Washington, May 18 (IANS): Egyptian Saif al-Adel has been chosen "caretaker" head of the Al Qaeda after Osama bin Laden was gunned down by US commandos deep inside Pakistan, a media report said.
Saif al-Adel, who was once a Special Forces officer, will be Al Qaeda's interim leader, CNN quoted Noman Benotman, an ex-militant, as saying. Benotman has known the Al Qaeda leadership for over 20 years and was once a leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG).
He said Saif al-Adel, also called Muhamad Ibrahim Makkawi, has been chosen as the global jihadist community was growing restive due to the lack of a formal announcement to Osama's successor, the media report said.
Benotman said that the decision was not made by Al Qaeda's shura council as it is currently not possible to gather them in one place. A group of six to eight Al Qaeda leaders based in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border took the decision. Saif al-Adel has been involved in militant activities since the late 1980s.
It had been presumed that Osama's long-time deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, also an Egyptian, would be the successor.
