The Egyptian is Bin Laden's interim successor.
Saif al-Adel, a military strategist, has been identified by Al Qaeda as Osama's successor, according to CNN.
Al-Qaeda has chosen a former Egyptian Special Forces officer as the group's interim leader following the death of Osama bin Laden earlier this month, CNN reported. Saif al-Adel, a senior strategist and military leader, was chosen as the group's "interim" head, CNN reported, citing former Libyan militant Noman Benotman, who left Al-Qaeda.
The Pakistani newspaper "The News" confirmed the information, citing unidentified sources in an article written in Rawalpindi, a city that houses the military headquarters of the Pakistani Armed Forces, near the capital, Islamabad.
The decision to choose Adel, also known as Muhammad Ibrahim Makkawi, came amid growing unease among militants over the lack of a formal successor to Bin Laden, who was killed during a US air strike in Pakistan, Benotman said.
Bin Laden's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, another Egyptian, is considered the most likely successor. According to Benotman, the appointment of Adel on an interim basis may be a way for the group to gauge the reaction to having an outsider in the holy Muslim region of the Arabian Peninsula leading Al-Qaeda. This information comes from Dow Jones.