The new head (no pun intended) of al-Qaeda is none other than Dr. Evil himself, Ayman al-Zawahiri:
The long-serving second-in-command of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has been appointed its head following the death of Osama Bin Laden, the militant organisation said in a statement.
[. . .]
Al-Qaeda warned it would continue to fight a holy war against the US and Israel under Zawahiri’s direction.
A US official dismissed Zawahiri’s appointment, saying he had “nowhere near” Bin Laden’s credentials.
The statement announcing his appointment was posted on a militant website and attributed to al-Qaeda’s General Command.
“Sheikh Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, may God guide him, assumed responsibility as the group’s amir [leader]“, it said.
It vowed that under Zawahiri, it would pursue jihad or holy war against the US and Israel “until all invading armies leave the land of Islam”.
Analysts say Egyptian-born Zawahiri, 59, 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.
Doc Z may have been the “operational brains” behind 9/11, but right now it appears as though his chief advantage over bin Laden is that he has operational brains.
More here.