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NEWS ABOUT: Ayman al-Zawahri

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Interrogator on bin Laden Wives: 1 Interesting, 2 Boring

But Pakistani intelligence agent learned little

(Newser) - Osama bin Laden's three wives mostly stayed mum while being questioned, reveals the Pakistani intelligence agent who interrogated them. Despite speaking with them (or, at least, trying to) once or twice a week for months, the agent tells Reuters he didn't garner much that was useful. But it... More »

Al-Qaeda: Help Syria Boot Assad

Al-Zawahri confirms terror group seeking to turn tide in Syrian uprising

(AP) - Al-Qaeda's chief has called on Muslims from other countries to support rebels in Syria seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, saying they cannot depend on the West for help. Ayman al-Zawahri, in a videotaped statement released late yesterday, asked Muslims in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey to join the... More »

US Suspects al-Qaeda Behind Syria Bombings

Group may be looking to exploit the chaos

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda's Iraq branch is moving into the chaos in Syria, and is responsible for two recent bombings and most likely yesterday's bombing in Aleppo , US officials tell McClatchy . Intelligence reports seem to back up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad assertions—disputed by the opposition—that al-Qaeda has been involved... More »

al-Qaeda Sets Its Sights on Libya

Veteran jihadists reportedly dispatched to country earlier this year

(Newser) - Moammar Gadhafi may be dead and gone, but Libya's woes beat on: al-Qaeda is attempting to claw its way into the country, according to a Libyan source. The source told CNN that al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri personally sent a veteran jihadist to Libya earlier this year, along with other... More »

Al-Qaeda Says It's Holding Kidnapped American

Assailants in Pakistan grabbed Warren Weinstein in August

(Newser) - More than three months after gunmen kidnapped a 70-year-old American development worker in Pakistan, some news has finally emerged: al-Qaeda says it has Warren Weinstein, reports the Christian Science Monitor . Weinstein, who has a home in Rockville, Maryland, was captured at his residence in Lahore. In a new video, al-Qaeda... More »

Number of al-Qaeda Leaders Left on US Hit List: 2

Group is all but defeated

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda is on the brink of defeat, shriveling even faster than US officials had predicted in the wake of Osama bin Laden’s death. The group now consists of just a few hundred fighters, with only two “high-value” targets left on the CIA’s list—leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, and... More »

Bin Laden Cried Very Easily: Zawahiri

'He was a delicate, shy man, easily moved to tears'

(Newser) - The new head of al-Qaeda gets gooey-eyed over his old boss in a video being circulated on jihadist websites. Ayman al-Zawahiri invites viewers to join him in reflection on Osama bin Laden's human side, recalling the dead al-Qaeda leader as "tender, gentle, kind, with refined feelings, even when... More »

'Credible' 9/11 Threat Hasn't Expired: Officials

Sept. 11 may have passed, but terrorist threat hasn't

(Newser) - Three words you don't want to hear in the same sentence: credible, threat, unresolved. Unfortunately, that's the word out of the National Counterterrorism Center. USA Today reports that NCC director Matthew Olsen, along with Janet Napolitano and Robert Mueller, today told the Senate Homeland Security Committee that while... More »

Al-Qaeda Drops Posthumous Osama Video

Video intended to mark anniversary of 9/11 attacks

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda celebrated the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks by releasing a 62-minute video that included a message from deceased former leader Osama bin Laden along with one from current chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, the SITE Intelligence group tells the AFP . In the video, titled “The Dawn of Imminent Victory,”... More »

Zawahiri's al-Qaeda to Focus Outside US

He is expected to go after American and Western targets overseas

(Newser) - Now that Ayman al-Zawahiri is in charge of al-Qaeda, the group is likely to shift its focus away from attacks on US soil and toward much easier hits on US targets overseas, US officials and experts tell the Wall Street Journal . “I would not be surprised to see potentially... More »

Leon Panetta: al-Qaeda Defeat 'Within Reach'

Terror group is down to 20 or so key leaders

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda, lately without its late leader Osama bin Laden, is on the ropes and defeat of the terror group is "within reach," Leon Panetta said today. En route to his first trip to Afghanistan since taking office, the new defense secretary told reporters that intelligence from Abbottabad indicated... More »

'Arrogant' Zawahiri Could Be Bad News for al-Qaeda

Former No. 2 lacks charisma, may struggle to rebuild organization

(Newser) - Ayman al-Zawahiri's new gig as al-Qaeda's leader could actually spell trouble for the organization—most of all because he’s cantankerous. “He was arrogant, angry, and extreme in his ideas,” the son of Osama bin Laden's mentor, who met Zawahiri in the 1980s, tells the... More »

Zawahiri Takes bin Laden's Job

Longtime No. 2 gets expected promotion

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda has officially filled the opening left by Osama bin Laden, announcing that Ayman al-Zawahiri will take over as head of the terror organization. The move was widely expected, as Zawahiri had long served as bin Laden's second-in-command. “The general command of al-Qaeda announces, after consultations, the appointment... More »

Who's Left on World's Most Wanted List?

Sudanese president, al-Qaeda deputy make the cut

(AP) - Osama bin Laden is dead. Ratko Mladic was captured in Serbia today, striking another name from the world's most wanted list. So who's left? AP takes a look at the war criminals and terrorists still out of reach:
  • Omar al-Bashir: The president of Sudan is wanted for crimes
... More »

Al-Qaeda Picks Egyptian as Interim Leader

Saif al-Adel may be placeholder for Zawahri

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda has yet to name a successor to Osama bin Laden, but CNN reports that a "caretaker" leader is in place. He is identified as Saif al-Adel, an Egyptian who has been in the group's upper echelon for years. Even al-Qaeda has to worry about politics, apparently: Adel... More »

Zawahri Too Divisive to Lead al-Qaeda?

Despite strong credentials, al-Qaeda No. 2 lacks bin Laden's charisma

(Newser) - Longtime bin Laden deputy Ayman al-Zawahri has been generally assumed to be next in line for the leadership of al-Qaeda. But while the Egyptian surgeon has the smarts and the ideology, he lacks Osama bin Laden's charisma and is divisive to many in the terrorist organization, reports the Washington ... More »

US Tried to Kill al-Qaeda's Awlaki in Yemen

Drone strike yesterday missed target

(Newser) - The US nearly had an ever bigger week against terrorism leaders: A drone strike in Yemen yesterday was meant to kill Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born cleric who has emerged as a top al-Qaeda leader, reports the Wall Street Journal . The missile did not hit its target, US and Yemeni officials... More »

As al-Qaeda Looks to Prove Itself, US Braces for Hit

Zawahiri expected to try to prove terror group is still powerful

(Newser) - Any terror plans that al-Qaeda and its affiliates may have had in the pipeline are likely to be sped up in the wake of Osama bin Laden's death, counter-terrorism officials warn. Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's second-in-command, is expected to launch a strike to prove that al-Qaeda is still... More »

Meet al-Qaeda's No. 2: Ayman al-Zawahri

Ayman al-Zawahri likely to step up

(Newser) - With Osama bin Laden dead, al-Qaeda "Chief Operations Officer" Ayman al-Zawahri will most likely take over the terrorist organization. But with al-Qaeda so decentralized and loosely linked, bin Laden's death is not likely to have many immediate effects, writes Nicholas Kristof on his New York Times blog . Bin... More »

WikiLeaks Reveals al-Qaeda Bigwigs' Location on 9/11

Docs unveil bin Laden hideouts, tension within group

(Newser) - On 9/11, the bulk of al-Qaeda’s leadership was gathered in a single place: Karachi, Pakistan. One key figure was in a hospital following a tonsillectomy; another was preparing for a biological weapons program; and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was with other leaders in a safe house, watching the attacks on... More »

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