This article was originally published on 2 May 2021. We are republishing it today after the announcement of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s death by US President Joe Biden.
Al-Zawahiri: From Cairo campuses to Kandahar caves, the jihadist route of Bin Laden’s successor

The Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al Qaeda, was killed Saturday night in Afghanistan by a US drone strike. Although far less charismatic than Osama Bin Laden, his successor was long the true ideologist behind the international jihadist organisation.