June 16, 2011 - Islamist websites report that al-Zawahiri is the new leader of al Qaeda.

July 27, 2011 - In a video that appears on extremist websites, al-Zawahiri delivers what is believed to be his first message since becoming the head of al Qaeda. In the video al-Zawahiri praises the anti-government protests in Syria and refers to President Bashar al Assad as "the leader of criminal gangs, the protector of traitors."

December 1, 2011 - Al-Zawahiri claims responsibility for the kidnapping of Warren Weinstein, an American citizen in Pakistan, according to a number of radical websites. Weinstein, a development consultant, was abducted August 13 from his home in Lahore, Pakistan.

March 16, 2012 - In a video posted on jihadist forums, al-Zawahiri mentions US citizen Warren Weinstein, kidnapped in Pakistan in 2011. Al-Zawahiri says he will not be released until Muslim prisoners such as the "Blind Sheikh" Omar Abdul Rahman and the relatives of Osama bin Laden are released.