The extrajudicial assassination of Ayman Al-Zawahiri threatens peace and violates the Doha Agreement

<span style="font-weight: 400;">London - The announcement by President Biden that the US has assassinated Al-Qaeda leader, Dr Ayman Al-Zawahiri, is a clear violation of the US-Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Doha peace deal and brings back to centre stage the US’s unlawful drone programme. This further cements America’s perpetual war doctrine, which is primarily driven by the military industrial complex.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also known as the Taliban, has reassured the international community that they will not allow any person or group to threaten any nation's security from their soil. Yet, upon the US’s humiliating withdrawal last year, they conducted a devastating drone attack resulting in the deaths of 10 innocent people in a single family, including 7 children. There has been no accountability as of yet. The strike on Zawahiri would be the first attack by the US since then. </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">The US continues to brazenly violate international law and the air space of other nations to conduct what it calls counter terrorism operations. Far too often the victims are innocent men, women and children. President Biden noted in his speech that Zawahiri had been located and tracked from earlier this year. The decision to extra-judicially assassinate him rather than seek his arrest raises further questions about their lack of commitment to the rule of law. </span> <h3>Moazzam Begg, former Guantanamo Bay prisoner and outreach director for CAGE said:</h3> <span style="font-weight: 400;">"In September last year, 10 civilians from one family - including 7 children - were killed in US a drone strike following the bombing of Kabul airport during the chaotic American withdrawal. The USA proved from the outset that it was incapable of abiding by the Doha agreement. The unwarranted drone strike over the weekend in Kabul has shown once again that the USA is unwilling to keep its promises. </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">"Past years have shown little evidence that 71 year old Ayman al-Zawahiri was capable or even intended to target the USA - especially in light of the Doha accords. However, instead of being magnanimous in defeat it the US leadership continues to inflict suffering on the people of Afghanistan by freezing their hard earned money and forcing poverty and starvation on the population while claiming to bring "closure" to the never-ending War on Terror with another extrajudicial killing."</span> &nbsp;