扎瓦赫裏被廣泛視爲本.拉登繼任者

Osama bin Laden's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, is being tipped as a likely successor to the slain al-Qaida chief. Whoever might lead the network would be hard pressed to fill bin Laden's role.

本·拉登的副指揮官扎瓦赫裏被指可能成爲這位被擊斃的基地組織領導人的繼任者。但是，無論什麼人來領導這個組織，將很難勝任本·拉登的角色。

Bin Laden's death has led to speculation about who, if anyone, will take control of al-Qaida. Often mentioned is the Egyptian Islamist Ayman al-Zawahri, a frequent spokesman for the group who stressed his closeness to the late leader.

本·拉登之死導致各方猜測，如果有繼任者的話，會是誰接管基地組織。其中經常被提到的一個人是埃及的伊斯蘭主義者扎瓦赫裏。他常常擔任基地組織的發言人，也強調過他同被擊斃的本·拉登非常親近。

Voice of rhetoric

In an audio address released in February, al-Zawahri noted that bin Laden assigned him to advise Mujahideen on Islamic Sharia law.

扎瓦赫裏在今年2月發佈的一段音頻講話中指出，本·拉登任命他爲伊斯蘭聖戰者們提供有關伊斯蘭教法的諮詢。

Al-Zawahri has also been the voice of some of the group's more inflammatory rhetoric against the United States. Perhaps most importantly, he is considered by many to be the brains of the terror network, responsible for the planning of the group's most notorious acts, including the 2001 attacks in the United States.

基地組織針對美國的一些最具煽動性的言論也一直是由扎瓦赫裏發表的。也許最重要的是，很多人將扎瓦赫裏視爲基地恐怖組織的智囊，他負責策劃了該組織最臭名昭著的恐怖行動，包括2001年對美國的襲擊。

Mohamed Salah, a political analyst and editor of the London-based al Hayat newspaper, says al-Zawahri is the real founder of al-Qaida, with his experience organizing Islamists in Egypt as important, if not more, than the ideological and financial leadership provided bin Laden.

穆罕默德·薩利赫是一名政治分析家，也是位於倫敦的阿拉伯文《生活報》的編輯。薩利赫說，扎瓦赫裏是基地組織真正的創始人。而且，他在埃及組織伊斯蘭主義者的經驗，與本·拉登提供的意識形態和財政領導至少是同等重要的。Trained surgeon

A surgeon by profession, al-Zawahri, like bin Laden, gave up a life of privilege to violently promote a puritanical Islamic ideal. They met in the fight against Soviet troops in Afghanistan, but his roots in radical ideology stretch back to his teen years.

身爲外科醫生的扎瓦赫裏像本·拉登一樣，放棄了養尊處優的生活，而投身於暴力推行一個極端的伊斯蘭理想。扎瓦赫裏和本·拉登在對抗駐阿富汗蘇聯軍隊的戰鬥中相遇，但是，扎瓦赫裏激進的意識形態可以追溯到他的少年時代。

A fellow Islamist who shared an Egyptian prison cell with al-Zawahiri in the early 1980's, remembers him as a modest, poetry-reciting "gentleman," a surprisingly common description of terror leaders.

同爲伊斯蘭主義者的阿薩姆·阿卜杜爾·馬吉德曾在上個世紀80年代與扎瓦赫裏被關押在埃及的同一個監獄裏。他記憶中的扎瓦赫裏是一位謙遜、喜愛吟詩的“紳士”，這是令人驚訝的對恐怖主義領導人最常見的描述。

Assem Abdel Maged says outward demeanor could be misleading. Abdel Maged adds that in spite of his politeness and docility, al-Zawahiri is rigid, someone who one cannot oppose or face to change his views.

阿薩姆說，外在的行爲可能使人誤解。阿薩姆說，儘管扎瓦赫裏有禮而溫和，但是他性格固執，別人不能反對他，也不能強迫他改變觀點。

Sheikh Abdel Maged, a senior member of Jemaah Islamiyah, says the Islamic Group has advised al-Zawahri to follow its example and abandon violence. But the sheikh argues that as long as the reasons that provoked al Qaida remain - what he sees as American arrogance and support of Israel - so too will the group. All the same, in recent years, al-Qaida has been forced to undergo change. Part can be attributed to its leaders being forced underground.

謝赫·阿卜杜爾·馬吉德是“伊斯蘭祈禱團”的一名高級成員。他說，這個伊斯蘭組織曾勸告扎瓦赫裏，像他們一樣放棄暴力。但是謝赫也爭辯說，只要那些向基地組織挑釁的理由仍然存在，那麼對“伊斯蘭祈禱團”來說也是一樣的。他認爲，這些理由包括美國的傲慢自大及其對以色列的支持。近幾年以來，基地組織也一樣被迫經歷了轉變，部分原因可能是它的領導人一直被迫進行地下工作。Whereabouts unkown

Al-Zawahri's location remains unknown. But the movement has also become more diffuse, with affiliates often eclipsing bin Laden's group.

扎瓦赫裏的行蹤目前仍不得而知。但是，行動的重心也變得更加分散，一些基地組織分支的行動讓本·拉登的組織顯得黯淡無光。

Anwar al-Awlaki, of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, for example, has emerged as a powerful force, his charisma a stark contrast to the dour, scolding image al-Zawahri projects. Sheikh Abdel Maged believes some day this younger generation may come to the fore.

舉例來說，阿拉伯半島上的基地組織頭目安瓦爾·奧拉基已經成爲一股強大的力量。他的個人魅力同扎瓦赫裏頑固、苛責的形象形成鮮明對比。謝赫相信，有一天，這位年輕一代的領導人可能會脫穎而出。

For now though, he believes al-Zawahri is the only candidate to succeed bin Laden. But some terror experts question whether al-Qaida even needs a leader. For one thing, they argue, bin Laden will remain a powerful even iconic symbol, long after his death. Sheikh Abdel Maged agrees that the organization has moved far beyond its hierarchical origins.

但是謝赫認爲，就目前形勢而言，扎瓦赫裏是繼任本·拉登唯一的候選人。但是，一些反恐專家質疑，基地組織是否真的需要一位領導人。他們爭辯說，一方面，本·拉登死後很長時間內，他仍然是一位強有力，甚至比較標誌性的象徵人物。謝赫同意說，這個組織已經遠遠超出了它的等級根源。

Abdel Maged says al-Qaida is not a pyramid, rather it's an idea that lives in space, cyberspace in particular, nourished by American acts. And it could be the American act of killing bin Laden will give his supporters scattered around the world more reason to carry on, no matter who might step in to succeed him.

謝赫說，基地組織現在已經不是一個金字塔結構，而更像是生存在現實中的一種思想，特別是在網絡空間裏，因爲美國人的行動而滋長。美國刺殺本·拉登的行爲可能會給他散佈在全球各地的支持者更多繼續下去的理由，無論是什麼人繼承他的衣鉢。