Mustafa Abu al-YazidThe New No. 3? -- Newsweek
From the jihadist point of view, the No. 3 position in Al Qaeda may offer the promise of martyrdom. But from a job-safety perspective, the post is very risky. As liaison between the highest of the high command and frontline fighters, No. 3's are vulnerable to capture and death. Two men reputed to hold the position—Abu Zubaydah and 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed—were among the first Qaeda leaders captured after the attacks, and were also among the first subjected to "enhanced" CIA interrogation techniques (Abu Zubaydah, his lawyers and some independent experts now say, may not have risen to the third-ranking spot). Another reported No. 3, Abu Faraj al Libi, is with Abu Zubaydah and Mohammed at the U.S. detention camp at Guantánamo Bay; and a fourth, Hamza Rabia, is thought to be dead, killed by a CIA drone strike in 2005.
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My Comment: This #3 will probably be gone in the next few months .... or be promoted if something should befall #2 or #1.