Abu Khayr al-Masri
| Ahmad Hasan Abu al-Khayr al-Masri | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Abdullah Muhammad Rajab Abd al-Rahman 3 November 1957 Kafr el-Sheikh, Egypt |
| Died | 26 February 2017 (aged 59) Idlib Governorate, Syria |
| Nationality | Egyptian |
| Occupation | Deputy leader of al-Qaeda |
Abdullah Muhammad Rajab Abd al-Rahman, known as Ahmad Hasan Abu al-Khayr al-Masri, (3 November 1957 – 26 February 2017) was an Egyptian al-Qaeda leader who has been described as the general deputy to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Al-Masri was a member of Egyptian Islamic Jihad alongside Ayman al-Zawahiri and fled the country in the mid 1980s along with many other Islamic militants. In the mid 90s, he fought with Arab volunteers in the Balkans during the Bosnian War. He was sentenced to death in Egypt, in absentia, in 1998, in the case of the Returnees from Albania, for allegedly being responsible of a series of terror attacks in Egyptian towns during the 1990s.
He has headed al-Qaeda's political committee and has been a member of the Shura Council. He has been described as operating as a "trusted lieutenant" of the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri with whom al-Masri worked in Sudan and Afghanistan. He was an explosives expert and it has been alleged he was involved in the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. He allegedly married a daughter of Osama bin Laden.
He left Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks and prior to the United States invasion of Afghanistan. He fled to Iran, where he was arrested in Sistan and Baluchestan Province in April 2003. Also arrested alongside him were other senior al-Qaeda leaders including Saif al-Adel, Abu Mohammed al-Masri and Sulayman Abu Ghayth. According to a statement that Sulayman Abu Ghayth gave to the Federal Bureau of Investigation four al-Qaeda leaders were first jailed in an Iranian intelligence building in Tehran for approximately one year and eight months.
...
Wikipedia