Ayman al-Zawahri, long the second in command of al-Qaeda, delivered his first public comments on the killing of his boss, Osama bin Laden, in a U.S. raid last month, saying in a video eulogy posted by al-Qaeda’s media arm Wednesday that bin Laden had “terrified America in his life” and “will continue to terrify it after his death.”
In the 28-minute video, titled “The Noble Knight Dismounted,” Zawahri alternates between poetry and verse eulogizing bin Laden, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks jihadist communications.
Al-Qaeda has been without a declared leader since Navy SEALs killed bin Laden on May 2. While Zawahri would appear the likeliest successor, he is seen to lack bin Laden’s charisma and ideological leadership ability.
In an English-language video message released last week, an al-Qaeda spokesman, Adam Gadahn, urged individual jihadists not to wait for instructions but to attack whenever and wherever they can.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is tracking possible new terror targets and stepping up surveillance of operatives previously considered minor al-Qaeda figures after digging through the mountain of correspondence seized from bin Laden’s hideout, officials told The Associated Press.
The new information is the result of round-the-clock work by a CIA-led team of data analysts, cyber experts and translators, two U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity to describe the review.
FBI Director Robert Mueller told Congress on Wednesday that one of the early assessments from the trove is that al-Qaeda remains committed to attacking the United States.
However, there is nothing in the bin Laden files so far to indicate an imminent attack, officials said.
