Americans knew him as al-Qaeda's No 2 leader, the bespectacled, bushy-bearded deputy to Osama Bin Laden. But in reality, it was Ayman al-Zawahiri's brains and blood-drenched hands that guided the world's most notorious terrorist movement.
Al-Zawahiri, 71, was killed in a CIA drone strike in Kabul last weekend, according to officials. Al-Zawahiri had led his own militant group and pioneered a brand of terrorism that prized spectacular attacks and the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians.
When he formally merged his group with al-Qaeda in the 1990s, he brought along those tactics as well as an expanded vision for attacking the West. It was al-Zawahiri who postulated that defeating the "far enemy" - the US - was an essential precursor to taking on al-Qaeda's "near enemy", the pro-western Arab regimes that stood in the way of the group's dream of uniting all Muslims under a global caliphate.
"To kill Americans and their allies - civilian and military – is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in every country in which it is possible to do it," al-Zawahiri wrote in a 1998 manifesto. Three years later, he would put words into action by helping to plan the 9/11 attacks.
Though lacking Bin Laden's personal charisma, al-Zawahiri became the intellectual force behind many of al-Qaeda's grandest ambitions, including its apparently unsuccessful efforts to acquire nuclear and biological weapons. And, after the group's forced retreat from its base in Afghanistan in early 2002, it was largely al-Zawahiri who led al-Qaeda's resurgence in the lawless tribal region across the border in Pakistan, according to longtime observers of the terrorist group.
In his later years, al-Zawahiri presided over al-Qaeda at a time of decline, with most of the group's founding figures dead or in hiding and the organisation's leadership role challenged by aggressive upstarts such as the Islamic State.
Bu hikaye The Independent dergisinin August 07, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye The Independent dergisinin August 07, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Disco-pop princess fills the dancefloor like no other
Dua Lipa is doing what she does best on Radical Optimism’, getting feet tapping and bodies moving to slickly-made beats with an undeniable chart-topping energy
Hollywood made Dunaway pay for her independence
With new documentary ‘Faye’ set to premiere in Cannes, Geoffrey Macnab tells the cautionary tale of how the strong, chic ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ star ended up acting in B-movies
Dortmund unlock the joy of Sancho after United misery
As the Borussia Dortmund players eventually left the pitch after their customary serenading by the yellow wall, there was only one player everyone was talking about.
Villa frailties exposed by confident Olympiacos
The problem with assuming a Europa League winner with Sevilla is bound to conquer the continent is that there is more than one of them.
Chelsea beat lacklustre Spurs with magic free kicks
As the saying goes, fail to prepare, prepare to fail. Ange Postecoglou insisted Tottenham had “far more important issues” than defending set pieces before a second London derby in five days, but a potential problem for the Spurs manager is now growing into a crisis after this defeat to Chelsea.
The AI app that shows just how bad dating is right now
As a new app launches with the promise to help men placate their ‘angry girlfriends’, Olivia Petter asks what this type of technology says about our expectations of men – and women
As a father, I think banning smartphones is hypocritical
Today, around 3,000 schools in the UK have had to stop educating children and instead let adults use their buildings as polling stations in which to exercise their democratic right to vote.
Do today's US protests really compare to Sixties struggles?
As the calendar turned from April to May, police marched onto the campuses of two major universities, one on each coast of the United States, and dispersed hundreds of students.
Turkey halts trade with Israel over Gaza deaths
Turkey yesterday suspended all imports and exports to Israel citing the country's ongoing military action in Gaza and vowed to continue to impose other measures until the Israeli government allows the flow of humanitarian aid to the region.
Biden condemns violence at colleges amid Gaza protests
Joe Biden yesterday condemned the unrest and violence that has disrupted college campuses over the last week, while stressing the importance of the right of Americans to protest peacefully in support of the Palestinians’ treatment during Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
