US Says Iran-based Saif al-Adel is New Al-Qaeda Chief

This undated picture released October 10, 2001 by the FBI shows Egyptian Saif al-Adel. Handout / FBI/AFP/File
This undated picture released October 10, 2001 by the FBI shows Egyptian Saif al-Adel. Handout / FBI/AFP/File
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US Says Iran-based Saif al-Adel is New Al-Qaeda Chief

This undated picture released October 10, 2001 by the FBI shows Egyptian Saif al-Adel. Handout / FBI/AFP/File
This undated picture released October 10, 2001 by the FBI shows Egyptian Saif al-Adel. Handout / FBI/AFP/File

Saif al-Adel, an Iran-based Egyptian, has become the head of Al-Qaeda following the July 2022 death of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the US State Department said Wednesday.

"Our assessment aligns with that of the UN -- that al-Qaeda's new de facto leader Saif al-Adel is based in Iran," a state department spokesperson said.

The United Nations report released Tuesday said that the predominant view of member states is that Adel is now the group's leader, "representing continuity for now."

But the group has not formally declared him "emir" because of sensitivity to the concerns of the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan, who haven't wanted to acknowledge that Zawahiri was killed by a US rocket in a home in Kabul last year, according to the UN report.

In addition, the UN report said, Al-Qaeda is sensitive to the issue of Adel residing in largely Shiite Iran, AFP reported.

"His location raises questions that have a bearing on Al-Qaeda's ambitions to assert leadership of a global movement in the face of challenges from ISIL," the UN report said, referring to another name for the rival group.

Adel, 62, is a former Egyptian special forces lieutenant-colonel and figure in the old guard of Al-Qaeda.

He helped build the group's operational capacity and trained some of the hijackers who took part in the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States, according to the US Counter Extremism Project.

He has been in Iran since 2002 or 2003, at first under house arrest but later free enough to make trips to Pakistan, according to Ali Soufan, a former FBI counter-terrorism investigator.

"Saif is one of the most experienced professional soldiers in the worldwide jihadi movement, and his body bears the scars of battle," Soufan wrote in a 2021 article for the West Point Combating Terrorism Center's CTC Journal.

"When he acts, he does so with ruthless efficiency," he said.



North Korea Says Border Units on Standby to Shoot amid Drones Dispute

A North Korean military guard post, top, and a South Korean post, bottom, are seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP)
A North Korean military guard post, top, and a South Korean post, bottom, are seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP)
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North Korea Says Border Units on Standby to Shoot amid Drones Dispute

A North Korean military guard post, top, and a South Korean post, bottom, are seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP)
A North Korean military guard post, top, and a South Korean post, bottom, are seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP)

North Korea's artillery units near the border with South Korea have been ordered to be ready to fire amid frictions over drones that Pyongyang says are being flown over the frontier, state media cited the government as saying on Sunday.

Some defectors and activists in South Korea fly aid parcels into the North and drop leaflets criticizing leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea has blamed the South Korean military for the practice. It has also been floating balloons with trash into the South in reprisal.

North Korean state news agency KCNA quoted the defense ministry's spokesperson as saying Pyongyang sees a high likelihood of more drones flying over the capital, with its military told to prepare for all scenarios including conflict.

On Friday, North Korea accused South Korea of sending drones into Pyongyang at night this week and last, and said the intrusion demanded retaliatory action.

Kim Yo Jong, powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned Seoul on Saturday of a "horrible disaster".

She said the blame lies with the South Korean military if it failed to identify drones sent by a non-governmental organization crossing the border.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it could not confirm the North's accusations.