrest and eventual execution."[26]

Al-Zawahiri was convicted of dealing in weapons and received a three-year sentence, which he completed in 1984 shortly after his conviction.[27]
[edit] Leaving Egypt

In 1985, al-Zawahiri went to Saudi Arabia on Hajj and stayed to practice medicine in Jeddah for a year.[28]

He then traveled to Peshawar, Pakistan where he worked in a Red Crescent hospital treating wounded refugees. There he became friends with the Canadian Ahmed Said Khadr, and the two shared a number of conversations about the need for Islamic government and the needs of the Afghan people.[29] During this time, al-Zawahiri also began reconstituting the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) along with other exiled militants.[30] The group had "very loose ties to their nominal imprisoned leader, Abud al-Zumur."

In Peshwar, al-Zawahiri is thought to have become radicalized by other Al-Jihad members, abandoning his old strategy of a swift coup d'etat to change society from above, and embracing the idea of takfir.[31] In 1991, EIJ broke with al-Zumur, and al-Zawahiri grabbed "the reins of power" to become EIJ leader.[32]

In Peshawar, he met Osama bin Laden, who was running a base for mujahideen called Maktab al-Khadamat (MAK); founded by the Palestinian Sheikh Abdullah Yusuf Azzam. The radical position of al-Zawahiri and the other militants of Al-Jihad put them at odds with Sheikh Azzam, with whom they competed for bin Laden's financial resources.[33] Zawahiri carried two false passports, a Swiss one in the name of Amin Uthman and a Dutch one in the name of Mohmud Hifnawi.[34]
[edit] Relation with Islamic Republic of Iran

Zawahiri has allegedly worked with the Islamic Republic of Iran on behalf of al-Qaeda. Lawrence Wright reports that EIJ operative Ali Mohammed "told the FBI that al-Jihad had planned a coup in Egypt in 1990." Zawahiri had studied the 1979 Islamist Islamic Revolution and "sought training from the Iranians" as to how to duplicate their feat against the Egyptian government.

He offered Iran information about an Egyptian government plan to storm several islands in the Persian Gulf that both Iran and the United Arab Emirates lay claim to. According to Mohammed, in return for this information, the Iranian government paid Zawahiri $2 million and helped train members of al-Jihad in a coup attempt that never actually took place.[35]

However, in public Zawahiri has harshly denounced the Iranian government. In December 2007 he said, "We discovered Iran collaborating with America in its invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq."[36] In the same video messages, he moreover chides Iran for "repeating the ridiculous joke that says that al-Qaida and the Taliban are agents of America," before playing a video clip in which Ayatollah Rafsanjani says, "In Afghanistan, they were present in Afghanistan, because of Al-Qa'ida; and the Taliban, who created the Taliban? America is the one who created the Taliban, and America's friends in the region are the ones who financed and armed the Taliban."[36]

Zawahiri's criticism of Iran's government continues when he states,

Despite Iran's repetition of the slogan 'Death to America, death to Israel,' we haven't heard even one Fatwa from one Shiite authority, whether in Iran or elsewhere, calling for Jihad against the Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan.[36]

Zawahiri has dismissed that there is any cooperation between Iran and Al Qaeda against their common enemy, to wit, the United States.[37] He also said that "Iran Stabbed a Knife into the Back of the Islamic Nation."[38]

In April 2008, Zawahri blamed Iranian state media and Al-Manar for perpetuating the "lie" that "there are no heroes among the Sunnis who can hurt America as no-one else did in history" in order to discredit the Al Qaeda network.[39] Zawahri was referring to some 9/11 conspiracy theories which posit that Al Qaeda itself wasn't responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

On the 7th anniversary of the attacks of September 11th 2001, Zawahri released a 90-minute tape[40] in which he blasted "The guardian of Muslims in Tehran" for recognizing "the two hireling governments"[41] in Iraq and Afghanistan.
[edit] Attacks in Egypt

In 1993, Zawahiri traveled to the United States where he addressed several California mosques under his Abdul Mu'iz moniker and relying on his credentials from the Kuwaiti Red Crescent to raise money "for Afghan children who had been injured by Soviet land mines", but only managed to raise $2000.[42]

One result of Zawahiri and EIJ's connection with Iran may have been the use of suicide bombing in August 1993 in an attempt on the life of Egyptian Interior Minister Hasan al-Alfi, the man heading the effort to quash the campaign of Islamist killings in Egypt. It failed, as did an attempt to assassinate Egyptian prime minister Atef Sidqi three months later. The bombing of Sidqi's car did succeed in injuring 21 Egyptians and killing a young schoolgirl, Shayma Abdel-Halim. It also came following two years of killings by another Islamist group, al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, that had killed over 200. Her funeral became a public spectacle, with her coffin carried through the streets of Cairo and crowds shouting, "Terrorism is the enemy of God!"[43] The police arrested 280 more of al-Jihad's members and executed six.

Zawahiri later wrote of his anger with the public reaction. "This meant that they wanted my daughter, who was two at the time, and the daughters of other colleagues, to be orphans. Who cried or cared for our daughters?"[43]

The 1995 attack on the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad was the Egyptian Islamic Jihad's first success under Zawahiri's leadership, but Bin Laden had disapproved of the operation. The bombing alienated the host of the embassy, Pakistan, and Pakistan was "the best route into Afghanistan"[44]
[edit] Expulsion from Sudan and time spent in Russia

Following the 1994 execution of the sons of Ahmad Salama Mabruk and Mohammed Sharaf for betraying Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the militants were ordered to leave the Sudan.[45][46] At this time he is said to have "become a phantom"[47] but is thought to have traveled widely to "Switzerland and Sarajevo. A fake passport he was using shows that he traveled to Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong."

On December 1, 1996, Ahmad Salama Mabruk and Mahmud Hisham al-Hennawi – both carrying false passports – accompanied al-Zawahiri on a trip to Chechnya, where they hoped to re-establish the faltering al-Jihad. Their leader was traveling under the name Abdullah Imam Mohammed Amin, and trading on his medical credentials for legitimacy. The group switched vehicles three times, but were arrested within hours of entering Russian territory and spent five months in a Makhachkala prison awaiting trial. The trio pled innocence, maintaining their disguise and having other al-Jihad members from Bavari-C send the Russian authorities pleas for leniency for their "merchant" colleagues who had been wrongly arrested; and Russian Member of Parliament Nadyr Khachiliev echoed the pleas for their speedy release as al-Jihad members Ibrahim Eidarous and Tharwat Salah Shehata traveled to Dagestan to plead for their release. Shehata received permission to visit the prisoners, and is believed to have smuggled them $3000 which was later confiscated from their cell, and to have given them a letter which the Russians didn't bother to translate.[48] In April 1997, the trio were sentenced to six months, and were subsequently released a month later and ran off without paying their court-appointed attorney Abulkhalik Abdusalamov his $1,800 legal fee citing their "poverty".[48] Shehata was sent on to Chechnya, where he met with Ibn Khattab.[47][48][49][50] However, some have raised doubts as to the true nature of al-Zawahiri's encounter with the Russians: Jamestown Foundation scholar Evgenii Novikov has argued that it seems unlikely that the Russians would not have been able to determine who he was, given their well-trained Arabists and the obviously suspicious act of Muslims crossing illegally a border with multiple false identities and encrypted documents in Arabic.[51][52] Assassinated former FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko alleged, among other things, that during this time, al-Zawahiri was indeed being trained by the FSB,[53] and that he was not the only link between al-Qaeda and the FSB.[54] Former KGB officer and writer Konstantin Preobrazhenskiy supported Litvinenko's claim and said that Litvinenko "was responsible for securing the secrecy of Al-Zawahiri's arrival in Russia, who was trained by FSB instructors in Dagestan, Northern Caucasus, in 1996–1997."[55]

Zawahiri and other EIJ members found refuge in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, where Al-Qaeda families had settled. About 250 people were gathered there altogether.[citation needed]

While there Zawahiri learned of a "Nonviolence Initiative" being organized in Egypt to end the terror campaign that had killed hundreds and resulting government crackdown that had imprisoned thousands. Zawahiri angrily opposed this "surrender" in letters to the London newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat.[56] Together with members of al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, he helped organize a massive attack on tourists at the Temple of Hatshepsut to sabotage the initiative by provoking the government into repression.[57]
Main article: November 1997 Luxor massacre

The attack by six men dressed in police uniforms, succeeded in machine-gunning and hacking to death 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians, including "a five-year-old British child and four Japanese couples on their honeymoons," and devastated the Egyptian tourist industry for a number of years. Nonetheless the Egyptian reaction was not what Zawahiri had hoped for. The attack so stunned and angered Egyptian society that Islamists denied responsibility. Zawahiri blamed the police for the killing, but also held the tourists responsible for their own deaths for coming to Egypt,

The people of Egypt consider the presence of these foreign tourists to be aggression against Muslims and Egypt, ... The young men are saying that this is our country and not a place for frolicking and enjoyment, especially for you.[58]

The massacre was so unpopular that no terror attacks occurred in Egypt for several years thereafter. Zawahiri was sentenced to death in absentia in 1999 by an Egyptian military tribunal.[59]
[edit] Fatwa with Osama bin Laden
Zawahiri profile released by FBI.

On February 23, 1998, he issued a joint fatwa with Osama bin Laden under the title "World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders". Zawahiri, not bin Laden, is thought to have been the actual author of the fatwa.[60]

Following the 2000 USS Cole bombing, Mohammed Atef was moved to Kandahar, Zawahiri to Kabul, and Bin Laden fled to Kabul, later joining Atef when he realised no American reprisal attacks were forthcoming.[61]

Hamid Mir is reported to have said that he believed that Ayman al-Zawahiri was the operational head of al-Qaeda, and that "[h]e is the person who can do the things that happened on Sept. 11."[5] Within days of the attacks, Zawahiri's name was put forward as Bin Laden's second-in-command, with reports suggesting he represented "a more formidable US foe than bin Laden.".[62]

On October 10, 2001, al-Zawahiri appeared on the initial list of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's top 22 Most Wanted Terrorists, which was released to the public by U.S. President George W. Bush. In early November 2001, the Taliban government announced they were bestowing official Afghan citizenship on him, as well as Bin Laden, Mohammed Atef, Saif al-Adl, and Shaykh Asim Abdulrahman.[63]

In December 2001, al-Zawahiri published the book Knights Under the Prophet's Banner outlining al-Qaeda's ideology.[64] English translations of this book were published; excerpts are available online.[65]

Following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, al-Zawahiri's whereabouts are unknown, but he is generally thought to be in tribal Pakistan. Although he releases videos of himself frequently (see Messages of Ayman al-Zawahiri), al-Zawahiri has not appeared alongside bin Laden in any of them since 2003. In 2003, it was rumored that he was under arrest by Iran, although no later confirmation appeared.[66]

On January 13, 2006, the Central Intelligence Agency launched an airstrike on Damadola, a Pakistani village near the Afghan border, where they believed al-Zawahiri was located. The airstrike was supposed to have killed al-Zawahiri and was thus reported in international news the following days. Many victims were buried without being identified. Anonymous U.S. government officials claimed that some terrorists were killed and the Bajaur tribal area government confirmed that at least four terrorists were among the dead.[67] Anti-American protests broke out around the country and the Pakistani government condemned the U.S. attack and the loss of innocent life.[68] On January 30, a new video was released showing al-Zawahiri unhurt. The video did discuss the airstrike, but did not reveal if al-Zawahiri was present in the village at that time.

Al-Zawahiri supplied direction for the Lal Masjid siege in July 2007. Pakistani Army troops taking control of the Red Mosque in Islamabad found letters from al-Zawahiri directing Islamic militants Abdul Rashid Ghazi and Abdul Aziz Ghazi, who ran the mosque and adjacent madrasah. This conflict resulted in 100 deaths.[69]

On August 1, 2008, CBS News reported that it had obtained a copy of an intercepted letter dated July 29, 2008, from unnamed sources in Pakistan, which urgently requested a doctor to treat al-Zawahiri. The letter indicated that al-Zawahiri was critically injured in a US missile strike at Azam Warsak village in South Waziristan on July 28 that also reportedly killed al Qaeda explosives expert Abu Khabab al-Masri. Taliban Mehsud spokesman Maulvi Umar told the Associated Press on August 2, 2008, that the report of al-Zawahiri's injury was false.[70]

In early September 2008, Pakistan military claimed that they "almost" captured al-Zawahiri after getting information that he and his wife were in the Mohmand Agency, in northwest Pakistan. After raiding the area, officials didn't find him.[71]
[edit] Views on female combatants
See also: Sex segregation and Islam

Zawahri has said in an interview that the group does not have women combatants and that a woman's role is limited to caring for the homes and children of al-Qaeda fighters.[72] This resulted in a debate regarding the role of mujahid women like Sajida al-Rishawi.
[edit] Video and audio messages
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Author:Ayman al-Zawahiri
Main article: Videos of Ayman al-Zawahiri

* May 2003: Tape was broadcast by al-Jazeera and included the directives (interpreted) "Raze/Singe the floor out from under their feet... the political and corporate interests of the United States... and Norway." which caused a global lockdown and extensive confusion for the country of Norway.
* Early September 2003: A video showing al-Zawahiri and bin Laden walking together, as well as an audiotape, is released to the al-Jazeera network.
* September 9, 2004: Another video is released announcing more assaults.
* August 4, 2005: He issues a televised statement blaming Tony Blair and his government's foreign policy for the July 2005 London bombings.[citation needed]
* September 1, 2005: al-Jazeera broadcasts a video message from Mohammed Sidique Khan, one of bombers of the London metro. His message is followed by another message from al-Zawahiri, blaming again Blair for the bombings.[citation needed]
* 19 September 2005: He claims responsibility for the London bombings.[citation needed]
* December 7, 2005: The full 40 minute interview from September is posted on the Internet with previously unseen video footage. See below for links.
* 3 April 2008: He said Al Qaeda does not kill innocents and that its leader Osama bin Laden is healthy. The questions asked his views about Egypt and Iraq as well as Hamas, the militant Islamic group that seized control of Gaza 2007.[73]
* 22 April 2008: An audio interview in which, among other subjects, Ayman al-Zawahiri attacks the Shiite Iran and Hezbollah for blaming the 9/11 attacks on Israel, and thus discrediting Al-Qaeda.[74]
* On the 7th anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001, Zawahri released a 90-minute tape[40] in which he blasted "The guardian of Muslims in Tehran" for "the two hireling governments"[41] in Iraq and Afghanistan.
* 7 January 2009: An audio message released where al-Zawahiri vows revenge for Israel's air and ground assault on Gaza and calls the Jewish state's actions against Hamas militants "a gift" from U.S. President-elect Barack Obama for the recent uprising conflict in Gaza.[75]
* 2 June 2009: Audio messages claiming Barack Obama is not welcome in Egypt.
* 15 July 2009: Al-Zawahiri urges Pakistanis to support the Taliban.
* October 4, 2009: The New York Times reported that Al Zawahiri had asserted that Libya had tortured Ibn Al Sheikh Al Libi to death.[76] Al Libi was a key source the George W. Bush Presidency had claimed established that Iraq had provided training to Al Qaeda in Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction.
* December 14, 2009: In an audio recording released on December 14, 2009, Zawahiri renewed calls to establish an Islamic state in Israel and urged his followers to “seek jihad against Jews” and their supporters. He also called for jihad against America and the West, and labeled Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia as the “brothers of Satan”.[77]

[edit] Wanted in the USA and Egypt

* For their leading role in anti-Egyptian Government attacks in the 1990s, Ayman al-Zawahiri and his brother Muhammad al-Zawahiri were sentenced to death in the 1999 Egyptian case of the Returnees from Albania.
* Ayman al-Zawahiri is under indictment[78] in the United States for this role in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. The Rewards for Justice Program of the U.S. Department of State is offering a reward of up to US$25 million for information about his location.[7][79]

[edit] Online Q&A

In mid-December 2007, Ayman al-Zawahiri's spokespeople announced plans for an "open interview" on a handful of Islamic Web sites. The administrators of four known jihadist web sites have been authorized to collect and forward questions, "unedited," they pledge, and "regardless of whether they are in support of or are against" al-Qaida, which would be forwarded to al-Zawahiri on 16 January.[80] Zawahiri responded to the questions later in 2008; among the things he said were that al-Qaeda did not kill innocents, and that al-Qaeda would move to target Israel once it was finished in Iraq.[81][82]
[edit] Emergence as Al Qaeda's Chief Commander

On April 30, 2009, the US State Department reported that Zawahiri had now emerged as the Al Qaeda's operational and strategic commander[83] and that Osama Bin Laden was now only the ideological figurehead of the organization.[83]
[edit] Bibliography

* Gilles Kepel & Jean-Pierre Milelli, Al Qaeda in its own words, Harvard University Press, Cambridge & London, ISBN 978-0-674-02804-3.
* Ayman al-Zawahiri, L'absolution, Milelli, Villepreux, ISBN 978-2-916590-05-9 (French translation of Al-Zawahiri's latest book).

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