Umar Khalid, Maulana Fazlullah and Khan Said alias Sajna are under consideration for the top slot, the report said quoting sources.
A top al-Qaeda operative, captured by US special forces in a secretive mission in Libya this month, pleaded not guilty to a charge of his involvement in the 1998 bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people, in a New York court.
Al-Qaeda's reclusive chief Ayman al-Zawahiri is cut off from his top commanders and keeping the outfit afloat only through loyalty as the once world's most feared terror group is steadily losing recruits and funding sources to its splinter faction -- the Islamic State.
Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud was among six militants killed in a US drone strike on Friday in the lawless North Waziristan tribal region.
The White House has ruled out sending Ahmed Abu Khatallah, a key suspect in the attacks at the United States consulate in Benghazi in September 2012, to the Guantanamo Bay terrorist detention center and asserted that he would be tried through the federal court system.
Osama bin Laden's family had entered into Pakistan way back in October/November 2001, just around 9/11 while the then Al Qaeda chief joined them in Peshawar in mid-2002, a media report today said quoting the findings of the Abbottabad Commission Report in Islamabad.
In daring raids, US commandos have captured a fugitive al-Qaeda leader from the streets of Libya and raided the seaside villa of an al-Shabaab militant in Somalia, signalling America's determination to pursue dreaded terrorists abroad.
At least 27 people were reported dead on Friday after Malian commandos stormed the Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali's capital, Bamako with at least 170 people inside, many of them foreigners, that had been seized by Islamist gunmen.
'Over the last year, Bajwa has created the environment to support bold moves on India. The ball is in India's court,' a senior Pakistan military officer tells Ajai Shukla.
'The interests of the United States and India are sharply aligned on the issue of Pakistan-based terrorism.'
Even as France mourns the bloodiest terrorist attack for 20 years, let's take a look at some major standoffs witnessed in the past:
'The era of conventional wars is almost over in the Indian context.' 'In such a scenario, special forces could play a decisive strategic role in the spectrum of conflict.'
Israel is no longer the valiant and beleaguered underdog, but increasingly seen as an increasingly arrogant oppressor seeking to crush another old nation under its jackboots, says Mohan Guruswamy.
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