New Al Qaeda leader is former US resident - The Boston Globe

New Al Qaeda leader is former US resident - The Boston Globe: "MIAMI — A suspected Al Qaeda operative who lived for more than 15 years in the United States has become chief of the terrorism network’s global operations, the FBI says, marking the first time a leader so intimately familiar with American society has been placed in charge of planning attacks.

Adnan Shukrijumah, 35, has taken over a position once held by 9/11 coordinator Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was captured in 2003, said Brian LeBlanc, a Miami-based FBI counterterrorism agent, in an exclusive interview. That puts Shukrijumah in regular contact with Al Qaeda’s senior leadership, including Osama bin Laden, LeBlanc said.

Shukrijumah and two other leaders were part of an “external operations council’’ that designed and approved terrorism plots and recruits, but his two counterparts were killed in US drone attacks, leaving Shukrijumah as the de facto chief.

“He’s making operational decisions is the best way to put it,’’ said LeBlanc, the FBI’s lead Shukrijumah investigator. “He’s looking at attacking the US and other Western countries. Basically through attrition, he has become his old boss.’’

The FBI provided these undated images of Adnan Shukrijumah, the new chief of Al Qaeda’s global operations. (FBI via Associated Press)