KABUL - There is a huge difference of opinion within al-Qaeda network over the leadership of the network after the death of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan, National Directorate of Security (NDS) said on Wednesday.
Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) said that Ayman al-Zawahiri or Saif al-Adel are the two options to fill the leadership vacuum of al-Qaeda network, but Arab and Yemeni members of the network oppose the idea.
On Wednesday the al-Jazeera television reported that Saif al-Adel have been named as the temporary leader of al-Qaeda.
Mohammad Ibrahim Makawi known as Saif al-Adel is an Egyptian and after the US intervention in Afghanistan fled to Iran, according to reports.
Following the death of Osama Bin Laden, insurgent groups including the Taliban and extremists in Pakistan are in panic.
"The differences are to the point that Sail al-Adel was about to be appointed as the commander of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and in the region, but he was not, because mid-level commanders refused to obey his orders," NDS Spokesman Lotfullah
Mashal said.
Noman Benotman, a former Bin Laden associate who is now an analyst with Britain's Quilliam Foundation think-tank, has told Reuters that Adel was already a kind of "chief of staff" who took on the role to lessen al-Qaeda's concerns about the group's future.
The death of Bin Laden has affected the spirit of the Afghan Taliban and a number of the Taliban have contacted the department to join the Afghan peace talks, NDS said.
Mashal said there have been reports that Pakistan's intelligence organization has called on senior Taliban leaders to leave main cities of Pakistan.
"Information provided by our sources inside the Taliban suggests that there are pressures over the leadership of the Taliban to quit a number of cities in Pakistan," Mashal added.
The United States has also stepped up investigations to find out whether Pakistan was aware of the fact that Bin Laden was living in the heart of Pakistan for nearly a decade.
Senator John Kerry Chief of US Senate's Foreign Relations Committee has said Pakistan will in four phases look into finding out about the life of the deceased al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan.
Meawhile, a four-member insurgent group that was planning to target head of the Afghan Senate House in a series of attacks, has been arrested by the NDS in Kabul. (Tolo News)