The guys who will execute Osama's last plans

With Osama bin Laden dead, the control of the Al Qaeda will now wrest with the outfit's Shura (consultation committee), which is expected to call the shots in the days to come.

Coverage: US hunts down Osama bin Laden

The Al Qaeda Shura, which comprises the top leaders of all the terror outfits operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan, will manage the affairs of the terror group. The worrying part is that they will try and execute around 40-odd plans, which were prepared when Osama was alive.

Experts, who have been studying the Al Qaeda's patterns, say that humourous as it may sound but the outfit felt that it needed to operate in a democratic manner when it came to running its own affairs.

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The Shura took in leaders from other outfits as per the Hadis, as imbibed in the Islamic law. As per the Hadis, every small decision had to be made in a collective group and only once there was agreement among the members of the group would something be done.

Intelligence Bureau officials say that the Shura had planned several attacks, which could be executed in the days to come.

Osama's death will not impact the council members much, as they were always prepared for this, the IB officials say, adding that each one of them was aware that death was inevitable on the path they had chosen.

Wanted terrorists like Mullah Omar and the rest are part of the council. Once a plan is  placed before the council, each member has to support it for it to move on to the next level.

The council members then inform the outfit's operations wing about the plan, which would then brief the recruitment cell. Finally, the logistics wing and the intelligence wing, which even Pakistan's intelligence agency Inter Services intelligence is part of, provides the required data about a target.

Security experts say that the Shura will remain intact despite the Osama's death and would continue to carry out its operations as usual. Ayman-al-Zawwahri will in all probability take over the reigns of Al Qaeda.

In fact, there is a bigger chance of the outfit gaining a lot more support thanks to the sympathy factor and this would make it even more dangerous, they add.

Despite top leaders of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba being part of this council, the council's focus where India is concerned will be a different affair. The operations of the council focus on the West and Afghanistan. When it comes to India, the Lashkar operates individually with the directives of the ISI.