US identifies new al-Qaida terror boss

US officials believe they have identified a young former bodyguard of Osama bin Laden as al-Qaida’s new chief of terror operations in the Gulf.

Abu Hazim al-Sha’ir, a 29-year-old Yemeni now believed to be living in Saudi Arabia, is one of a new crop of al-Qaida operatives trying to fill the roles of senior bin Laden lieutenants who have been captured or killed since September 11, according to US officials.

“Capable replacements appear to be emerging, many of whom have demonstrated their ability to see previously planned operations through to fruition,” according to one US intelligence report.

Abu Hazim is just one of the top al Qaida leaders now at large, according to officials from US counterterrorism agencies.

Officials acknowledge there may be other emerging leaders they do not know about. The CIA and FBI, for example, did not learn that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the September 11 attacks, was a top al Qaida figure until well after the attacks took place.

Abu Hazim appears to be taking the place of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a key organiser of the USS Cole warship bombing and the 1998 East Africa embassy bombings, officials say.

Al-Nashiri was detained in the United Arab Emirates in late 2002.

Abu Hazim is on Saudi Arabia’s list of 19 most-wanted al Qaida operatives, listed under his real name of Khalid Ali Bin Ali Al-Hajj.

He is believed to have trained in al Qaida’s Afghan camps in 1999 and later to have served in bin Laden’s bodyguard.

Before September 11, he travelled frequently to the Arabian peninsula, to south-east Asia and to Afghanistan.

US counterterrorism officials also link him to the May 12 bombings of residential complexes in Riyadh and possibly to some Saudi-based planning of operations targeting the US directly.

There is no hard evidence tying him to attacks on US forces in Iraq, however.

Abu Hazim’s emergence as a senior figure comes as al-Qaida is struggling to deal with the losses of many of its pre-September 11 operational commanders, including Mohammed Atef, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah.

Atef was killed in a US airstrike in Afghanistan in November 2001, and Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah were later captured separately in Pakistan.

“The loss of so many senior operational coordinators represents the elimination of a decade worth of terrorism planning experience. These individuals were, in large part, the guiding force behind the success of al-Qaida’s attacks,” the US intelligence report says.

Yet, officials acknowledge there may be other, emerging leaders they have not identified. And several from al-Qaida’s old guard remain at large.

They include Ayman al-Zawahri, bin Laden’s chief deputy, and Abu Musab Zarqawi, an associate of bin Laden who is now thought to be in charge of al-Qaida operations inside Iraq.

US officials believe two more, Saif al-Adel and Abu Mohamed al-Masri, are in Iran. But it is unclear if they are in some kind of Iranian custody or able to move and communicate at will.

Abu Hazim’s presence in the Saudi kingdom is telling, said Vince Cannistraro, a former CIA counterterrorism chief.

“The whole focus of al-Qaida, in terms of its power and its strength, has moved to Saudi Arabia,” he said.

Other members of the organisation are believed to be in Pakistani cities, and many of the arrests of key al-Qaida operatives have taken place in those areas.

Still others, including bin Laden himself and al-Zawahri, are thought to be in the remote region along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The US intelligence report also notes the Saudi kingdom’s importance to al-Qaida.

“Saudi Arabia has always been al-Qaida’s primary base of popular and religious support and funding,” the report says.

“While not as permissive an operating environment as Afghanistan was, the kingdom offered enough acquiescence for al-Qaida to actively recruit, obtain and store explosives and weapons, plan terrorist attacks, and fund raise.”

US officials say the Saudis have made significant strides in battling al-Qaida within the country since the May 12 bombing.