Monitoring Desk
NEW YORK/ISLAMABAD: Saif al-Adel, a former Egyptian special forces officer and a high-ranking member of al Qaeda with a $10 million US bounty on his head, has now become the “uncontested” leader of the militant group, according to a latest UN report.
The group has not formally named a successor for Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was believed to have been assassinated in a US missile strike in Kabul last year, in what was a blow to the organisation since its founder Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011.
Although a US intelligence official stated in January that it remained unclear who would be Zawahiri’s successor, the UN report assessing risks from the organisation said: “In discussions in November and December, many Member States took the view that Seif al-Adel is already operating as the de facto and uncontested leader of the group.”
Adel was booked and charged in November 1998 by a US federal grand jury for his role in the bombings on US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya that killed 224 civilians and injured more than 5,000 others.
Saif, a ‘A shrewd figure’
Ali Soufan, a former special agent of the FBI who tracked al Qaeda operatives, wrote in a profile by the Combating Terrorism Center that Adel, whose nom de guerre means “sword of justice”, has been described as a shrewd figure with a poker face. His real name is Mohammed Salahuddin Zeidan.
Very little is known about him except for the operations in Africa, his training camps and link to the 2002 killing of US journalist Daniel Pearl, according to US investigators.
Also, unlike his predecessors, there are only a few photos of Adel, aside from his three pictures on the FBI most wanted list.
The US State Department says Adel resides in Iran and is offering up to $10 million for information on him. The department describes him as a member of “al Qaeda’s leadership council” whom it says heads the organisation’s military committee.
