Al-Qaeda chief Zawahiri has died in Afghanistan — sources

Osama bin Laden, left, sits with his adviser and later successor Ayman Al-Zawahri during an interview with Dawn newspaper November 10, 2001. (AFP/File)
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Updated 21 November 2020
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Al-Qaeda chief Zawahiri has died in Afghanistan — sources

  • Arab News spoke to several security sources in Pakistan and Afghanistan to confirm Zawahiri’s death, two said he had died
  • If confirmed, Zawahiri’s death opens up a leadership vacuum within Al-Qaeda as two senior commanders in line to replace him have been killed recently

ISLAMABAD/KABUL: Egyptian national Ayman Al-Zawahiri, 69, has died in Afghanistan likely of natural causes, several sources in Pakistan and Afghanistan told Arab News this week, just days after reports of the Al-Qaeda leader’s passing made the rounds on social media.

Zawahiri’s last appearance was in a video message on this year’s anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
His death, if confirmed, opens up a deep leadership vacuum within Al-Qaeda as at least two senior commanders who would have been in line to replace him have been killed recently: Hamza bin Laden, a son of slain Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a US counter-terrorism operation, the White House announced last year; and Abu Muhamamd Al-Masri, believed to be Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, who was killed in Iran this year, according to media reports.
Arab News spoke to at least four security sources in Pakistan and Afghanistan to confirm Zawahiri’s death. Two said he had died. All spoke off the record as they were not authorized to speak to the media on the issue.




Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, alias Abu Muhammad Al-Masri, right, is sitting next to Hamza bin Laden, the son of slain Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, during Hamza's wedding with Al-Masri's daughter Maryam. The wedding is estimated to have been held in 2005 in Iran. (Photo courtesy: Alarabiya)

“He [Zawahiri] died last week in Ghazni,” an Al-Qaeda translator who still enjoys close ties with the group, told Arab News on Tuesday. “He died of asthma because he had no formal treatment.”
A Pakistani security official based in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan also said Zawahiri had died.
“We believe he is no longer alive,” he said, declining to be named. “We are firm that he has died of natural causes.”
A source close to Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan told Arab News on Monday that the militant leader had passed away this month, November, and a limited number of followers had attended his funeral prayers.
The source did not clarify if the funeral prayers were held in absentia or offered as Zawahiri’s body was being buried.
“What we know is that he was having some breathing issues and has passed away somewhere in Afghanistan,” the Al-Qaeda source said.
A Pakistani security officer who is privy to ongoing anti-terror operations said: “We have received the same information that Zawahiri died about a month ago.”
The source declined to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media on the subject.
Another Pakistani source, a civilian intelligence official, said Zawahiri’s last movements were inside Afghanistan where he was known to have been in “unstable” health. But the intelligence official could not confirm if he had died.
“To my knowledge he was extremely ill and had the issue of kidney failure,” the intelligence official said. “He was unable to manage his dialysis but I still need to confirm if he has died.”
US officials told the Associated Press this week they could not confirm reports of Zawahiri’s death but the US intelligence community was aware of the news and trying to determine its credibility.
A spokesman for Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security spy agency told Arab News he had not heard about Zawahiri’s death and the organization had no comment on the matter.
Arab News has not been able to independently verify the claims by its sources in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Although Al-Qaeda has been overshadowed in recent years by the rise of the Daesh group, it remains resilient and has active affiliates around the globe, a United Nations counterterrorism report issued in July concluded.





Saif Al-Adl, Al Qaeda's senior military strategist at an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, January 2000. (Source:  Wikipedia)

Among the top leaders of Al-Qaeda who are still at large and could succeed Zawahiri is Saif Al-Adl, who is a head of the militant group’s Shoura Council. Adl has been on the FBI’s list of Most Wanted Terrorists since its inception in 2001 and the State Department’s Rewards for Justice Program is offering up to $10 million for information on his location.
*With contributions from Naimat Khan in Karachi and Rehmat Mehsud in Peshawar


UK local elections test two-party dominance as smaller parties poised to gain

Updated 8 sec ago
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UK local elections test two-party dominance as smaller parties poised to gain

LONDON: Polls opened in local elections Thursday tipped to inflict losses on the UK’s two main parties and confirm the rise of hard-right populists, portending the splintering of a century-long political duopoly.
The polls in England are the first since Keir Starmer became Labour prime minister and Kemi Badenoch took over at the helm of the struggling opposition Conservatives last year.
The anti-immigrant Reform UK party is expected to make gains, as are the centrist Liberal Democrats and left-wing Greens, confirming a trend that Britain is entering an era of multi-party politics.
“British politics appears to be fragmenting,” political scientist John Curtice wrote in the Telegraph this week, adding that the polls “will likely be the first in which as many as five parties are serious players.”
British politics have been dominated by the center-left Labour party and center-right Tories since the early 20th century. But last year’s general election and recent opinion polls show a shift toward greater pluralism.
Surveys show Britons are disillusioned with the two establishment parties amid anaemic economic growth, high levels of irregular immigration and flagging public services.
Labour won a parliamentary majority in July with just 33.7 percent of the vote, the lowest share for any party winning a general election since World War II.
The Conservatives won just 24 percent of the vote, securing only 121 seats in the 650-seat parliament as the party endured its worst-ever election defeat.
Reform UK, led by Euroskeptic politician Nigel Farage, picked up five seats, an unprecedented haul for a British hard-right party, while the Liberal Democrats won 61 more MPs than at the previous election and the Greens quadrupled their representation to four.
Those results mean “fragmentation is baked in” to Thursday’s council, mayoral, and single parliamentary vote, according to political scientist Rob Ford.
“We will see losses from the Tories and Labour, but not equally,” the University of Manchester politics professor told AFP.
A total of 1,641 seats across local authorities are up for grabs on Thursday — a fraction of England’s 17,000 councillors — as are six mayoral posts and a parliamentary seat in the northwest English area of Runcorn and Helsby.


Farage’s party is the bookmakers’ favorite to win the parliamentary by-election.
Labour has faced criticism over welfare cuts and tax rises during a difficult return to power following 14 years in opposition, while Starmer’s popularity has tanked in opinion polls.
Starmer’s task in Runcorn is made more difficult by the vote being sparked by Labour MP Mike Amesbury quitting after receiving a suspended jail sentence for punching a man.
Labour won the constituency with a 53-percent vote share last year, while Reform got just 18 percent, but Starmer has acknowledged it will be “tough” to win.
On Tuesday, Reform UK topped a YouGov poll of voting intentions in Britain with 26 percent, three points ahead of Labour and six up on the Conservatives.
Victory in Runcorn, winning mayoralties like Greater Lincolnshire and putting hundreds of councillors in place would help Reform UK spread its grassroots activism before the next general election — which is likely in 2029.
Polls opened at 7:00am (0600 GMT) and were due to close at 10:00 pm, with results due to start coming in on Friday morning.
The seats were last contested in May 2021, at the height of ex-Tory PM Boris Johnson’s popularity, meaning the Conservatives are likely to suffer heavy losses that will fuel rumors of a possible future coalition with Reform UK.
The Tories are also being squeezed on the left by the Liberal Democrats, the traditional third party, which hopes for gains in the wealthy south.
As Labour edges rightwards it is facing a growing threat from the Greens on the left.
“For the big parties, it’s like the couple who are having to wrestle with the duvet that’s too small,” said Ford. “Wherever they pull the duvet, they’re going to get exposed somewhere.”

Rubio calls India and Pakistan in effort to defuse crisis over Kashmir attack

Updated 5 min 28 sec ago
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Rubio calls India and Pakistan in effort to defuse crisis over Kashmir attack

  • US official urges Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to de-escalate tensions
  • India has vowed to punish Pakistan after accusing it of backing the attack, which Islamabad denies

NEW DELHI: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called senior officials in India and Pakistan in an effort to defuse the crisis that followed last week’s deadly attack in Kashmir, the State Department said.
Rubio urged Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to de-escalate tensions on Wednesday.
India has vowed to punish Pakistan after accusing it of backing the attack, which Islamabad denies. The nuclear-armed rivals have since expelled each other’s diplomats and citizens, ordered the border shut and closed their airspace to each other. New Delhi has suspended a crucial water-sharing treaty with Islamabad.
Soldiers on each side have also exchanged fire along their de facto border, driving tensions between India and Pakistan to their highest point in recent years.
The region of Kashmir is split between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety. The two countries have fought two wars and one limited conflict over the Himalayan territory.
US State Department’s Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Rubio in his call with Jaishankar expressed sorrow over last week’s massacre. He also reaffirmed the US’s “commitment to cooperation with India against terrorism,” Bruce said.
Jaishankar on Thursday said he discussed the last week’s massacre in Indian-controlled Kashmir’s Pahalgam, in which 26 tourists, mostly Hindu men, were killed, with Rubio, adding that “perpetrators, backers and planners” of the attack “must be brought to justice.”
Rubio also spoke to Sharif on Wednesday evening and “emphasized the need for both sides to continue working together for peace and stability in South Asia,” according to a Pakistani statement. It said Sharif rejected the Indian allegations and “urged the US to impress upon India to dial down the rhetoric and act responsibly.”
Public anger has swelled in India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to pursue the attackers “to the ends of the earth.” A Pakistani minister has said that Pakistan has “credible intelligence” that India is planning to attack it within days.
Indian and Pakistani troops have exchange fire over the past six nights, with each side blaming the other for firing first.
The Indian army in a statement on Thursday said it responded to “unprovoked” small arms fire from Pakistan in the Kupwara, Uri and Akhnoor sectors of Indian-controlled Kashmir. The previous day, Pakistan’s state-run media said Indian forces had violated the ceasefire agreement along the Line of Control by initiating fire with heavy weapons on troops in the Mandal sector of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. The incidents could not be independently verified.
In the past, each side has accused the other of starting border skirmishes in the Himalayan region.


Singapore PM urges voters to re-elect his cabinet to deal with US, China

Updated 01 May 2025
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Singapore PM urges voters to re-elect his cabinet to deal with US, China

  • PM Wong urges voters to stick with his team in face of US tariffs, US-China tensions
  • Last day of campaigning ahead of May 3 election

SINGAPORE: Singaporeans need to vote for candidates who have built up trust and close relationships with counterparts in the US and China, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Thursday, urging voters to re-elect his cabinet at a May 3 poll.
Addressing a 1.4 million-strong labor union on the last day of campaigning, Wong warned of economic turbulence and job losses if US tariffs slow global growth. His government has warned the trade-reliant economy may face a possible recession.
“We must expect more pressure on us and to navigate these pressures, it will take experience and skill. It will take people in government who have built up trust and close relationships with their counterparts in both America and China,” Wong said.
He said voters needed to re-elect his whole team to effectively deal with these economic headwinds.
“I have backups, I have reserves, sure. But everyone knows that the team cannot function at the same level. It’s the same in any organization, and it will be so in our next cabinet if we end up with such a loss,” he said, referring to the possible loss of his deputy prime minister.
Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party, in power since 1959, is widely expected to be easily re-elected, but there is growing unhappiness with its governance in the face of rising costs of living.
Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong was nominated at the 11th hour in a hotbed contest in a ward in northeast Singapore in an effort to stop the main opposition Workers’ Party, which won 10 seats in the last parliament.
Campaigning in recent days has zeroed in on Gan being new to the area, after an incumbent ruling party candidate called the opposition team strangers. The opposition fired back, asking if Gan was the real stranger to the constituency.
Wong has thrown his weight behind Gan, calling him his “taskforce man” because Gan co-headed the COVID-19 taskforce and is now chairing the “economic resilience” taskforce dealing with the impact of US tariffs.
“The key person in charge of this work is no stranger to you. He is no stranger to the whole of Singapore,” Wong said on Thursday.
This is the first electoral test for Wong, who took over from long-time premier Lee Hsien Loong last year as leader of the People’s Action Party.
Six political parties and an independent candidate have rallies scheduled for Thursday night.
Parties get to fire their last salvos on Thursday before 2.76 million voters go to a compulsory poll on Saturday after a short nine-day campaign season. Friday is designated as a “cooling off” day, meant for voters to decide on their ballot, and parties are not allowed to campaign.


Former VP Harris says Trump’s America is ‘self-serving’

Updated 01 May 2025
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Former VP Harris says Trump’s America is ‘self-serving’

  • Critics have been appalled at what they say is a vengeful administration carelessly overstepping democratic and constitutional norms
  • Recent polls have shown a majority of the country is becoming disenchanted with the political and economic tumult

SAN FRANCISCO: Former US vice president Kamala Harris hit out at Donald Trump and his backers on Wednesday, in her first major speech since losing November’s election.
The defeated Democrat told supporters the apparent “chaos” of the last three months was actually the realization of a long-cherished plan by conservatives who are using Trump to twist the United States to their own advantage.
“What we are, in fact, witnessing is a high velocity event, where a vessel is being used for the swift implementation of an agenda that has been decades in the making,” she told an audience in San Francisco.
“An agenda to slash public education. An agenda to shrink government and then privatize its services. All while giving tax breaks to the wealthiest.
“A narrow, self-serving vision of America where they punish truth-tellers, favor loyalists, cash in on their power, and leave everyone to fend for themselves.”
Trump’s first 100 days in power have been marked by a dizzying array of executive orders tackling everything from immigration to foreign aid to showerhead pressure.
Critics have been appalled at what they say is a vengeful administration carelessly overstepping democratic and constitutional norms, including clashing with the courts.
While Trump’s supporters have cheered some of the rapid-fire changes, recent polls have shown a majority of the country is becoming disenchanted with the political and economic tumult, particularly from his oft-changing tariffs.
Harris, who is thought to be mulling a run for the governorship of her home state of California in 2026 or a possible White House run in 2028, has largely stayed out of the limelight since leaving Washington in January.
On Wednesday she was a guest speaker at an event run by Emerge, a political organization that recruits and trains Democratic women to run for public office.
She told the crowd that Trump was targeting universities and courts because he wanted to cow the opposition.
“President Trump, his administration, and their allies are counting on the notion that fear can be contagious,” she said.
“They are counting on the notion that, if they can make some people afraid, it will have a chilling effect on others.”
But, she said, there were judges, academics, politicians and regular people who were standing up to the government.
“Fear isn’t the only thing that’s contagious. Courage is contagious,” she said.
“The courage of all these Americans inspires me.”


South Korean prosecutors indict ex-President Yoon for abuse of authority

Updated 01 May 2025
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South Korean prosecutors indict ex-President Yoon for abuse of authority

  • The indictment is in addition to an ongoing trial on insurrection charges
  • The latest indictment is without arrest, Yonhap said, citing the prosecutor’s office

SEOUL: South Korean prosecutors have indicted former President Yoon Suk Yeol for abuse of authority, Yonhap said on Thursday.
The indictment is in addition to an ongoing trial on insurrection charges, brought against Yoon over his brief imposition of martial law in December.
The latest indictment is without arrest, Yonhap said, citing the prosecutor’s office. An official at the prosecutor’s office could not be immediately reached for comment.