DUBAI – Al-Qaeda has appointed an Egyptian militant as temporary leader and named a new head of operations following the killing of Osama bin Laden by US commandos, al-Jazeera has said, citing Pakistani security sources.
The Arab channel said yesterday that Saif al-Adel was named interim leader and Mohammed Mustafa al-Yemeni, whose surname hints he is from Yemen, would direct operations .
“According to the sources, the decision was made at a meeting on May 10th on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border,” said the channel. “I think it’s more for show than anything else. It is to illustrate to the world that they have a temporary leader,” security analyst Theodore Karasik said of Adel. – (Reuters)