There’s a new head “quigga” in charge of al Qaeda and his name is Ayman al-Zawahri:

An al Qaeda-affiliated website says Egypt-born Ayman al-Zawahri has succeeded Osama bin laden as head of the terror network. Bin Laden was killed in a U.S. commando raid in Pakistan last month. Al-Zawahri, who will turn 60 next week, had been bin Laden’s second in command. CBS News security analyst Juan Zarate says al-Zawahri’s promotion is by no means a surprise, as the Egyptian has long been a an ideological and strategic heavyweight for the group.

Zarate predicts that al-Zawahri will likely focus on trying to keep al Qaeda cohesive and relevant as democratic uprisings sweep the Arab world and challenge the group’s violence-based ideology. He is likely to do that, says Zarate, by seeking to launch new attacks against the U.S. — to both prove his leadership and to demonstrate a reprisal for the death of his boss. Al-Zawahri was last heard from in a video released on June 8, eulogizing bin Laden and vowing that the slain terror chief would continue to “terrify” America even in his death.

In spite of al-Zawahri’s menacing rhetoric, analysts say the long delay in al Qaeda naming a replacement for bin Laden, and the nature of his long-time deputy’s recent video message, suggest the group’s weakened position after years on the run and reported internal divisions. He is the son of an upper middle class Egyptian family of doctors and scholars. His father was a pharmacology professor at Cairo University’s medical school and his grandfather was the grand imam of Al-Azhar University, a premier center of religious study.

The announcement was posted Thursday on a website known to be affiliated with the terror network. He and bin Laden first crossed paths in the late 1980s in the caves of Afghanistan, where al-Zawahri reportedly provided medical treatment to bin Laden and other Islamic fighters battling Soviet forces. Their alliance would develop years later into the terror network blamed for America’s worst terror attack in its history.

However, U.S. intelligence officials have said that some al Qaeda members find al-Zawahri to be a controlling micromanager who lacks bin Laden’s appeal. And al-Zawahri also faces significant challenges in promoting al Qaeda’s agenda following uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa — movements that were driven by a desire for democracy rather than a religious state.

SMH. Discuss…