Cairo:
An Al Qaeda-affiliated website says Egypt-born Ayman al-Zawahri has succeeded Osama Bin Laden as head of the terror network.
Bin Laden was killed in a US commando raid in Pakistan last month. Al-Zawahri, who will turn 60 next week, had been Bin Laden's second in command.
(Who is al-Zawahiri?)He is the son of an upper middle class Egyptian family of doctors and scholars. His father was a pharmacology professor at Cairo University's medical school and his grandfather was the grand imam of Al-Azhar University, a premier center of religious study.
The announcement was posted on Thursday on a website known to be affiliated with the terror network.