Bin Laden?s No. 2, Zawahri, Takes Control of Al Qaeda

By DAVID JOLLY and J. DAVID GOODMAN

More than six weeks after American commandos found and killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistan hideout, his second-in-command in Al Qaeda is officially replacing him, according to a statement it posted online Thursday.

Hamid Mir/Ausaf Newspaper for the Daily Dawn, via Reuters

Osama bin Laden in 2001 with Ayman al-Zawahri, right, who is assuming leadership of Al Qaeda.

• Times Topic: Ayman Al-Zawahri

• Bin Laden?s Likely Heir Is Viewed as Organizer, Not as Inspiring Figure (May 3, 2011)

• Signs of Leadership Void as Al Qaeda Pushes On (May 13, 2011)

Ayman al-Zawahri, an Egyptian who long served as No. 2 to Bin Laden, had been expected to inherit leadership of Al Qaeda, though the delay in announcing his succession led some counterterrorism analysts to see signs of a power struggle at the top following Bin Laden?s death in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2.

?The general command of Al Qaeda, after the completion of consultation, announces that Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahri has assumed the responsibility of the leadership of the group,? Al Qaeda said in a statement presented by the Al Fajr Media Center, the group?s online voice, and posted on jihadist Internet forums.

The statement did not provide details about the group?s decision, falling back on generalities. ?We seek with the aid of God to call for the religion of truth and incite the ummah to prepare and fight,? the statement read, referring to the global community of Muslims.

Trained as a doctor, Mr. Zawahri, 59, has been described as the operational leader of the group. But he is seen as abrasive to fellow militants, and lacking Bin Laden?s charismatic appeal to Islamists and ability to command their loyalty, leading to questions over whether he would be able to continue drawing jihadist recruits. In addition, his new role may widen what counterterrorism officials have called a longstanding split in Al Qaeda between his Egyptian contingent and militants of other nationalities.

?We?ll see how he fares in the new role and deals with a younger generation of extremists, some of whom don?t like his leadership and management style,? said one American counterterrorism official.

Some counterterrorism officials said the likelihood of an attack by Al Qaeda militants has now increased with Mr. Zawahri?s promotion, as he may attempt a brazen public display of the group?s guile and lethal capabilities to show that its power survives even without Bin Laden.

?Libyan and Yemeni members of the main Al Qaeda had in the past huge problems with Zawahiri, and it was Bin Laden who kept the stability within the group,? a European intelligence official said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publically. ?The new emir now will have to retaliate the killing of Bin Laden, and it will have to be something special and big, that?s a lot pressure.?

The whereabouts of Mr. Zawahri are unknown. In the past, some reports pointed to his presence in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan, an area once thought to be the location of Bin Laden?s hideout. However, the discovery of Bin Laden in Abbottabad, a Pakistan army garrison city a few hours from the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, called those reports into question.

The F.B.I. has offered $25 million for information leading directly to Mr. Zawahri?s capture.

The announcement of Mr. Zawahri?s promotion comes a week after the release of a video that was his first public communication about Bin Laden?s death. He eulogized the Qaeda leader, who he said had ?terrified America in his life? and ?will continue to terrify it after his death.? Mr. Zawahri vowed to continue fighting the United States and others to ?expel the invaders from the land of Islam.?

As in other recent video statements, he sought to connect Al Qaeda?s mission to the wave of uprisings against autocratic rulers during the so-called Arab Spring. He praised the revolts in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria, and called on Pakistanis to rise up against their leaders.

Referring to Yemen, Mr. Zawahri said that he hoped that the uprising there would eventually expel ?the Americans and their henchmen.? Even before that country?s current political crisis, militants connected to Al Qaeda had gained a foothold in Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Middle East.

Some militants embraced Mr. Zawahri?s elevation. ?This is excellent news,? said Omar Bakri Muhammad, former leader of Al Muhajiroun, an extremist group. ?He is an experienced mujahid, even before Al Qaeda was established,? he said, using the Arabic word for holy warrior.

Born in June 1951, Mr. Zawahri has a long history of radicalism. He was first arrested at age 15 for joining the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, the Arab world?s oldest Islamic political organization. Eventually, finding that organization too tame, he created the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which sought to overthrow the Egyptian government.

Around 1998, Mr. Zawahri joined with Bin Laden, merging his jihadist group with Al Qaeda and joining a call for worldwide attacks on American targets. He was indicted in connection with the Aug. 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya.

Eric Schmitt, Scott Shane and Souad Mekhennet contributed reporting.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/17/world/asia/17qaeda.html?_r=3&partner=rss&emc=rss

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