It is a 62-year-old Egyptian, former lieutenant colonel of the special forces, who lives in Iran: he belongs to the group’s old guard and also trained some of the hijackers of 9/11
The UN report
In a UN report, quoted by the Guardian, it emerges that the predominant point of view of the member states of the United Nations is “that al-Adel is now the de facto leader of Al Qaeda, representing continuity for now. But his leadership cannot be declared due to al Qaeda’s sensitivity to the Afghan Taliban’s concerns about not recognizing Zawahiri’s death in Kabul and the fact of al-Adel’s presence in the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
$10 million bounty
According to various testimonies, al-Adel has stayed in Iran in recent years, a refuge for the leadership of Al Qaeda despite the great religious divide: the terrorist organization is Sunni extremist, while the Republic of the Ayatollahs is Shiite. The United States is offering a reward of up to 10 million dollars for anyone providing information leading to the arrest of the new head of Al Qaeda.