Washington, May 13 (Inditop) Al Qaeda’s second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is on the run with $25 million bounty on his head, is hiding near Quetta in southwest Pakistan, a media report said.
Al-Zawahiri is considered a master of disguise and meticulous planner of the Al Qaeda terrorist network.
The Egyptian-born radical roams freely in the border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Washington Times said Tuesday citing Pakistani intelligence officials, who shared their knowledge of al-Zawahiri’s location with the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency).
Al-Zawahiri’s recent movements have been tracked with some specificity. He was positively identified in North Waziristan in June 2008, and the locations where he conducted high-level meetings have also been established, the report said.
However, subsequent US drone attacks forced him to move to South Waziristan in August 2008. Thereafter, he moved south to Balochistan and crossed into Afghanistan from the border city of Zhob.
He returned to Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) in December or January and may have recently relocated outside Quetta, the capital of Balochistan.
According to intelligence sources, he has given up the trappings of a high-value target, has no large entourage and moves his wives frequently to prevent any identification.