A veteran Egyptian extremist thought to be based in Iran is now the de facto leader of al-Qaida, a UN report based on intelligence supplied by member states has said.
Saif al-Adel, 62, has long been tipped as the most likely to succeed Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was killed by a US airstrike in Kabul last year, but there has been no official announcement from the group nor other confirmation that the former Egyptian special forces soldier has taken charge.
