Updated on
Summary There are many people in the ranks of al Qaeda, who can step in the shoes of Osama bin Laden.
Ayman Al-Zawahiri, an Eyptian eye surgeon, expected to replace Bin Laden as the new Al Qaeda leader.Intelligence agencies believed that he was the operational brain behind the September 11 attacks. He carries a bounty of $25 million.Other most prominent al Qaeda terrorists on the FBI list are Abu Yahya al-Libi, a member of the Libyan Islamic fighting group, who later joined Bin Laden.A key al Qaeda commander Saif al-Din is a former Egyptian serviceman and is the military commander and chief military strategist, succeeding Muhammad Atef, who was killed in November 2001 and Khalid Sheik Mohamed. Another prominent leader is Khalid al-Habib thought to be either Egyptian or Moroccan and now believed to be al Qaedas chief of operations in Afghanistan.Other leaders are Midhat Mursi, an Egyptian chemist who oversees Al Qaedas efforts to develop chemical and biological weapons and Adam Gadahn, a US national who joined Al Qaeda and is said to be one of its leading operatives. Also in the list is Nasser Abdul Karim Al-Wuhayshi, a former aide of Bin Laden, who fought with him in Tora Bora in 2001. Nasser Abdul Karim al-Wuhayshi, used to be a close aide of Osama, runs al Qaedas branch in Yemen and his group claimed the responsibility on attacking the US Embassy in Sanaa.
