Despite the whittling away by drone attacks of "al Qaeda central" in the mountainous border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the group's leader remains vocal and active in trying to harness the disparate affiliates that claim the al Qaeda name.
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Since former leader Osama bin Laden's death in 2011, al-Zawahiri has sought to take advantage of the unrest sweeping the Arab world, and has recognized that groups such as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb are better placed to carry out attacks than the ever-diminishing core that remains in "Af-Pak." At times, al-Zawahiri has struggled to exercise authority over groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq, not least because of the difficulty in communicating with far-flung offshoots.
Aware that pulling off another 9/11 is a remote possibility, al-Zawahiri has suggested a shift to less ambitious and less expensive but highly disruptive attacks on "soft" targets, as well as hostage-taking. In an audio message in August he recommended taking "the citizens of the countries that are participating in the invasion of Muslim countries as hostages."
Al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian doctor who is now 62, is not the inspirational figure to jihadists that bin Laden was, but he is trying to fashion a role as the CEO of a sprawling enterprise. According to the Economist, he may be succeeding. "From Somalia to Syria, al-Qaeda franchises and jihadist fellow travellers now control more territory, and can call on more fighters, than at any time since Osama bin Laden created the organisation 25 years ago," it wrote this month.
Reward offered by the U.S. government for his capture: up to $25 million
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