‘Saad bin Laden emerging as key figure of al-Qaeda’
WASHINGTON: One of Osama bin Laden’s eldest sons has reportedly risen to the top ranks of al-Qaeda and is helping run the terror network from Iran. Saad bin Laden and other key al-Qaeda members are operating near the Afghan border and are being protected by an elite Iranian unit, Sky news quoted Washington Post.
Saad is reported to have been linked to a suicide bombing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that killed 35 people on May 12, and bombings that killed 45 people in Casablanca, Morocco, four days later.
He is believed to be 24 and is one of Osama bin Laden’s eldest sons by his first wife, Syrian Najwa Ghanem.
He is fluent in English and computer-literate - skills that are rare among al Qaeda’s leaders and have helped enhance his importance in the network, the Post reports.
He is also believed to have been in Afghanistan in the mid-1980s when his father, who has 23 other children by five wives, first formed al-Qaeda.
US intelligence officials are said to be split on how high Saad has risen in the leadership, but most agree his influence has increased over the past six months.
European intelligence officials believe that while he is not the most important al Qaeda leader, he plays a key role in the organisation’s logistical network.
Saudi officials told the newspaper up to 400 al Qaeda members are restricted to their bases close to the Afghan border.
They are being protected by an Iranian unit known as the Jerusalem Force that is controlled by radical Iranian clerics.
The unit’s mission is to export the "Islamic revolution" by training, arming and collaborating with foreign terrorist groups. |
