His temper is notorious: the Egyptian Said al-Adl, formerly a lieutenant colonel in the Egyptian special forces, is said to be the new head of the Al Qaeda terrorist network. “He is a very brave, professional and cold-blooded personality,” said a security expert.
After the killing of al-Qaeda boss Aiman ??al-Zawahiri last summer, the Egyptian Said al-Adl, who lives in Iran, has taken over the leadership of the terrorist network, according to the United States. “Our analysis is the same as that of the UN: namely that the new de facto head of al-Qaeda, Said al-Adl, is in Iran,” said a spokesman for the US State Department, referring to a UN report.
It said the prevailing view among UN member states was that al-Adl was now running al-Qaeda. However, he was not officially proclaimed “Emir” of the Islamist terror network for two reasons: On the one hand, the matter is delicate because the radical Islamic Taliban ruling in Afghanistan did not want to admit that al-Qaeda boss Al-Sawahiri was accused by the USA was killed in a house in Kabul.
On the other hand, Al-Adl lives in Iran and thus in a predominantly Shia country, whereas Al-Qaeda is a Sunni group. The UN report said Al-Adl’s stay in Iran raised questions about “al-Qaeda’s ambitions in asserting its leadership of a global movement in the face of challenges from ISIS,” the rival jihadist militia Islamic State. According to the US State Department, he currently resides in southeastern Iran and is under the protection of the Revolutionary Guards.
Experts assume that the pressure on al Qaeda had increased to select a strategic leader who can plan attacks and direct the network. According to them, al-Adl operated more covertly than other leading al-Qaeda members. While the former al Qaeda bosses addressed the public with speeches and threats against the USA, the Egyptian made a name for himself in the background when planning attacks.
Al-Adl, now around 60 years old, used to be a lieutenant colonel in the Egyptian special forces. He belongs to the old guard of al Qaeda and, according to the non-governmental organization Counter Extremism Project, was involved in training the assassins of September 11, 2001 for their deployment in several passenger planes. He has a $10 million bounty on his head.
In 1998, a US court accused him of being involved in the attacks on US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. At that time, 224 civilians died and more than 5,000 people were injured. He is also said to have played a role in the murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistan in 2002. The earliest indications of a turn to extremism date from 1981. At that time, Al-Adl was suspected of having been part of the assassination plot against Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat.
Former FBI investigator Ali Soufan, who helped track down al-Qaeda operatives, describes Al-Adl as a shrewd personality with a poker face. “His temper is notorious. With his sharp tongue, he threatens violence against anyone who displeases him. He is known to immediately punish disloyalty with ruthless violence,” Soufan wrote in a personality profile for the Combating Terrorism Center. With subordinates he can be contemptuous and even brutal.
On the other hand, he is also known for friendly advice. The expert at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies, Yoram Schweitzer, judged: “He is a very courageous, professional and cold-blooded personality.”
Experts assume that Al-Adl has been part of the innermost Al Qaeda circle for decades. They suspect that he must take on the task of strategically leading the al Qaeda cells in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. But there are also doubts as to whether he is up to these tasks. “Many insiders believe he has had an important operational role in the past, but that he is not fit for a leadership role,” said International Crisis Group expert Jerome Drevon. “His skills are more suited to planning armed operations than managing a large network.”
For years in Iran
Al-Adl has lived in Iran since 2002 or 2003. According to former FBI investigator Ali Soufan, he was initially under house arrest. Later, however, the Egyptian traveled to Pakistan from Iran. “Said is one of the most experienced professional soldiers in the global jihadist movement and his body bears the scars of battle,” Soufan wrote about Al-Adl in 2021.
After the killing of Osama bin Laden by US special forces in Pakistan in May 2011, al-Zawahiri took over the leadership of al-Qaeda. He was credited with masterminding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, which killed nearly 3,000 people. In the summer of 2022, the US killed al-Zawahiri in Kabul with missiles fired from a drone.