Washington: Iran-based Egyptian Saif al-Adel has become the head of Al-Qaeda following the July 2022 death of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the US State Department said.
“Our assessment aligns with that of the UN — that al-Qaeda’s new de facto leader Saif al-Adel is based in Iran,” a state department spokesperson said following the United Nations report which said that Saif al-Adel is now the group’s leader, “representing continuity for now.”
Al-Qaeda has not formally declared him as the head amid concerns of the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, the previous head, was killed by a US rocket in a home in Kabul last year, according to the UN report.
The UN report said that Al-Qaeda is sensitive to the issue of Saif al-Adel residing in Iran. “His location raises questions that have a bearing on Al-Qaeda’s ambitions to assert leadership of a global movement in the face of challenges from ISIL,” the UN report said.
Saif al-Adel, 62, is a former Egyptian special forces lieutenant-colonel and figure in the old guard of Al-Qaeda.
Saif al-Adel helped build the group’s operational capacity and trained some of the hijackers who took part in the September 11, 2001 attack.
Saif al-Adel has been in Iran since 2002 or 2003, at first under house arrest but later made trips to Pakistan, AFP reported.
“Saif is one of the most experienced professional soldiers in the worldwide jihadi movement, and his body bears the scars of battle,” the report said.
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