Al-Qaeda has promoted Osama bin Laden's personal security expert to be the terrorist organisation's new military chief, an international terrorism expert said Monday.
| It's pretty obvious they have a new hand at the helm... |
Egyptian Saif al-Adel has replaced Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the organisation's number three, said Rohan Gunaratna a world authority on the shadowy terror network. "This is the consensus of a number of people, including myself, who have studied the succession of command in al-Qaeda," said Gunaratna, whose book Al Qaeda: Global Terror Network is considered a foremost study of the organisation. Al-Adel is one of the FBI's most wanted men and is believed to be one of the orchestrators of some of al-Qaeda's deadliest attacks, including the bombing in 1998 of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. He is also believed to be linked to the Egyptian Islamic Jihad group and goes by the aliases Muhamad Ibrahim Makkawi and Ibrahim Al-Madani. Gunaratna says al-Adel, who has given his age as either 40 or 43, was promoted because he had demonstrated his organisational ability by shielding bin Laden from capture for so long and for his "militant performance" in a number of campaigns.
| And also because the seat was vacant. We nabbed Khalid Sheikh Mohammad in March. The previous March we nabbed Abu Zubaydah, his predecessor. His predecessor, Mohammad Atef, was bumped off the prior November. We're not talking about terribly long periods of occupancy in that particular slot... |
"It is because of him that bin Laden has not been captured," said Gunaratna, who holds honorary titles at universities around the world and has advised the British police and security agencies on counter-terrorism measures. Al-Adel's promotion should come as no surprise to al-Qaeda watchers. He fills the number three position left vacant after the arrest of former military chief Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was captured in Pakistan in March. Mohammed's successor would have been the al-Qaeda number four, Waleed Mohammad bin Attash, but he was arrested by US-led forces in Pakistan on April 29.
| Heh heh. Got him before he had to chance to get the seat warm... |
Despite reports that US officials believe al-Adel planned last week's Riyadh bombings from a hideout in Iran, Gunaratna says the terror supremo is in hiding on the mountainous Afghan-Pakistan border. "That is the only safe place for al-Qaeda operatives to hide out," he said.
| Fazl's guesthouse is so comfy, why'd they want to go anywhere else? |
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