Abu Ubaidah al-Masri

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." [cite news | author=Mark Mazzetti | authorlink= | coauthors= | title=New Generation of Qaeda Chiefs Is Seen on Rise | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/02/world/middleeast/02qaeda.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp | work=The New York Times | publisher= | date=April 2, 2008 | accessdate=2008-04-02 ]

The information about al-Masri's ascendency through the al-Qaeda leadership allegedly came from interrogations of al-Qaeda operatives captured in Pakistan.Fact|date=October 2007 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.

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. [cite news | author=Jonathan S. Landay | authorlink= | coauthors= | title=Al Qaida operative who helped direct London bombings is dead | url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/33057.html | work= | publisher=McClatchy Newspapers | date=April 8, 2008 | accessdate=2008-04-09 ] [cite news | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/09/AR2008040901793.html?hpid=moreheadlines | title=Top Al-Qaeda Planner Believed to Have Died, U.S. Officials Say | first=Craig | last=Whitlock | coauthors=DeYoung, Karen | publisher=Washington Post | date=2008-04-09 | accessdate=2008-04-09] Al-Masri was between 40 and 50 years old.
* [http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-04-09-voa78.cfm Terrorism Experts Predict Long Hunt for Bin Laden] VOA April 9 2008

References

* [http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-ubaida2apr02,0,6959841,full.story "A look inside Al Qaeda"] by Sebastian Rotella, April 2, 2008, "The Los Angeles Times," retrieved April 9, 2008