Ayman al-Zawahri, Al Qaeda’s No. 2, is assuming the leadership of the organization, less than two months after Osama bin Laden was killed by American special forces, the group said in a statement posted online Thursday.
Mr. Zawahri, 59, an Egyptian who long served as second in command to Bin Laden, had been expected to inherit leadership of the terrorist organization after Bin Laden’s death in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2.
“The general command of Al Qaeda announces, after consultations, the appointment of Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahri as head of the group,” the statement said, according to a translation by Al Jazeera television. “We seek with the aid of God to call for the religion of truth and incite our nation to fight,” the statement said.
The announcement comes a week after Mr. Zawahri appeared in a video eulogy for Bin Laden, his first public statement following the death of the Al Qaeda leader, who Mr. Zawahri said had “terrified America in his life” and “will continue to terrify it after his death.” In the video, Mr. Zawahri vowed to continue fighting against the United States and others to “expel the invaders from the land of Islam.”
With Al Qaeda’s top leadership now formally in place, counterterrorism officials will be watching for new attacks designed by Mr. Zawahri and his followers in an effort to show the continuing strength of the terrorist network.
Mr. Zawahri, who trained as a doctor, has been described as the operational leader of the group, but he is seen as lacking Bin Laden’s charisma and natural leadership ability, leading to questions over whether he will be able to attract and inspire a new generation of jihadist recruits.
In his video statement last week, Mr. Zawahri sought to connect Al Qaeda’s mission to the wave of uprisings that have swept autocratic rulers from power during the so-called Arab Spring. He praised the revolts in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria, and called on Pakistanis to rise up against their leaders.
Speaking of Yemen, Mr. Zawahri said in the video that he hoped that the uprising there would eventually expel “the Americans and their henchmen.” Even before that country’s current political crisis, militants connected to Al Qaeda had gained a foothold in Yemen, an American ally in fighting terrorism.
Mr. Zawahri’s whereabouts are unknown, but there have been reports that he was hiding near the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The F.B.I. has offered a $25 million reward for information leading directly to his apprehension or conviction. He was indicted for his alleged role in the Aug. 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi.
Mr. Zawahri was a leader of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, an organization that sought to overthrow the Egyptian government, and merged it with Al Qaeda around 1998.
J. David Goodman contributed reporting.
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