Introduction
Al-Qaeda is considered to be a militant Sunni Islamic radical network comprising jihadists. It was created in 1988 by Abdullah Azzam, Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden as well as several other Arab volunteers. Both Zawahiri and Osama were really interested in the happenings in the Middle East and concerned to play a critical role, but succeeded majorly in getting Islamic State in Iraq. Osama bin Laden served as al-Qaeda’s front, whereas Al-Zawahiri arose as an operational and strategic planner.
Discussion
Al-Zawahiri leadership
Al-Zawahiri has been the leader of this group since the death of Osama in 2011. He managed to expand al-Qaeda members around the globe. Zawahiri upheld that his main target was the US and its friend nations which rule other nations (Gohel, 2017). In 1993, Zawahiri went back to Egypt and became EIJ leader. Due to his determination and exploration, he allegedly shifted to Yemen before moving to Pakistan. It is not clear if al-Zawahiri took charge of Yemen’s EIJ alongside the leader of the cell Ahmad (Gohel, 2017). Nevertheless, it is reported that al-Zawahiri continued to be the leader of EIJ in Egypt from Yemen.
Under Al-Zawahiri’s leadership, the EIJ bombed the Egypt embassy in Pakistan and tried to assassinate the former president of Egypt, Mubarak Hosni. He was good at mobilization and coordination and managed to bring together the Egyptian Islamic Group, Bangladesh Jihad movement as well as the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Pakistan to form Jihad Global Islamic Front against Christians and Jews (Ayman al-Zawahiri, 2020).
Under the leadership of Al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda became gradually decentralized, with more powers bestowed mainly in the al-Qaeda associate leaders. He managed to broker the mergers with many Islamist groups comprising al-Shabab and al-Qaeda (Council on Foreign Relations, 2011). Al-Zawahiri’s dictatorship leadership caused him to create many al-Qaeda affiliates comprising Nusra Front and al-Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula (Gohel, 2017). He expanded al-Qaeda’s mission by creating Indian Subcontinent al-Qaeda. Due to his influential nature, he created Indian Subcontinent al-Qaeda to promote the brand of al-Qaeda since ISIS was spreading very fast.
On 12th March 2021, al-Qaeda released a novel video that featured the voice of Zawari addressing Rohingya Muslims’ plight in China. Nevertheless, Al-Zawahiri wasn’t the key speaker, and he did not appear in that video, causing the observers to query if the video had used pieces of past recorded speeches by Al-Zawahiri (Sude, 2015). In spite of his ISIS’s criticisms, Al-Zawahiri has never denied the likelihood of working with ISIS or absorbing its members if it is defeated.
Zawahiri Communication
Zawahiri mainly communicated through video and audio statements. In 2011, August al-Qaeda kidnapped Weinstein Warren in Pakistan, led by Al-Zawahiri. After two months, Al-Zawahiri released a video statement informing Muslims to kidnap many Americans intended to force the government to free captured fighters (Sude, 2015).
The SITE Intelligence Group, on 10th September 2021, published an 852-page book that Zawahiri allegedly wrote. That book concentrated on the history of political corruption in the history of Muslims. Twenty years after nine/eleven attacks, al-Al-Qaeda released a video where Zawahiri praised America’s military withdrawal from Afghanistan and attacks that targeted Russian armies in Syria. Nevertheless, SITE noted that Zawahiri might have possibly recorded the video after the Syria attack.
Al-Zawahiri publicly criticized ISIS, causing him to declare kaliph. In many audio messages released in 2015, Al-Zawahiri accused Baghdadi of the division experienced in the Muslim community. He termed ISIS proclaimed a caliphate in Syria and Iraq as illegal since it was the territory taking over devoid of consultation, and Muslims have no responsibility for pledging allegiance to it (Ayman al-Zawahiri, 2020). Al-Zawahiri is the other audio message that called for Islamist fighters in Iraq and Syria to unite against the secularists, Safavids, and Crusaders.
On 23rd November, al-Qaeda released a video that featured Zawahiri, known as United Ummah Advice, about UN reality (Gohel, 2017). Al-Zawahiri condemned the UN, which he stated was created by victorious powers in WWW2 to impose political doctrine and system on the whole globe and establish their hegemony over other humanity. It is not clear if the recordings in that video were true (Ayman al-Zawahiri, 2020). In 2022 February, al-Qaeda released two videos that featured Zawahiri. Also, while Osama was alive, Zawahiri was considered the second-in-command of the terrorist group. He was the main dialogue of the group.
Osama Leadership
Osama bin Laden was recognized as the overall decision-maker, although somehow remote. He worked through the centralized system in which he had subordinates who managed daily operations. He was the manager of Zawahiri and other general managers like Atiyah `Abd-al-Rahman and Mustafa Abu al-Yazid (Hoffman, 2003).
Osama’s main goal was to strike the US. He used different strategies like organizing his troops to bomb US embassies in different nations. This raised many questions about why al-Qaeda presents priorities for the US and the Middle East (Debat, 2005). He sent the Khorasan Group to Syria in order to operate freely in strategizing attacks against the US.
Osama raised money through drug trafficking like narcotics. Since the youth stage, he actively organized Islamic radicals and became the leader of small groups dedicated to overthrowing different governments (Post, 2002). He was wealthy and ambitious in leading terror groups. Osama was politically inspired but ideologically flexible.
Before taking the leadership of al-Qaeda, the US intelligence indicated that he was the most significant ideological leader and possibly the key operational head of different networks activities (Debat, 2005). The counterterrorism officers claim that Osama and Zawahiri were active in the tactical and strategic planning of the 11th September 2001 terror attack.
Osama was charismatic and effective in executing his strategies, qualities that Zawahiri lacks (Ayman al-Zawahiri, 2020). This means that Zawahiri was a divisive figure in the Jihadist movement. Furthermore, members of the group were too loyal to Osama, leading them to swear a personal oath of obedience (Sude, 2015).
In most cases, Osama attempted to exploit regional chaos in order to attain his main goal (Post, 2002). He was innovative, and almost after every attack, he created a novel haven for al-Qaeda (Scheuer, 2011).
Osama is perceived as the CEO of terrorist groups. He basically applied techniques of contemporary management and business administration that he studied both in his family’s construction business and at the university to run a multinational terrorist group (Hoffman, 2003). In the 1990s, he was able to do what multinational firms did during industrialization -namely, design and execute a malleable novel organizational strategy and framework integrating bottom-up and top-down approaches (Post, 2002). In the top-down model, Osama defined particular goals, issued directives and commands, and made sure that they were performed.
Osama Communication
Just like Zawahiri, Osama bin laden communicated through audio and video recordings and distributed them extensively through Jihadi sites on the internet. While Osama was alive, his main target was the US, comprising Americans living in Afghanistan and Iraq; however, local matters like upsetting the actions of the Pakistani government against the radicals were considered crucial (Sude, 2015).
Through Osama, al Qaeda organized its “shows”: high-visibility with typical highest casualty actions like the 11th September terror attacks. However, he was similarly involved in venture capitalism, beseeching ideas from those at the bottom of the pyramid (Debat, 2005). He also encouraged creative methods and financing proposals he discovered to be promising. Osama used charisma, rhetoric, and fatwas to assemble jihadists all over the world.
Similarities
Both Zawahiri and Osama were really interested in the happenings in the Middle East and concerned to play a critical role, but succeeded majorly in getting Islamic State in Iraq.
Conclusion
Osama bin Laden was recognized as the overall decision-maker, although somehow remote. Under the leadership of Al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda became gradually decentralized, with more powers bestowed mainly in the al-Qaeda associate leaders. Osama was charismatic and effective in executing his strategies, qualities that Zawahiri lacks. Both Osama and Zawahiri mainly communicated through video and audio statements.
References
Ayman al-Zawahiri (2020). The Counter Extremist Project. https://www.counterextremism.com/extremists/ayman-al-zawahiri
Council on Foreign Relations. (2011, July 14). Profile: Ayman al-Zawahiri. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/profile-ayman-al-zawahiri
Debat, A. (2005). Osama bin Laden’s Heir. The National Interest, (80), 155-160.
Gohel, S. M. (2017) Deciphering Ayman Al-Zawahiri and Al-Qaeda’s strategic and ideological imperatives. Perspectives on Terrorism, 11 (1). pp. 54-67. ISSN 2334-3745. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/86743/1/Gohel_Deciphering%20Al-Qaeda_2018.pdf
Hoffman, B. (2003). The Leadership Secrets of Osama bin Laden. Retrieved from The Atlantic : https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/04/the-leadership-secrets-of-osama-bin-laden/302702/
Post, J. M. (2002). Killing in the Name of God: Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. USAF Counterproliferation Center Maxwell AFB al.
Scheuer, M. (2011). Osama Bin Laden. Oxford University Press.
Sude, B. (2015, September). Assessing Al-Qa`ida Central’s Resilience. https://ctc.usma.edu/assessing-al-qaida-centrals-resilience/
Wester, I. (2016). Understanding charismatic leadership within militant Islamism: a motivational study of Osama Bin Laden and Anwar Al Awlaki.
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