Saleh al-Oufi, an ex-Saudi policeman, will take over from Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, who was killed by police on 18 June.

Arab media reports say Al-Oufi was born in Medina, and that he worked with the Saudi police and prison service until the early 1990s when he joined Muslim fighters in Afghanistan and Bosnia. He has been responsible for training, recruitment and logistics and running secret Al-Qaeda camps in the kingdom.

'Saleh al-Oufi is the most dangerous' of the Al-Qaeda lieutenants left alive in Saudi Arabia, says a report in Al-Hayat newspaper.