12/4/1982

On December 4, 1982, the first day of the trial for the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, defendant Ayman al-Zawahiri addressed the members of the international press on behalf of the 300 accused Islamists: ” ‘We want to speak to the whole world. Who are we? Why did they bring us here and what do we want to say? We are Muslims. We are Muslims who believe in our religion and hence we tried our best to establish an Islamic state and an Islamic society. We have sacrificed and stand ready for more sacrifice. We are here the real Islamic front and the real Islamic opposition [prisoners chanting]. And now as an answer to the second question, why did they bring us here? They bring us for two reasons. First, they are trying to abort the expanding Islamic movement, which threatens the dishonest agents of the regime [more chanting]. And secondly, to complete a conspiracy of evacuating the area in preparation for the Zionist infiltration. Such a conspiracy was declared by the stupid agent Anwar Sadat [more chanting].’ ”

 – Peter Bergen, The Osama bin Laden I Know, Pages 64-65