Leadership
al-Sharif passed the Jihad leadership to Ayman al-Zawahiri amid dissent within the movement in the mid-1980s. The al-Zawahiri faction subsequently formed an alliance with al-Qaeda leading over time to the effective merger of the two groups operations inside Afghanistan.
Even though al-Zawahiri is frequently referred to as a 'lieutenant' or 'second in command' of al-Qaeda this description is misleading as it implies a hierarchical relationship.
The modern al-Qaeda organization is the combination of bin Laden's financial resources with al-Zawahiri's ideological and operational leadership. Despite the effective merger of al-Zawahiri and bin Laden's groups in the Afghanistan area of operations there is evidence that suggests that at least part of the Islamic Jihad group continuing to operate in Egypt remains independent of Bin Laden's organization and reports to al-Zawahiri personally.
Read more about this topic: Egyptian Islamic Jihad
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