Al-Qaeda statement by Ayman al-Zawahiri's wife released The posting came several months after an eight-minute video recording by Zawahiri urging Syrians not to rely on Western or Arab governments to help their uprising to topple President Bashar al-Assad. Zawahiri took command of the Islamist militant network after the group's founder and leader, Osama bin Laden, was killed by US special forces in Pakistan in May last year. Al-Qaeda was sidelined by the Arab Spring uprisings, which were, in general, driven by democracy campaigners fighting for political reform. However, the group, which has been rocked by death of at least 12 of its senior leaders since bin Laden was killed, has tried to capitalise on unrest in Muslim countries.