If confirmed, the idea that Zawahiri played a passive role in the plot will lend weight to US President Barack Obama’s claim that so called “core Al-Qaeda” is on the ropes.
But it will also feed fears that regional Al-Qaeda franchises, such as Wuhayshi’s AQAP, are becoming major threats in their own right.
However, that narrative suffered a blow late Thursday when the US State Department withdrew staff from its Lahore consulate, citing “specific threats.”
A spokeswoman for the US embassy in Islamabad said the evacuation was not linked to the alert that prompted the closure of embassies and consulates in the Middle East and Africa.
Despite Pakistan’s fractious alliance with the United States in the “war on terror”, anti American sentiment runs deep in the restive country, fuelled in part by the CIA’s campaign of drone strikes against militants in the tribal northwest.
It had previously been reported that in the communications, intercepted by US intelligence, Zawahiri named Wuhayshi as operational controller of all Al-Qaeda groups.
According to Yemeni officials his group planned to storm a Western-run oil terminal and seize a port city.
US officials have not said what they think the targets were, but they have closed 19 embassies and diplomatic missions until at least the end of the week.
Yemeni officials believe they have foiled the plot, and there have been several reported US drone strikes this week.
The latest trio of strikes on Thursday killed 12 Al-Qaeda militants, according to a Yemeni military official and tribal sources.
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