Defense secretary of U.S Robert Gates said Zawahiri, Al Qaeda’s long time second in command and now its top leader after Osama Bin Laden was killed by US forces last month does not have the “peculiar charisma” and operational experience of bin Laden. He also added that Al Qaeda’s new chief Ayman al-Zawahiri lacks Osama bin Laden’s stature among Islamists worldwide but the United States is just as determined to hunt him down and kill him as it did his predecessor, US officials said on Thursday. Gates said that al Qaeda remains a threat despite its loss of bin Laden, who was considered the driving force behind the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made clear that Zawahiri remained high on the US list of hunted militants even after commandos killed bin Laden in a raid on his Pakistan hide-out 45 days ago.
Zawahiri does not have peculiar charisma, no match to Osama: US
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