Al Qaeda's Up-And-Comers
Ayman al-Zawahiri
Title: OBL's likely successor
Background: Eye surgeon
Special skill: Al Qaeda's most prominent spokesman
Hiding place: Last seen in Khost, Afghanistan, in 2001
Bona fides: Operational brain behind September 11
Best known for: Participated in 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings
Trademark: Yellow glasses
Saif al-Adel
Title: International operations chief
Background: Egyptian special forces
Special skill: Organization
Hiding place: Waziristan, according to reports
Bona fides: Spent nine years under house arrest in Tehran
Best known for: U.S. Embassy bombings in 1998
Trademark: Chin fuzz
Abu Yahya al-Libi
Title: Leading theologian
Background: Poet and scholar
Special skill: Al Qaeda's leading propagandist
Hiding place: Afghanistan or Pakistan
Bona fides: Escaped from U.S. prison in Bagram, Afghanistan
Best known for: Tried to assassinate Muammar Gaddafi
Trademark: Florid public statements
Nasser al-Wuhayshi
Title: Arabian Peninsula leader
Background: OBL's personal secretary
Special skill: Escaped from prison in Sana, Yemen, in 2006
Hiding place: Yemen
Bona fides: Fought alongside bin Laden in Tora Bora
Best known for: Escaping Yemeni prison
Trademark: Small fry: less than5 feet tall
Adam Gadahn
Title: Spokesman
Background: Loves death-metal music
Special skill: Speaks English, good with technology
Hiding place: Moved to Pakistan in 1998, married an Afghan refugee
Bona fides: Jailed for beating up his mosque's chairman
Best known for: Introducing OBL to the mortgage crisis
Trademark: Grandson of a Jewish urologist
Adnan el-Shukrijumah
Title: External operations chief
Background: Studied chemistry
Special skill: Lived in U.S. for 15 years
Hiding place: Likely Pakistan
Bona fides: Successor to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
Best known for: Plotted failed 2009 New York subway bombings
Trademark: Consorting with violent gangs in Honduras
Fahd al-Quso
Title: Operational commander
Background: Bagman for bin Laden
Special skill: Oversleeping: missed job to film USS Cole bombing
Hiding place: North Waziristan
Bona fides: Plotting USS Cole bombing
Best known for: Identified two September 11 hijackers to FBI
Trademark: Inverse widow's peak
Abdelmalek Droukdel
Title: Islamic Maghreb leader
Background: Science student
Special skill: Explosives expert
Hiding place: Algeria
Bona fides: U.S. Treasury froze his assets in 2007
Best known for: Killed 70 people in bombings in Algiers
Trademark: Green headwear
