Bin Laden now only a figurehead for al-Qaeda, says US

WASHINGTON, (AFP) — A former Egyptian doctor-turned-practitioner of Islamic holy war has emerged as the hands-on operational leader of the al-Qaeda network, reducing Osama bin Laden to a figurehead role, a top US counterterrorism official says.

Cofer Black, a former chief al-Qaeda hunter at the Central Intelligence Agency who now coordinates counter-terrorism activities at the State Department, warned that Ayman al-Zawahiri, a man associated with radical Islamic causes since the 1960s, "tends to be more operational than Osama bin Laden."

"I think Zawahiri represents more of a threat comparatively between the two men," Black told CNN television. "Zawahiri is certainly in the field and operating, has lines of communication to his subordinates and is planning attacks as we speak."

He described bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks, as a "figurehead" leader who was increasingly out of touch with his followers.

"He's very defensive. He knows we're after him. And he spends most of his time hiding from us," Black said of bin Laden.

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