Bin Laden in Yemen?
Sa’ada, Marib?
To be clear, I think the Western diplomat who said that bin Laden may be in Yemen was trying to explain why they didn’t find him in Afghanistan after all these years. It is not the precurser to a military action or any reflection of official US policy. And yes, Zawaheri is the one running much of the show now. Bin Laden and Zawaheri have individual and unique sets of relationships and history within Yemen that sometimes overlap.
There is some speculation among the diplomatic community in Islamabad that Bin Laden may no longer be in the border areas. One likely location, according to Western diplomats, would be Yemen. U.S. officials, however, say they have no evidence that he has left the border area and believe he is still there.
Bin Laden no longer has operational control of al-Qaida, but instead has delegated much of his authority to Zawahiri and whoever is the director of international operations. His role now is largely symbolic, with his video and audio messages now more commentary than calls to action.
But if you see him…
