19 June 1951 – 31 July 2022

Country: Egypt

Ayman Al-Zawahiri had been the leader of Al-Qaeda since the killing of Osama bin Laden. Born into a prosperous medical family in Egypt, he completed his medical studies and set up a clinic. In the 1980s he was already part of the Islamic Jihad group in Egypt and was arrested and tortured in prison. He went on to become the leader of Egypt’s Islamic Jihad, which he merged into Al-Qaeda in 1998. He emerged as bin Laden’s personal advisor and physician. He is often credited with being the “real brains” of Al-Qaeda.