Several of Al-Qaeda’s senior leaders have been killed and following the death of Ayman al-Zawahiri, experts say there are only two likely candidates for the top job at the terror group
The dramatic assassination of Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in a US drone strike has left the global terror franchise with a serious recruitment problem.
After the death of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin laden, Al-Qaeda splintered into a number of sub-networks such as Al-Shabaab in Somalia, and Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin [JNIM] in West Africa.
But al-Zawahiri remained the overall leader of the group, and experts say he could prove hard to replace.
“Zawahiri was not involved in the day-to-day decision-making of the affiliates… but you need a figurehead with a certain prominence and seniority because all the heads of all the affiliates need to swear personal loyalty to him,” said counter-terror expert Hans-Jakob Schindler.
Schindler told France 24 that replacing al-Zawahiri would be “a bit of a challenge”.
America’s relentless campaign of targeted assassinations has left Al-Qaeda very short of experienced leaders.
Security think tank The Soufan Centre said the terror group was left with a “dwindling bench of potential successors”.
Rita Katz is the co-founder of SITE Intelligence, a group that tracks online activity of white supremacist and jihadist organisations.
Katz says that the replacement for al-Zawahiri is difficult to predict.
“Unlike the situation after Osama bin Laden’s killing, so much of its leadership has moved to Syria, where many were killed,” she said.
Experts say that one likely contender for the top job is Saif al-Adel, a former Egyptian special forces lieutenant-colonel who is considered to be one of the last remnants of Al-Qaeda’s old guard.
His main rival for the post is said to be Abu Abd al-Karim al-Masri, one of the leaders of The Guardians of Religion Organisation – a Syrian-based hard-line Islamist organisation.
Whether either of them actually want the job, given how short the life expectancy is for Al-Qaeda leaders is these days, is another story.