Who is currently the head of al-Qaeda? (February 2016)

Al-Qaeda is a global militant Sunni Islamist organization founded by Osama bin Laden, Abdullah Azzam, and several others in 1988-1989, with origins traceable to the Arab volunteers who fought against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and an Islamist, extremist, wahhabi jihadist group. It has been designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, NATO, the European Union, the United States, Russia, India, and various other countries.

Since the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011 the group has been led by Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri. There have been attempts to kill him, but none have been proved successful: Presently, the Rewards for Justice Program of the U.S. Department of State is offering a reward of up to US$25 million for information about his location.