Al-Qaida appoints bin Laden successor

AL-QAIDA has appointed an Egyptian militant as temporary leader and named a new head of operations following the killing of Osama bin Laden, Al Jazeera reported.

The Arab satellite channel said Saif al-Adel was named interim leader and Mustafa al-Yemeni, whose surname hints he is from Yemen, would direct operations.

The channel is seen as having good contacts with militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan and was the main conduit for bin Laden to release messages to the media.