Abu Zaid al-Kuwaiti (1965-7 December 2012), born Khalid ibn Abdul Rahman al-Husseinan, was a second-in-command of al-Qaeda who was considered to be a potential successor to Ayman al-Zawahiri. However, Al-Kuwaiti was killed in a CIA drone strike in Pakistan in December of 2012 while eating breakfast.
Biography[]
Khalid ibn Abdul Rahman al-Husseinan was born in Kuwait in 1965, although some sources say that he was born a year later. He worked as an imam in the Kuwait Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs before becoming a jihadist. He became a member of the al-Qaeda terrorist network under the visage of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the successor of founder Osama bin Laden, and rose to become one of the group's top leaders.
Not only was al-Kuwaiti a major Al-Qaedan commander, but he was also a working scholar who educated talibs (Muslim students) in Wahhabi Salafist Islam. Al-Kuwaiti was considered to be the obvious choice as the new leader of Al-Qaeda if something happened to Zawahiri.
Death[]
Kuwaiti was targeted by Pakistan's ISI and the United States' CIA due to his high rank in the organization, and was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan on 7 December 2012. "We celebrate to you the news of the martyrdom of the working scholar Shaykh Khalid al-Hussainan (Abu Zaid al-Kuwaiti) while eating his Suhoor (dawn) meal, and we ask Allah to accept him in paradise," the first announcement on a pro-Islamist Internet forum said.