Abu Ubaidah al-Masri
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Abu Ubaida al-Masri (Arabic: ابو عبيده المصري) (died December 2007) was an al-Qaeda operative in Pakistan. Al-Masri has been implicated in the 2006 Transatlantic Aircraft Plot, which was to be carried out by a terrorist cell operating in London, but which was orchestrated by al-Qaeda's central leadership.
Al-Masri is Egyptian (the epithet literally means 'the Egyptian') but he received combat experience, and terrorist and insurgent training in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya.
Until recently[vague] al-Masri was thought to be a provincial al-Qaeda commander in Afghanistan, but according to The New York Times, "[al-Masri] emerged as one of Al Qaeda's senior operatives after the death of Abu Hamza Rabia, another Egyptian who was killed by a missile strike in Pakistan in 2005."[1]
The information about al-Masri's ascendency through the al-Qaeda leadership allegedly came from interrogations of al-Qaeda operatives captured in Pakistan.[citation needed] Al-Masri is suspected of helping recruit and train operatives who carried out the 7 July 2005 London Bombings. According to American intelligence officials, he is also suspected of involvement in the foiled plan to blow up airliners over the Atlantic Ocean in 2006.
Al-Masri lived in Germany before going to Afghanistan to join the Mujahadeen. After Afghanistan, he returned to Germany to begin building a network in Europe.
In 2006, two attempts were made by coalition forces to kill him.
[edit] Reports of death
According to U.S. government counterterrorism sources, al-Masri is believed to have died in December 2007, in Pakistan's tribal region reportedly of natural causes, probably due to hepatitis.[2][3] Al-Masri was between 40 and 50 years old.
- Terrorism Experts Predict Long Hunt for Bin Laden VOA April 9, 2008
[edit] References
- ^ Mark Mazzetti (April 2, 2008). "New Generation of Qaeda Chiefs Is Seen on Rise". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/02/world/middleeast/02qaeda.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
- ^ Jonathan S. Landay (April 8, 2008). "Al Qaida operative who helped direct London bombings is dead". McClatchy Newspapers. Archived from the original on 2008-04-10. http://web.archive.org/web/20080410225338/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/33057.html. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
- ^ Whitlock, Craig; DeYoung, Karen (2008-04-09). "Top Al-Qaeda Planner Believed to Have Died, U.S. Officials Say". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/09/AR2008040901793.html?hpid=moreheadlines. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
- ^ "A look inside Al Qaeda" by Sebastian Rotella, April 2, 2008, The Los Angeles Times, retrieved April 9, 2008
