Zawahri takes over as al-Qaida leader

VETERAN militant Ayman al-Zawahri has taken command of al-Qaida after the killing of Osama bin Laden, an Islamist website said, a move widely expected following his long years as second-in-command.

Bin Laden’s lieutenant and the brains behind much of al-Qaida’s strategy, Zawahri vowed this month to press ahead with al-Qaida’s campaign against the United States and its allies.

“The general leadership of al-Qaida group, after the completion of consultation, announces that Sheikh Dr Ayman Zawahri, may God give him success, has assumed responsibility for command of the group,” the Islamist website Ansar al-Mujahideen (Followers of the Holy Warriors) said in a statement.