he was part of the 1981 plot that killed egypt's president, anwar sadat, for which he was imprisoned and tortured. >> before he went into prison he was a surgeon. after that, he came out, he was a butcher. >> reporter: al-zawahiri will be under pressure to produce. al qaeda's last successful attack against the west was six years ago--, the bombing of the london subway. but he's not nearly as popular as bin laden, the larger-than- life figure truly beloved by his followers. and the ideas he's been spouting as the voice of al qaeda seem less relevant in this spring of popular uprisings in arab countries. >> i think he's got some challenges, but i think it's a reminder that they are still out there and we still need to keep after them. >> reporter: counterterrorism analysts say al-zawahiri's first order of business will be to avenge bin laden's death. and they add that he seems particularly interested in chemical and biological attacks. >> pelley: david, today the federal government put out a warning about something else that popped up on the internet today. it was a terrorist group tha

by and the product of bell nasser, in egypt in 1952 and he died and anwar sadat came after and then anwar sadat was assassinated and then mubarak came. none of the egyptian people accepted the revolution was going to be the standard of the egyptian culture. we had several issues with the revolution and the consequences of the revolution, especially when the communist party came to egypt and. >> in 1952? >> yes, 1952. the 25th of january revolution is the youth, the young people. they were not afraid to say no to mubarak and his regime. the old people there, the 50s and the 60s today in egypt, they would not do it without the young people. the young people, the funny thing is, these ministers in egypt and the prominent business people and politicians, their children are the ones. they go home and the revolution was again of their parents. you know it was so funny and i don't want to name some names of local business people in egypt. they go home and a talk they talk with their children. why in the hell did you go to tahrir square today? the boy will say why not dad? i'm going to be there f

when assassins killed egyptian president anwar sadat in 1981, al-zawahri was one of hundreds of islamic militants put on trial. he spent three years in prison, then left egypt. in the mid-1980s, he met bin laden in afghanistan, helping fight the soviet occupation of that country. al-zawahri became bin laden's personal advisor and physician and ultimately, the deputy leader, often described as the group's chief tactician. he's widely thought to have been the organizational mastermind of the september 11th plot. before that, it's believed he helped plan the 1998 bombings of the u.s. embassies in africa and the 2000 bombing of the u.s.s. cole. still, in washington today, a state department spokesperson played down the al-qaeda leadership announcement. >> we have seen the reports. what i'd like to say today is frankly, it barely matters who runs al qaeda. it is a bankrupt ideology. >> brown: that, of course, is what intelligence experts will now be watching as al-zawahri takes over an al qaeda that's become more globalized, with branches in many parts of the world. in his june 8th message,

after members of the group assassinated anwar sadat, he later befriended osama bin laden in afghanistand forces with him. they issued a decree, calling to muslims to kill and fight americans. cnn's mohammed jamjoom joins us. >> reporter: suzanne, it doesn't seem to be making a difference. the real question is why did it take song for zawahiri to be appointed. this has taken several weeks. many analysts are wondering if this is pointing to the fact that al qaeda is weakened, less strong than it used to be, not as emboldened as it once was. there was has been on lot of discussion about who would fill osama bin laden's shoes. zawahiri, though the de facto leader, and very well known in the organization, the deputy for bid laden, really seen as a ideologue, seen as difficult to work with. there was a lot of speculation, would someone like anwar al awlaki, who's seen as so charismatic, more eloquent, if somebody like he from the younger generation of al qaeda would take over the group. this is clearly a statement that it's the old guard, the statement that was made today made mention of the

anwar sadat was assassinated, and then mubarak came. but none of the mission -- egyptian people accepted that the revolution would be the standard of the egyptian country. we had several issues with the revolution and the consequences of the revolution, especially on the communist. >> you mean 1952. >> yes. the january revolution is the youth, the young people that are not afraid to say no to mubarak and his regime. the old people, they were from the 1950's and 1960's, and could not do it without the young people. the funny thing is, these ministers in egypt and a prominent business people and politicians, their children are the ones in this resolution. and they go on. i do not want to name some names of all business people, they go home, and they spoke to their children, why did you go to tahrir square today? and the boys says, i have been there a whole week. he is going to lose hundreds of millions of dollars of transactions that he had during mubarak's time. it was a boiling situation, and they were waking -- waiting for something to

by all accounts, he was involved in the assassination of anwar sadat, jailed.s a lot of reports that when he was in jail, he actually broke under questioning and did provide information on his colleagues. he really feels bad about that. a racistcounts, he hasn' personality. he is not charismatic. he is good at propaganda. he puts out a lot of videos, to how the bill of ask jihadist -- puts out a lot of jihadist videos. i think that i will be worse off with him as leader. host: why? guest: he lacks leadership qualities, to summarize it. given that al qaeda is a network of affiliates, international, it bills itself as that, yes, it is important that different affiliate's have a certain sense of loyalty and respect for the leader. everything i have read suggest that there is that respect that they had for bin laden, it is just not there with zawahiri. solidary cannot force people to do what he wants to -- zawahiri cannot force people to do what he wants. that is why it is important have that charisma, to have that leadership ability, so that the terrorists volunta