The United States has come close to taking out al Qaeda’s second-in-command on more occasions than have previously been acknowledged, according to current and former U.S. officials.
In February 2003, Ayman al-Zawahiri apparently met in Peshawar, Pakistan, with another senior al Qaeda leader whom the CIA was pursuing at the time. But according to the officials, the agency did not have a firm location for Khalid Sheihk Mohammed until it received a tip the following day enabling the Pakistanis to capture Mohammed in another city.
