JAKARTA - After the death of Ayman al Zawahiri, many parties have questioned or analyzed the figure of his successor as leader of Al Qaeda. A number of names circulated, but there was one that caught attention.
Zawahiri was killed in Kabul, which is completely under Taliban control, in a house belonging to the acting interior minister. This shows how close ties between the Taliban and Al Qaeda remain, even though the Taliban guarantees otherwise.
"Zawahiri's death is a significant counter-terrorism success, but it should not be an excuse for anyone to let their guard down," said former UN terrorism expert Hans Jacob Schindler, director of the Counter Extremism Project.
"He will most likely be replaced by Saif Al Adel, a respected figure within the terrorist organization and potentially a bolder agent than Zawahiri."
Citing BBC 19 May 2011, Adel is called a former Egyptian soldier with the rank of colonel. He is believed to be Osama bin Laden's security chief. When bin Laden died, he was said to be replacing him as leader of Al Qaeda.
He is wanted by the United States in connection with the 1998 bombing of the US Embassy in Kenya, training Somali militiamen that killed 18 US soldiers in Mogadishu in 1993, and is said to be linked to the September 11, 2001 (9/11) attacks.
The FBI issued a search notice, awarding $10 million to those who could provide information on his whereabouts. The FBI says he is wanted in connection with the bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998.
Earlier, a senior administration official for the administration of US President Joe Biden said Ayman al Zawahiri, 71, was on the balcony of a three-story house in Kabul, Afghanistan when two Hellfire missiles struck shortly after dawn Sunday.
It was the first known attack by the US on a target in Afghanistan since Washington withdrew its troops from the country on August 31 last year, days after the Taliban returned to power.
The US operation involved months of intelligence work to track the Al Zawahiri family to Kabul and identify targets, said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
"This mission has really taken shape over the last six, seven months," Kirby told CNN.
"At that time, earlier this year, as you heard from the president, we got indications that Zawahiri had moved to Afghanistan," he said.
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