Inside al-Qaa'ida
| Head(Emir) | | 
Usaama bin Ladin
| | |
| Operatives | 
Dr. Ayman Zawahiri | |
Mohammed Atef | |
It is likely that at the time of writing the organisation the world has come to know as al-Qaa'ida(the base) has undergone significant changes in its command structure and membership. As early as November 2001 during the anti-Taliban bombing campaign in Afghanistan, the alleged chief operative Mohammed Atef was killed. Recent news from ITAR-TASS says that Dr. Ayman Zawahiri the number 2 man of al-Qaa'ida was killed in a special operation(October 2002 report). The where abouts of Usaama bin Ladin remains a $15 million mystery as well as other key figures.
Al-Qaa'ida as an organsiation has been indicted for a series of anti-American or anti-Western terrorist activities especially after the mid-1990s. Their reach is very global and are known to have links with violent extremist organisations like Abu Sayyaf, Harakat ul-Mujahideen, Gama al-Islamiyya, Salafist and Combat(Algeria) and many others.
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith - key spokesman for al-Qaa'ida
The sleeper cells of 9/11
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - the mastermind of 9/11
Kuwaiti born Khalid Sheikh is known to be the chief mastermind behind the US attacks in September 2001. He is still on the loose.
Said Bahaji - the cell master
Currently at large, German borm Said Bahaji had strong links with the 9/11 hijackers.
Those who got caught
Ramzi bin ash-Shibh |
Moussaoui |
Richard Reid |
Ramzi Binalshibh was captured during a raid by Pakistani police in the port city of Karachi in early September. Previously he had appeared in an interview with a journalist of the Qatari based al-Jazeera. It is believed that the 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was also present in the interview located at a secret hide-out. Ramzi is currently in US custody at an undisclosed location.
Zakaria Moussaoui also known as the alleged 20th hijacker was arrested prior to the attacks in New York and Washington. He is facing trial at a US court. He is known to be of French citizenship and had ties to an extremist group in London.
British national Richard Reid, known as the "shoe bomber" was subdued and apprehended before he could set off an explosion on board a plane in late 2001. He had ties with the Zakaria Moussaoui back in London.
The mystery of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh
Omar Saeed Sheikh
This British born militant was indicted for the kidnap and murder of Wall Street journalist Daniel Pearl in 2001. He is known to have started his path in extremist ideology following his 1993 trip to Bosnia as a humanitarian. There are sources claiming that he had a hand in the transfer of funds to the 9/11 hijackers.
The East Africa Embassy Bombers
al-Owhali
A bomber of the Nairobi US embassy in 1998. He was convicted and is at a US prison.
The 1993 WTC bombers
Sheikh OmarThe alleged mastermind behind the 1993 fatal bombing of the World Trade Center in New York. He is currently serving term in a US prison.