US officials have said that new al-Qaeda Chief Ayman al-Zawahiri ‘lacks a peculiar charisma that Osama bin Laden had’, but warned that he would face the same fate as his predecessor.
Al-Qaeda named Egyptian born Ayman al-Zawahiri as the successor to bin Laden on Thursday. Calling the 59-year-old long-time number two as an "armchair general", the officials said that Zawahiri not only lacks combat experience, but is also a divisive figure who could divide al-Qaeda.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen warned Zawahiri to expect the same treatment like that of bin Laden, who was killed by US Special Forces in his Abbottabad hideout, Pakistan, on May 2. "As we did both seek to capture and kill – and succeed in killing – bin Laden, we certainly will do the same thing with Zawahiri," The Telegraph quoted Mullen, as saying.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has warned that the announcement should serve as a reminder of the continuing al-Qaeda threat. "First of all I think we should be mindful that this announcement by al-Qaeda reminds us that despite having suffered a huge loss... al-Qaeda seeks to perpetuate itself, seeks to find replacements for those who have been killed, and remains committed to the agenda that bin Laden put before them," he said.
"Bin Laden has been the leader of al-Qaeda essentially since its inception. In that particular context he had a peculiar charisma that I think Zawahiri does not have. I think he was much more operationally engaged than we have the sense Zawahiri has been," Gates added.
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