Saudi-millionaire-turned jihadist Osama bin Laden has been the face of al Qaeda. But now that he's gone, who will take the reins of his terror network?

In an interview with CTV News, Peshawar, Pakistan-based journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai said the death of al Qaeda's iconic leader deals the terror network a significant blow.

"Now that it's founder is dead, I think that it's going to become even weaker," he said.

"Al Qaeda will try to stay in business," Yusufzai added. "But as an armed group it has become very weak and that is the reason it has been unable to launch any attack in the U.S. for the last 10 years."

So who, exactly, is in line for bin Laden's job?

Ayman Al-Zawahri

The 59-year-old Egyptian-born doctor has long been considered bin Laden's No. 2.

His jihadist routes go back to his youth in Egypt, when he was jailed and tortured for his affiliation with Islamic Jihad following the assasination of Sadat in 1981.

After his release in 1984, he went to the frontlines of the Afghan-Soviet war where he connected with bin Laden.

During that time, he resurrected Islamic Jihad and introduced bin Laden to other Egyptians, including Saif al-Adel, who would go on to play a key role in planning the attacks of 11 September 2001.

Al-Zawahri has been sentenced to death in absentia by an Egyptian court.

He is also prominently featured on the FBI's list of most-wanted terrorists. The U.S. State Department is offering a $25-million reward for information leading to his capture.

Saif al-Adel

Also born in Egypt, al-Adel is considered al Qaeda's military commander and bin Laden's No. 3.

He is wanted by U.S. authorities in connection with the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, and is also believed to have provided military and intelligence training to would-be terrorists in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan and Somalia.

Despite conflicting reports that either suggest he is under house arrest in Iran, or has been freed and returned to northern Pakistan, the U.S. State Department continues to offer a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture or conviction.

Nasser Abdul Karim al-Wuhayshi

A Yemeni-born former bin Laden aide, since al-Wuhayshi escaped from a Sanaa prison in 2006, he went on to merge the Yemen and Saudi Arabia branches of al Qaeda into the "al Qaeda of Jihad Organisation in the Arabian Peninsula"

The group, considered the most active branch of al Qaeda outside Pakistan and Afganistan, was behind the attempted assassination of Saudi Arabia's security chief in 2009.

The group was also allegedly behind the plot to blow up a U.S. passenger jet over Detroit on Christmas Day, 2009.

Other distant contenders for the job include:

Saad bin Laden

One of bin Laden's sons, he is believed to have been arrested alongside al-Adel in Iran, subsequently released and returned back to northern Pakistan.

In their reports of the Abbottabad raid, U.S. officials said an unnamed "adult son" of Osama bin Laden had been killed. There was no official indication it was Saad, who was also the subject of conflicting reports that he was killed by an unmanned aerial drone strike in July, 2009.

Suleiman Abu Gaith

A Kuwait-born Islamist, Abu Gaith rose to prominence during the 1991 Gulf War, when his criticism of the Kuwaiti regime saw him banned from preaching and removed from his mosque.

He met bin Laden in Afghanistan in 2000, at which point he joined the organization and eventually rose to become a senior leader and official spokesperson.

There were reports he was in Iran, although Kuwait officials have suggested in September, 2010, he had been freed and returned to Afghanistan.

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed

Born in the disputed Comoros Islands, Abdullah Mohammed is also a Kenyan citizen.

He is frequently referred to as the leader of al Qaeda in East Africa.

He's been indicted in New York for his alleged role in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, and is suspected of involvement in a pair of attacks in Mombasa in 2002.

During the Somali War in early 2007, he is believed to have been the target of a airstrike the Pentagon said was aimed at al Qaeda leadership in the region.

Listed on the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list since its inception in 2001, the U.S. State Department is now offering $5 million for information leading to his capture or conviction.

Adam Yahiye Gadhan

A U.S.-born American citizen raised in California, Gadhan converted to Islam as a teen and moved to Pakistan in 1998 where he is thought to have quickly ingratiated himself to bin Laden as a translator, video producer and cultural interpreter.

Indicted in a California court in 2005 for treason, he was subject of conflictign reports of his death throughout 2008.

Nevertheless, he remains subject to a State Department bounty of $1 million.