After the killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri, Saif al-Adel is likely to take over Al-Qaeda. The former Egyptian army officer served as Osama bin Laden’s security chief and is on the FBI’s most-wanted list with a bounty of $10 million on his head
Saif al-Adel is one of the founding members of the Al Qaeda and is likely to take over the terror outfit after the killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri. Image courtesy: FBI
Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a United States drone strike, leaving the already weakened terrorist outfit without a head. This is the biggest blow to the jihadist organisation since the killing of Osama bin Laden in a US raid in Pakistan’s Abbottabad in 2011.
After the 9/11 mastermind was shot dead, his deputy al-Zawahiri was proclaimed the leader of the Al-Qaeda. He has been at the helm of the terror outfit for 11 years but spent most of his time in hiding.
The 71-year-old terrorist, though among the world’s most wanted, could do little to further the terrorist group. “Instead, he has presided like an elderly, frail grandfather over a movement, rather than an organisation — and one that’s decentralised and localised at an increasingly rapid pace over the years,” says a report in Middle East Institute, a Washington-based non-profit think tank.
Now al-Zawahiri is gone and the question arises of who will lead the Al-Qaeda. While there has been no official confirmation, one name which has been doing the rounds is Saif al-Adel, an Al-Qaeda loyalist.
Who is Saif al-Adel?
A former Egyptian army officer, Saif al-Adel is a founding member of the terror group. He was earlier associated with another terrorist outfit Maktab al-Khidmat (MAK), which was founded by bin Laden in the 1980s.
The MAK recruited fighters from across the world and enlisted them in Afghanistan to fight the Russians. He reportedly met bin Laden and al-Zawahiri during this period and also fought Russian forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
al-Adel was a confidante of bin Laden and even served as his security chief at one time. He trained the Al Qaeda chief’s bodyguards.
He was also affiliated with the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ), founded by Zawahiri, and is believed to be an explosives expert. The Al Qaeda and EIJ reportedly merged in 2001.
al-Adel was elevated to the No 2 position in Al Qaeda after Abu Muhammad al-Masri was secretly killed in Iran in August 2020. Both the terrorists were long-time members of Al-Qaeda’s highly secretive management council.
al-Adel’s “revered status within the movement, his deep experience as a military, intelligence, and security leader and a terrorist planner, make him a potentially dangerous emir,” says a 2021 report from Combating Terrorism Center (CTC), US academic institution. He is known to have transformed Al Qaeda from a “loose band of former anti-Soviet militiamen into the world’s most deadly terrorist organisation”.
According to CTC, al-Adel is highly educated and speaks fluent English. Hot-tempered, he often threatens violence against those who displease him. It is said he is difficult to work with because he does not trust anyone.
Saif al-Adel was part of a group of senior Al Qaeda leaders who sought refuge in Iran after the 9/11 attacks. Image courtesy: Department of Defense’s Office of Military Commissions
What are his crimes?
Saif al-Adel is on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) most-wanted list with a bounty of up to $10 million on his head.
According to the FBI, he is wanted in the conspiracy to kill American nationals. He is accused of destroying buildings, property, and national defence utilities of the US.
He is one of the masterminds of the 7 August 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Nairobi in Kenya. More than 200 people died and hundreds were wounded after two truck bombs exploded in the East African cities.
Local members of the EIJ were reportedly involved and the attack thrust Al-Qaeda in the spotlight with the FBI adding bin Landen to its most-wanted list.
Bin Laden sent al-Adel to explore the possibility of expanding operations in Somalia in the early ’90s. Soon after his arrival, the United Nations authorised a human intervention in the country and in December 1992, 1,800 US marines were deployed to the capital. The shrewd terrorist saw this as an opportunity.
He played a key role in the ambush of US helicopters in Somalia’s Mogadishu – the infamous “Black Hawk Down” incident on 13 October 1993. It resulted in the death of at least 18 US servicemen. The terrorist was reportedly 30 then and since then he has been on the radar of US agencies.
From Somalia, he travelled to Yemen in 1995 and set up an affiliate of the Al-Qaeda. al-Adel also mentored the Jordanian terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who later became the founder of the Islamic State.
Eighty-year-old Margaret Achieng holds her rosary to the name of her daughter Doreen on the plaque bearing the names of those killed in the 1998 bombing of the US embassy, in Nairobi. al-Adel was one of the masterminds of the attack. AFP
Where is he now?
Saif al-Adel was part of a group of senior Al Qaeda leaders who sought refuge in Iran after the 9/11 attacks forced them to flee Afghanistan, according to a report in The New York Times.
In Iran, he was detained in prison and has been under varying forms of house arrest. He was allowed to travel to Waziristan in Pakistan toward the end of 2010, where Al-Qaeda had its hub. In May 2011, he enjoyed enough liberty to act as interim leader of the terror group to which he had given the past 22 years of his life, according to a report in CTC.
By the fall of 2011, he had returned to Iran. He issues directives through Telegram to terrorist organisations in Syria but is reportedly restricted from leaving Iran.
According to Middle East Institute, al-Adel’s being in the west Asian country complicates matters. Three affiliates of the Al-Qaeda have questioned orders coming from al-Adel because of his location in Iran. If he were to become the chief “affiliates would almost certainly begin asserting their organisational independence even more than they already do”, the report says.
For Al-Qaeda, which is already dwindling, this might not be great news.
With inputs from agencies
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.