Americans knew him as al-Qaeda’s No. 2 leader, the bespectacled, bushy-bearded deputy to Osama bin Laden. But in reality, it was Ayman al-Zawahiri’s brains and blood-drenched hands that guided the world’s most notorious terrorist movement.
Democracy Dies in Darkness
Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda leader, killed at 71
Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian-born terrorist leader, took over as head of al-Qaeda after the death of Osama bin Laden. Zawahiri was killed in a U.S. strike.
By Joby Warrick
Updated August 1, 2022 at 7:14 p.m. EDT|Published August 1, 2022 at 5:51 p.m. EDT