Al-Qaeda's New Leader Lived in US for 15 Years

Al-Qaeda has selected a new chief of global operations, and he’s intimately familiar with the US. Adnan Shukrijumah, a 35-year-old who spent 15 years growing up in the Florida and Brooklyn, has taken over the job once held by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the FBI tells the AP. He’s been indicted in last year’s attempted suicide bombing in New York, and linked with several other planned attacks. Shukrijumah is believed to be the first former permanent US resident to become an al-Qaeda leader, and it makes him especially dangerous, an FBI counterterrorism agent says. “He knows how the system works. He knows how to get a driver’s license. He knows how to get a passport.” Shukrijumah’s mother, who still lives in Florida, says she can’t believe the accusations. “This boy would never do evil stuff,” she says. “He loved this country.”

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