Bin Laden's deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri appointed al-Qaeda leader
source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13788594
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Al-Qaida has selected Ayman al-Zawahiri to succeed Osama bin Laden according to a statement posted Thursday on a website affiliated with the network.
Bin Laden was killed by US forces in Pakistan in early May.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, who will turn 60 next week, is the son of an upper middle-class Egyptian family of doctors and scholars.
He had been Bin Laden's second-in-command since 1998, when he formally incorporated Egyptian Islamic Jihad into al-Qaida.
His father was a pharmacology professor at Cairo University's medical school and his grandfather was the grand imam of Al-Azhar University, a premier centre of religious study.
Analysts say he is intelligent but lacks the charisma of his predecessor. He is claimed by some experts to have been the "operational brains" behind the 9/11 attacks on the US.
Al-Qaida gave no details about the selection process for Bin Laden's successor, but said that it was the best tribute to the memory of its "martyrs".
The organisation also warned it would continue to fight a holy war against the US and Israel under Zawahiri's direction.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13788594
Bin Laden was killed by US forces in Pakistan in early May.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, who will turn 60 next week, is the son of an upper middle-class Egyptian family of doctors and scholars.
He had been Bin Laden's second-in-command since 1998, when he formally incorporated Egyptian Islamic Jihad into al-Qaida.
His father was a pharmacology professor at Cairo University's medical school and his grandfather was the grand imam of Al-Azhar University, a premier centre of religious study.
Analysts say he is intelligent but lacks the charisma of his predecessor. He is claimed by some experts to have been the "operational brains" behind the 9/11 attacks on the US.
Al-Qaida gave no details about the selection process for Bin Laden's successor, but said that it was the best tribute to the memory of its "martyrs".
The organisation also warned it would continue to fight a holy war against the US and Israel under Zawahiri's direction.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13788594
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