Al-Qaeda names Zawahiri to succeed bin Laden

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Al-Qaeda names Zawahiri to succeed bin Laden

By Lynne Nahhas | AFP – 2 hours 34 minutes ago

Al-Qaeda on Thursday named Egyptian surgeon Ayman al-Zawahiri to succeed slain

leader Osama bin Laden and vowed no let-up in its deadly " jihad " against

arch-foes the United States and Israel.

The United States immediately dismissed the appointment saying Zawahiri, the

group's long-time number two, lacks the leadership skills and credentials of bin

Laden, who was killed by US commandos in a May 2 raid in Pakistan.

In a statement posted on an Islamist website, the jihadist network said: " The

general command of Al-Qaeda announces, after consultations, the appointment of

Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri as head of the group.

Al-Qaeda, it said, would relentlessly pursue its " jihad " (holy war) against the

United States and Israel and that the fight would continue " until all invading

armies leave the land of Islam. "

The extremist network affirmed it would not " recognise any legitimacy of the

so-called state of Israel. "

" We will not accept or adhere to any agreement or accord that recognises it

(Israel) or that robs a mile from Palestine, whether it is the United Nations

controlled by top criminals or any other organisation. "

But a US official said Zawahiri lacked leadership skills and may create

divisions in within the jihadist network.

" He hasn't demonstrated strong leadership or organisational skills during his

time in AQ or previously while in the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, " the official

said, asking to remain anonymous.

" His ascension to the top leadership spot will likely generate criticism if not

alienation and dissension with Al-Qaeda, " the official said.

In its statement, Al-Qaeda's general command pledged to " fulfil bin Laden?s

oaths and remain under the overall leadership of the 'Emir of the Believers,'

Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad , " SITE Intelligence Group group reported.

It also voiced its " support (to) the uprisings of our oppressed Muslim people

against the corrupt and tyrant leaders who have made our nation suffer in Egypt,

Tunisia, Libya Yemen, Syria and Morocco. "

Popular uprisings that have rocked the Middle East and North Africa since

December have succeeded in toppling autocrats in Egypt and Tunisia but have

struggled to overcome fierce crackdowns in Bahrain, Libya, Syria and Yemen.

The statement ends with a reminder that Islam forbids " oppression, against

Muslims and non-Muslims, against friend and foe. "

Like his slain Saudi-born co-conspirator, Zawahiri has been in hiding since the

United States declared its war on terror after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Zawahiri, now Washington's most wanted man, was jailed for three years in Egypt

for militancy and was implicated in the assassination of Egyptian president

Anwar Sadat in 1981, and a 1997 massacre of tourists in Luxor.

Facing a death sentence, he left Egypt in the mid-1980s initially for Saudi

Arabia, but soon headed for Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar where the

resistance to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan was based, and then to

Afghanistan, where he joined forces with bin Laden.

Zawahiri, 59, gifted with brains but bereft of bin Laden's potent charisma, has

long been seen as the mastermind behind the global terror franchise.

From hiding, he has issued video missives calling for war on the West. The most

recent was a filmed eulogy to bin Laden, vowing to pursue jihad in a tape

reported by the SITE Intelligence Group on June 8.

It was a message of loyalty to bin Laden, whom analysts believe alone had the

charisma capable of uniting an increasingly disparate group divided between

Egyptians and non-Egyptian Arabs.

The eulogy came nearly a month after a Saudi newspaper reported on May 5 that as

the struggle for power simmered within the network, Zawahiri led US troops to

bin Laden through his courier.

Al-Watan newspaper, quoting an unnamed " regional source, " had said the top two

Al-Qaeda men had differences and that the courier was a Pakistani national who

knew he was being followed by the US military but disguised the fact.

With the return of an Egyptian figure in Al-Qaeda, Seif al-Adel, last autumn

from Iran, the Egyptian faction had hatched a plan to dispose of Saudi-born bin

Laden, according to Al-Watan.

It said Zawahiri's faction had persuaded bin Laden to leave tribal areas along

the Afghan-Pakistan border and take shelter instead in Abbottabad near Islamabad

where he was finally unearthed and shot dead by elite US Navy SEALs.

US-Pakistani relations have soured following the raid amid mounting allegations

that bin Laden evaded capture for years thanks to the complicity or incompetence

of Pakistan's authorities.

But Pakistan's civilian government has angrily dismissed the allegations and its

powerful military has warned of unspecified reprisals if another unilateral US

raid were to occur.