US says Iran-based Saif al-Adel is new al Qaeda chief

Saif al-Adel, an Iran-based Egyptian, has change into the top of Al-Qaeda following the July 2022 demise of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the US State Division mentioned Wednesday.

“Our evaluation aligns with that of the UN — that al-Qaeda’s new de facto chief Saif al-Adel relies in Iran,” a state division spokesperson mentioned.

The United Nations report launched Tuesday mentioned that the predominant view of member states is that Adel is now the group’s chief, “representing continuity for now.”

However the group has not formally declared him “emir” due to sensitivity to the issues of the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan, who have not needed to acknowledge that Zawahiri was killed by a US rocket in a house in Kabul final yr, in line with the UN report.

As well as, the UN report mentioned, the Sunni Islamist Al-Qaeda is delicate to the problem of Adel residing in largely Shiite Iran.

“His location raises questions which have a bearing on Al-Qaeda’s ambitions to say management of a world motion within the face of challenges from ISIL,” the UN report mentioned, referring to a different identify for the rival Islamic State group.

Adel, 62, is a former Egyptian particular forces lieutenant-colonel and determine within the previous guard of Al-Qaeda.

He helped construct the group’s operational capability and skilled among the hijackers who took half within the September 11, 2001 assault on america, in line with the US Counter Extremism Mission.

He has been in Iran since 2002 or 2003, at first beneath home arrest however later free sufficient to make journeys to Pakistan, in line with Ali Soufan, a former FBI counter-terrorism investigator.

“Saif is without doubt one of the most skilled skilled troopers within the worldwide jihadi motion, and his physique bears the scars of battle,” Soufan wrote in a 2021 article for the West Level Combating Terrorism Middle’s CTC Journal.

“When he acts, he does so with ruthless effectivity,” he mentioned.

pmh/caw