Ayman al-Zawahiri was an Egyptian-born physician and theologian who was the leader of terrorist group al-Qaeda from June 2011

al-Zawahiri succeeded Osama bin Laden following his death, and was earlier a senior member of Islamist terrorist organizations

Ayman al-Zawahiri came under the spotlight after 1998 U.S. embassy bombings- a series of attacks in which hundreds of people were killed in simultaneous truck bomb explosions at the US embassies in East African cities