Abdullah Abd al-Rahman 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.

History

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. He headed al-Qaeda's political committee and was a member of the Shura Council. He has been described as operating as a "trusted lieutenant" of the leader of

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

, Ayman al-Zawahiri with whom al-Masri worked in Sudan and Afghanistan.

Arrest

He left

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

and prior to the United States invasion of Afghanistan. He fled to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, 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, Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah and Sulaiman Abu Ghaith. According to a statement that Sulaiman Abu Ghaith gave to the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

, four al-Qaeda leaders were first jailed in an Iranian intelligence building in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

for approximately one year and eight months.

Release by Iran

In September 2015 it was reported that Abu Khayr al-Masri was released by Iran in March 2015 together with other al-Qaeda leaders including Saif al-Adel and Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah in a prisoner exchange. He was reported to have then traveled to Syria with three men to join the Al-Nusra Front branch of al-Qaeda.

Syria

On 28 July 2016, the Al-Minaret al-Bayda media wing of the

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

al-Qaeda branch Jabhat al-Nusra released an audio message from him claiming that the Nusra front had cut all connections with al-Qaeda and renamed it the Fateh al-Sham Front.

Death

Reports surfaced on 26 February 2017 that al-Masri had been killed in a U.S. airstrike in his car in Al-Mastumah in the Syrian province of

Idlib Idlib (, ; also spelt Idleb or Edlib) is a city in northwestern Syria, and is the capital of the Idlib Governorate. It has an elevation of nearly above sea level, and is southwest of Aleppo. It is located near the border with Turkey. History ...

. There was no immediate official confirmation from either the United States or al-Qaeda. '' Guardian'' journalists Tom McCarthy and Martin Chulov later reported that jihadist leaders confirmed that al-Masri was killed in the drone strike. The airstrike also killed another Tahrir al-Sham militant traveling in the car. A US intelligence official and al-Qaeda later confirmed that al-Masri had been killed in the strike, which used a variant of the AGM-114 Hellfire missile. This weapon, known as the AGM-114 R9X, lacks an explosive warhead. Instead, it deploys six blades just before impact so it may kill its target while reducing the likelihood of harm to people nearby.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masri, Abu Khayr 1957 births 2017 deaths People from Kafr El Sheikh Governorate Egyptian Islamic Jihad People sentenced to death in absentia Egyptian al-Qaeda members Egyptian people imprisoned abroad Foreign nationals imprisoned in Iran Assassinated al-Qaeda leaders Al-Qaeda leaders Assassinated al-Nusra Front members Al-Nusra Front members Deaths by American drone strikes in Syria