Mohammad Hasan Khalil al-Hakim
Mohammad al-Hakim alias Abu Jihad al-Masri | |
|---|---|
| File:Abu jihad al masri.jpg Senior al-Qaeda Suspect | |
| Born | circa 1961 Aswan, Egypt |
| Died | October 31, 2008 (believed) |
| Occupation | Propaganda Chief |
| Organization(s) | al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya and al-Qa'ida |
| Children | At least one male and two female |
Mohammad Hasan Khalil al-Hakim (Arabic: محمد حسن خليل الحكيم) alias Abu Jihad al-Masri ( أبو جهاد المصري ) (born c. 1961, d. 2008) was purported by US authorities to operate in Iran as the head of media and propaganda for al-Qaeda, and "may also be the Chief of External Operations for al Qaeda".[1] The name Abu Jihad is an informal or assumed name meaning roughly "father of the holy war", and al-Masri simply means the Egyptian. He is believed[2] to have been killed in an US airstrike in Pakistan on October 31, 2008.
Al-Hakim seems to be the person who appeared in an August 2006 as-Sahab (al-Qaeda) video to announce the merger of al-Qaeda with part of the Egyptian caliphist group al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya. He is identified in that video as Muhammad Khalil Hasan al-Hukaymah ( محمد خليل حسن الحكايمة ) and more briefly as Muhammad Khalil al-Hukaymah (محمد خليل الحكايمة) and as Abu Jihad al-Masri. In that video al-Hukaymah is introduced by Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is also Egyptian and a former Gama'a affiliate (see e.g. Fatāwā of Osama bin Laden). The video claims that al-Hukaymah joined al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya in 1979 and was arrested in connection with the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Al Sadat in 1981, and subsequently rearrested several times in various countries. Zawahiri claims in that video that Muhammad al-Islambouli (brother of assassin Khalid al-Islambouli) had joined al-Qaeda with al-Hukaymah. Other al-Qaeda propaganda[3][4] claims that al-Hukaymah worked with Refai Ahmed Taha (former Gama'a leader and affiliate of al-Zawahiri), but that is uncorroborated.
Al-Hakim has authored several books and short pamphlets on the topic of jihad. Myth of Delusion, an analysis of the American intelligence community, was released in August 2006. In September of the same year, a short piece entitled Towards A New Strategy in Resisting the Occupier was posted to the defunct jihadist website www.althabeton.co.nr. This essay, while supporting continued large scale operations against Americans in Iraq and Israelis in Palestine, also encourages "individual jihads" involving only small groups or individuals using constant low-level violence to disrupt "occupying forces." Al-Hakim also stresses the need to consider public opinion in planning operations, discouraging beheadings or operations that can cause large scale casualties to innocent Muslims.[5]
 | This section documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this section may not reflect the most current information. (November 2008) |
On 1 November 2008 AFP quoted an unnamed senior Pakistani intelligence source saying that al-Hakim was killed in the previous day's drone strike on a car in North Waziristan.[6]
Further reading
- Al‐Qa’ida’s Spymaster Analyzes the U.S. Intelligence Community by Brian Fishman, 6 November 2006; a brief military-academic study of al-Hukaymah's book The Myth of Delusion
- The Myth of Delusion
References
- ^ Rewards For Justice wanted poster of al-Hakim, US Department of State
- ^ Al-Qaeda propaganda chief killed in Pakistan strike, AFP
- ^ Tawhed website, in Arabic; access is blocked in some jurisdictions
- ^ Copy of Tawhed's claims about al-Hukaymah, at the website of Hani al-Sibai
- ^ Muhammad Khalil al-Hakaymah, Towards a New Strategy In Resisting the Occupier, 11 Sept 2006.
- ^ Al-Qaeda propaganda chief killed in Pakistan strike: officials, AFP