Saif al-Adel is the new Al-Qaeda leader; commanding from Iran, US says

Saif al-Adel, an Iran-based Egyptian has become the head of Al-Qaeda following the death of its previous head, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the US State Department said.

'Our assessment aligns with that of the UN -- that al-Qaeda's new de facto leader Saif al-Adel is based in Iran,' a state department spokesperson said following the United Nations report which said that Saif al-Adel is now the group's leader.

Al-Qaeda has not formally declared Saif al-Adel as the head and is sensitive to the issue of his residing in Iran, according to UN report.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, the previous head, was killed by a US rocket in a home in Kabul in July last year.

Saif al-Adel, 62, is a former Egyptian special forces lieutenant colonel and figure in the old guard of Al-Qaeda.

He helped build the group's operational capacity and trained some of the hijackers who took part in the September 11, 2001 attack.

Saif al-Adel has been residing in Iran since 2002 or 2003, earlier under house arrest and later made trips to Pakistan, AFP reported.

"Saif is one of the most experienced professional soldiers in the worldwide jihadi movement, and his body bears the scars of battle," the report said.