Montasser el-Zayat

Montasser el Zayat or Muntasir al Zayyat (منتصر الزيات ) (born 1956) is an Egyptian lawyer and author whose former clients, according to press reports, included Ayman al Zawahiri, since 2011 the leader of al Qaeda, the terrorist organization, and al Gama'a al Islamiyya. Following the 1981 assassination of Anwar Sadat, as a young man, el Zayat was one of the hundreds of politically active Egyptians who were rounded up. He was detained for three years although he was never tried or convicted.

Montasser al Zayat was born in 1956 in Egypt and educated there. His family is of Nubian descent. As a young man of 21, he was arrested along with hundreds of other politically active Egyptians after the assassination of Anwar Sadat. He was detained for three years without trial and finally released.

Al Zayyat became an attorney in Egypt. His former clients are said to have included Ayman al Zawahiri, since 2011 the leader of al Qaeda, the terrorist organization based in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also defended al Gama'a al Islamiyya. which is strongly critical of al Zawahiri. El Zayat claims that al Zawahiri responded to his criticism by electronic mail. The Washington Post reported that el Zayat has said of al Zawahiri, "He always thinks he is right, even if he is alone. "Invited to defend a Guantanamo captive
In May 2009, Al Arabiya'' reported that el Zayat had been invited to defend Mustafa al Hawsawi, one of the fourteen high value detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, before a Guantanamo military commission. El Zayat described thinking at first that he was the target of a hoax.