qasim got his start in the gama'a islamiyya in the late 1970s, when he was head of the student union at minya university in upper egypt; according to some sources, he was the immediate superior in the organization of anwar sadat's killer, khalid islambouli. he was arrested and imprisoned following the assassination, escaping after serving eight years in prison. he then joined the jihad against the soviets in afghanistan (actually operating from peshawar, pakistan); in 1989 he became head of the gam'a islamiyya. after being sentenced to death by an egyptian security court, he obtained asylum in denmark, despite his public espousal and embrace of terrorist violence against civilians.