1. Ayman al-Zawahiri
Despite the whittling away by drone attacks of "al
Qaeda central" in the mountainous border region
between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the group's
leader remains vocal and active in trying to
harness the disparate affiliates that claim the al
Qaeda name.
Source: al Qaeda leader urged affiliate to 'do
something'
Since former leader Osama bin Laden's death in
2011, al-Zawahiri has sought to take advantage of
the unrest sweeping the Arab world, and has
recognized that groups such as al Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and al Qaeda in the
Islamic Maghreb are better placed to carry out
attacks than the ever-diminishing core that
remains in "Af-Pak." At times, al-Zawahiri has
struggled to exercise authority over groups such
as the Islamic State in Iraq, not least because of
the difficulty in communicating with far-flung
offshoots.
Aware that pulling off another 9/11 is a remote
possibility, al-Zawahiri has suggested a shift to less
ambitious and less expensive but highly disruptive
attacks on "soft" targets, as well as hostage-
taking. In an audio message in August he
recommended taking "the citizens of the countries
that are participating in the invasion of Muslim
countries as hostages."
Al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian doctor who is now 62, is
not the inspirational figure to jihadists that bin
Laden was, but he is trying to fashion a role as the
CEO of a sprawling enterprise. According to the
Economist, he may be succeeding. "From Somalia
to Syria, al-Qaeda franchises and jihadist fellow
travellers now control more territory, and can call
on more fighters, than at any time since Osama
bin Laden created the organisation 25 years ago,"
it wrote this month.
Reward offered by the U.S. government for his
capture: up to $25 million
2. Nasir al Wuhayshi
For someone thought to be about 36 years old,
Wuhayshi's terror resume is already extensive.
Once bin Laden's private secretary in Afghanistan,
he returned to his native Yemen and ended up in
jail. But not for long: He and several other al Qaeda
operatives dug their way out in 2006. He went on
to to help found al Qaeda in Yemen, and began
launching attacks on Yemeni security services and
foreign tourists, as well as directing an ambitious
attack against the U.S. Embassy in Yemen.
The new face of terror: Who is Nasser al-Wuhayshi?
He is now the emir of AQAP, widely regarded as the
most dangerous and active of al Qaeda's many
offshoots. A slight figure with an impish sense of
humor, according to some who have met him,
Wuhayshi appears to have been anointed al
Qaeda's overall deputy leader in a bold move by al-
Zawahiri to leverage the capabilities of AQAP. Seth
Jones, a Rand Corporation analyst, called the
appointment "unprecedented because he's living
in Yemen, he's not living in Pakistan."
If al-Zawahiri is al Qaeda's CEO, Wuhayshi appears
to be its COO -- with responsibilities that extend far
beyond Yemen. It appears that in 2012 he was
already giving operational advice to al Qaeda's
affiliate in North Africa.
Despite a concerted effort by the Yemeni
government and the United States to behead
AQAP, Wuhayshi survives, and his fighters have
recently gone on the offensive again in southern
Yemen. The group is bent on exporting terror to
the West -- both through bomb plots and by
dispatching Western converts home to sow
carnage.
3. Ibrahim al-Asiri
Not a household name, but one that provokes
plenty of anxiety among Western intelligence
agencies. Al-Asiri, a 31-year-old Saudi, is AQAP's
master bomb-maker, as expert as he is ruthless.
He is widely thought to have designed the
"underwear" bomb that nearly brought down a
U.S. airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009,
as well as the ingenious printer bombs sent as
freight from Sanaa, Yemen, and destined for the
United States before being intercepted thanks to a
Saudi tip-off. The bombs were so well hidden that
at first British police were unable to find one device
even after isolating the printer.
Most dangerous terrorist in the world: al Qaeda's
master bomb-maker
Al-Asiri also fitted his younger brother Abduillah
with a bomb hidden in his rectum in an effort to
kill Saudi Arabia's counter-terrorism chief,
Mohammed bin Nayef. The brother died in the
attack; bin Nayef survived.
His trademark explosive is PETN -- a white, odorless
powder than cannot be detected by most X-ray
machines.
Al-Asiri is thought to be somewhere in the vast
mountainous interior of southern Yemen. The
anxiety among Saudi and Western intelligence
officials is that he has passed on his expertise to
apprentices.
4. Ahmed Abdi Godane
Godane, aka Mukhtar Abu Zubayr, became the
leader of the Somali group Al-Shabaab at the end
of 2008. Traditionally, Al-Shabaab has been
focused on bringing Islamic rule to Somalia, and as
such has attracted dozens of ethnic Somalis (and a
few Western coverts) from the United States and
Europe. But Godane appears to be refocusing the
group on terrorist attacks beyond Somalia, against
the east African states that are supporting the
Somali government -- especially Uganda and
Kenya -- and against Western interests in east
Africa.
The Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi September 21
was Al-Shabaab's most audacious, but not its first
nor most deadly outside Somalia. In 2010, Al-
Shabaab carried out suicide bombings in the
Ugandan capital, Kampala, in which more than 70
people were killed. But the Westgate siege, which
left 67 people dead, demonstrated Godane's desire
to align his group more closely with al Qaeda. In a
taped message afterward, he noted the attack
took place "just 10 days after the anniversary date
of the blessed 9/11 operations."
Ruthless leader aims to extend reach of Al-
Shabaab, eyes the West
Under Godane, Al-Shabaab has become a formal
ally of al Qaeda. That has led to dissent, which
Godane has dealt with ruthlessly, using his control
of Al-Shabaab's intelligence wing. The American
jihadist Omar Hammami was killed in September
after criticizing Godane's leadership and his
treatment of foreign fighters.
Godane is said to be 36 years old, and is originally
from Somaliland in northern Somalia. He is slim to
the point of wispy, as seen in the very few
photographs of him, and prefers recording audio
messages to appearing in public.
After the Westgate attack, Kenyan and Western
intelligence agencies will undoubtedly step up
efforts to end his reign of terror. But he should not
be underestimated. A former Somali prime
minister, Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, once
described Godane as the cleverest of Al-Shabaab's
leaders.
The U.S. government's Rewards for Justice
program lists him under another alias, Ahmed Abdi
Aw-Mohamed, and is offering up to $7 million for
information leading to his location.
5. Moktar Belmoktar
Belmoktar is Algerian but based in the endless
expanse of desert known as the Sahel. Like many
on this list, he has an uncanny knack for survival
against the odds. A year ago, he probably would
not have been counted among the world's most
dangerous terrorists. Then he announced the
formation of an elite unit called "Those Who Sign
With Blood," which he said would be the shield
against the "invading enemy." A short time later,
his fighters launched an attack on the In Amenas
gas plant in southern Algeria. A three-day siege left
nearly 40 foreign workers dead.
Video shows return of jihadist commander 'Mr.
Marlboro'
Since then, Belmoktar's fighters have launched
attacks on a military academy and French uranium
mine in Niger in May, despite losing much of their
freedom of movement after the French
intervention in Mali in January.
Belmoktar is unusual in combining jihadist
credentials with a lucrative business in smuggling
and kidnapping. He is often called "Mr. Marlboro"
because of his illicit cigarette trafficking, and is
thought to have amassed millions of dollars
through ransoms for westerners kidnapped in Mali.
Intelligence officials have told CNN that he has also
developed contacts with jihadist groups in Libya as
instability has gripped the country in the wake of
Moammar Gadhafi's overthrow.
Born in 1972, Belmoktar grew up in poverty in
southern Algeria. He traveled to Afghanistan in
1991 in his late teens to fight its then-Communist
government, and returned to Algeria as a
hardened fighter with a new nickname "Belaouar"
-- the "one-eyed" -- after a battlefield injury. He
later joined forces with the Armed Islamic Group
(GIA) in its brutal campaign against the Algerian
regime.
Reward offered by the U.S. government: up to $5
million for information leading to his location.
6. Abu Muhammad al-Julani
While Belmoktar might have been on the fringes of
a "most dangerous terrorist list" a year ago, Abu
Muhammad al-Julani would not have been
anywhere near it. But as Syria has descended into
a state of civil war, al-Julani's group -- the al-Nusra
Front -- has emerged as one of the most effective
rebel factions. Formed in January 2012, it is a
jihadist group with perhaps 10,000 fighters, many
of them battle-hardened in Iraq. It has specialized
in suicide bombings and IED attacks against
regime forces, and its success has attracted
hundreds of fighters from other rebel groups.
Al-Julani personally pledged his group's allegiance
to al-Zawahiri in April, and the U.S. State
Department has branded al-Nusra as part of the al
Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State in Iraq. In May, the
United States added al Julani to to the list of
Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
Al-Nusra has so far not shown any inclination to
take the fight to Western targets. Andrew Parker,
the head of the British intelligence agency MI5,
thinks that will change.
"A growing proportion of our casework now has
some link to Syria... Al-Nusra and other extremist
Sunni groups there aligned with al Qaeda aspire to
attack Western countries," he said in a speech in
London this week.
Of al-Julani himself, very little is known. Al-Nusra
places a premium on organizational security. Even
his nationality is unclear, but he is thought to have
had experience as an insurgent in Iraq. A recent
study by the Quilliam Foundation in London
concluded his leadership of the group was
"uncontested."
"Sources tell us that his face is always covered in
meetings, even with other leaders. Al-Julani is
thought to be a Syrian jihadist with suspected
close ties to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and al Qaeda in
Iraq," the study's authors said.
Al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. missile strike in
2006.
7. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
One factor that may influence the growth and
potency of al-Nusra is its relationship with fellow
jihadists in Iraq. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader
of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was
publicly at odds with al Julani over the regional
pecking order earlier this year, asserting that al-
Nusra was part of his group, a claim swiftly
rejected by al Julani. Western intelligence would
like nothing more than dissent between these two
groups. Close cooperation between them across
the long Syrian-Iraqi border -- the goal of al-
Zawahiri -- is the nightmare scenario.
On the battlefield in Syria, cooperation between
the two groups appears to be continuing,
especially in towns like Deir Izzor in eastern Syria.
Inside Iraq, al-Baghdadi has overseen a dramatic
spike in terror attacks against the Shia-dominated
state and security apparatus, aided by jail breaks
and bank robberies. It has also claimed
devastating bomb attacks against Shia civilians
and is open about carrying out attacks on purely
sectarian grounds. It claimed credit for a wave of
car bombings in Baghdad on September 30, in
which more than 50 people were killed, calling it a
"new page in the series of destructive blows"
against Shiite areas in Iraq.
The monthly number of civilian deaths in Iraq,
according to the United Nations, is now at its
highest since 2008.
Al-Baghdadi benefits from fertile ground in that
Iraq's Sunni minority is increasingly fearful of the
Shia-dominated government led by Prime Minister
Nuri al-Maliki. Sunni tribes straddle the Syrian-Iraqi
border, adding to a combustible regional picture.
Born in Samarra, al-Baghdadi is in his early 40s. In
a eulogy for bin Laden, he threatened violent
retribution for his killing. Analysts regard ISIS as a
greater threat now than at any time since the U.S.
"surge" and the emergence of the Sunni
Awakening Councils six years ago, which then
turned the tide against al Qaeda in Iraq.
Reward offered by U.S. government, which lists
him as Abu Du'a: up to $10 million for information
leading to his location.
8. Sirajuddin Haqqani
Shifting from the Middle East to the Afghan-
Pakistan border regions, several groups are
positioning themselves for the exit of U.S. combat
forces from Afghanistan next year. Among the
most dangerous is the Haqqani Network,
responsible for some of the deadly attacks in Kabul
in recent years. A 2008 coordinated suicide bomb
attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul left six dead.
Another strike in June 2011 killed 12 at the
InterContinental Hotel.
U.S. officials say that in addition to its high-profile
suicide attacks against hotels and other civilian
targets in the Afghan capital, it is responsible for
killing and wounding more than 1,000 U.S.
soldiers in Afghanistan.
Known as Siraj, Haqqani is the son of the group's
founder, and is in his early 40s.
"Siraj is a brutal criminal murderer," Gen. Jeffrey
Schloesser, the outgoing commander of the U.S.
101st Airborne Division in eastern Afghanistan,
told the publication Jane's in 2009.
Jeffrey Dressler, a senior analyst with the Institute
for the Study of War, told CNN last year that
Haqqani is "very, very competent, a very capable
leader who has really grown the network over the
past five, six years."
U.S. officials say the Haqqani Network is all the
more dangerous in that its presence in the tribal
territories of Pakistan is tolerated by the Pakistani
government. The family belongs to the Zadran
tribe, which spans the Afghanistan-Pakistan border
and stretches to Khost province. The Haqqanis
have a close relationship with both al Qaeda and
the Taliban, but are also thought to have begun
recruiting Chechen and Turkish jihadists.
The Obama administration designated the Haqqani
Network a terror group last year. It is regarded as
well-funded because of a series of legitimate and
illicit businesses that stretch to the Gulf.
Reward offered by U.S. government for information
leading to Haqqani's location: up to $5 million
9. Abubakar Shekau
Shekau's inclusion recognizes the growing tide of
Islamist militancy in West Africa. For the last four
years, he has led Boko Haram, a Salafist group in
northern Nigeria that has begun cooperating with
other groups as far away as Mali.
Opinion: Should U.S. fear Boko Haram?
But its main focus remains churches and other
Christian targets, the police and the moderate
Muslim establishment in northern Nigeria. Just last
month, suspected Boko Haram fighters broke into
a college in Yobe state and murdered more than
40 students as they slept.
In 2010, Shekau warned that the group would
attack Western interests and the following year it
carried out its first suicide bombing -- against U.N.
offices in the capital, Abuja -- killing at least 23
people. The group has also kidnapped and killed
several Western hostages. While Bokko Haram is
not an affiliate of al Qaeda, Shekau has made clear
his sympathy for the group's goals. The United
States made him a Specially Designated Global
Terrorist in June 2012.
Nigeria's peace 'the peace of a graveyard'
Two caveats here: there are conflicting reports
that Shekau was killed in an August raid by
Nigerian special forces. But a video that appeared
weeks later purported to show he was still alive.
And Boko Haram's leadership structure is opaque
at best; it's unclear how much control Shekau
himself exerts over its fighters.
John Campbell, a former U.S. ambassador to
Nigeria, wrote last month that so far "Boko Haram
has shown little interest in the world outside of
Nigeria and the Sahel. But the situation in Nigeria
is dynamic, and it is possible that closer ties will
develop between al-Qaeda and elements of Boko
Haram."
"Boko Haram" means "Western education is
forbidden" and reflects the group's utter rejection
of modernity and Western influences.
"Hostile to democracy, modern science, and
Western education as non-Islamic, it is highly
diffuse," Campbell said of the group. "For some
adherents, religious, even apocalyptic, themes
appear to be paramount."
Reward offered by the U.S. government: up to $7
million for his location.
10. Doku Umarov
Doku Umarov leads the Caucasus Emirate (CE), a
Chechen group dedicated to bringing Islamic rule
to much of southern Russia.
The U.S. State Department named Umarov a
Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2010, and
said subsequently he was "encouraging followers
to commit violent acts against CE's declared
enemies, which include the United States as well
as Israel, Russia, and the United Kingdom."
U.S. officials have been investigating whether the
Tsarnaev brothers -- who were blamed for carrying
out the bombing at the Boston Marathon in April --
had any links with Chechen militant groups. But
nothing has surfaced connecting them with CE.
And the group's main focus has been on attacking
Russian institutions and civilian targets. In January
2011, it bombed Moscow's Domodedovo airport,
killing 36 people, and suicide bombings of Moscow
subway stations in 2010 killed 40 people.
Moscow attack renews spotlight on 'Emir of the
Caucasus'
Umarov was born in southern Chechnya in 1964,
according to Chechen websites, and describes his
family as part of the "intelligentsia." He came of
age as the separatist campaign against Russian
rule began to take root and joined the insurgency
when then-Russian leader Boris Yeltsin sent troops
into the region in 1994.
In a proclamation published on a Chechen jihadist
website in 2007, he declared, "It was my destiny
to lead the Jihad... I will lead and organize Jihad
according to the understanding, given to me by
Allah."
Reward offered by the U.S. government for
information on his location: up to $5 million.

9ja representing once mre. My kauntri I hail thee!!!

I coming back...

If you don't edit your post, it would never get to frontpage. That gawddamn fin is Logic n not a passage.


Well judging from the topic and not post, "My fear now is that GEJ might give him presidential pardon or a national award for making us top 10 in somfin at least"

@Op,are we preparing for waec with this post.too long and not paraphrased or paragraphed.please edit it.Thanks.

Except ofcourse Shekau's inclusion in this ranking is post- humous its obvious even the international community is not convinced Shekau is dead. Our military boys should confirm tins and stop running their mouths like bloody civilians!!!

All terrorists are .....but not all muslims are ....! Who knows the answer?