Mustafa Ahmed Muhammad Uthman Abu al-Yazid (), better known as Saeed al-Masri () or simply al-Masri, (February 27, 1955 - May 21, 2010) was an

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

who was alleged to have acted as the financial chief for

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 ...

. Along with Mahfouz Ould al-Walid and

Saif al-Adel Mohamed Salah al-Din al-Halim Zaidan (; born 11 April 1960/1963), commonly known by his ''nom de guerre'' Saif al-Adel (), is an Egyptian Islamic militant who is the '' de facto'' leader of al-Qaeda. Previously an Egyptian Army officer, Al-Adel ...

, al-Masri was believed to have opposed 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 ...

two months prior to their execution. He was killed in a

targeted killing Targeted killing is a form of assassination carried out by governments Extrajudicial killing, outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield. Since the late 20th century, the legal status of targeted killing has become a subject of contention wit ...

drone airstrike in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

on May 21, 2010.

In Pakistan

He was initially arrested among hundreds of others following the assassination of

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...

in 1981.

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

Senior al-Qaeda commander killed in Pakistan
August 12, 2008 He was imprisoned for three years in Egypt, and shortly after he joined

Egyptian Islamic Jihad The Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ; ), formerly called simply Islamic Jihad () and the Liberation Army for Holy Sites, originally referred to as al-Jihad, and then the Jihad Group, or the Jihad Organization, was an Egyptian Islamist group active ...

, and in 1988 went to Afghanistan. He had two wives and several sons and daughters, including one married to the son of Sheikh Omar Abd al-Rahman.Michael Scheuer (July 3, 2007
''Al-Qaeda's New Leader in Afghanistan: A Profile of Abu al-Yazid''
Terrorism Focus Volume 4, Issue 21. The Jamestown Foundation. Washington, D.C., pp. 5–7. As of 1991, al-Masri was working as the financial chief for al-Qaeda, running the ''Mektabh al-Muhassiba'' (accounting office) in

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

. He was alleged to have appointed Ibrahim al-Qosi as his deputy to handle money destined for

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

projects.

In Sudan

Al-Masri set up a financial office on McNimr Street in

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

on June 9, 1993, from where he managed al-Qaeda's payroll. al-Fadl aided al-Masri until he was replaced by Abu Dijana al-Yemeni and Abdallah Lubnani. After receiving his pilot license,

L'Houssaine Kherchtou L'Houssaine Kherchtou (born 15 May 1964) was an early initiate in al-Qaeda, joining the militant group in 1991. In 2000, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder, but as he was the chief witness against four of his former colleagues, all of whom w ...

returned to the Sudan in December 1995, but was appalled to find that his wife, heavily pregnant and in need of $500 for a

cesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section, cesarean, or caesarean delivery, is the surgical procedure by which one or more babies are delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen. It is often performed because vaginal delivery would ...

, was begging on the streets for money to allow her entrance to Khartoum's general hospital. Kherchtou went to al-Masri and asked him to cover his wife's medical bills, and was upset upon being informed there was no money to spare and al-Masri suggested he take her to a Muslim charitable hospital for free treatment. He angrily demanded to know "if it was your wife or your daughter, you would take her there", and later recounted that he was angry enough to have shot al-Masri if he had had a gun at the time.Benjamin, Daniel & Steven Simon. "The Age of Sacred Terror", 2002Vest, Jason. American Prospect
Pray and Tell
, June 19, 2005Bergen, Peter. "The Osama bin Laden I Know", 2006. p. 141 & 154

Return to Pakistan, claims of death

In May 2007, al-Masri released a video promising Americans that

troops had been training through the winter and were ready to begin a fresh summer offensive in

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 ...

.Al-Jazirah carries video remarks by 'new' al-Qa'ida official in Afghanistan
May 27, 2007. In December, al-Masri was said to have claimed responsibility for the

assassination of Benazir Bhutto The assassination of Benazir Bhutto () took place on 27 December 2007 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Benazir Bhutto, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan and then-leader of the opposition party Pakistan People's Party, had been campaigning ahead o ...

, telling Adnkronos International that "we terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat

mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' (), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' (), an Arabic term that broadly refers to people who engage in ''jihad'' (), interpreted in a jurisprudence of Islam as the fight on behalf of God, religion or the commun ...

". The

Asia Times Online ''Asia Times'' (), formerly known as ''Asia Times Online'', is a Hong Kongbased English language news media publishing group, covering politics, economics, business, and culture from an Asian perspective. ''Asia Times'' publishes in English and ...

also reported that it had received a claim of responsibility from al-Masri by telephone. al-Masri allowed himself to be interviewed on

Geo Television Geo News () is a old technology foundation Pakistani news channel owned by the Jang Media Group. It was launched in October 2002 as the news and current affairs program was under its flagship channel Geo TV, which later in 2004, Geo TV decided ...

in July 2008 following the Danish embassy bombing, which he claimed were carried out by a Saudi follower of al-Qaeda. Pakistan's

DAWN Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

reported him killed on August 13, 2008, in an airstrike in

Bajaur Bajaur District (, ), formerly Bajaur Agency, is a district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Prior to 2018, Bajaur Agency was the northernmost component of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), a semi-a ...

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

Al-Qa'eda's Abu Saeed al-Masri 'killed on Afghan border'
August 12, 2008

al-Qaeda leader among 18 killed in Bajaur
August 13, 2008

Tehrik-i-Taliban The Pakistani Taliban, officially the Tehreek-i-Taliban-e-Pakistan (TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani border. Formed in 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud, its current ...

spokesman

Maulvi Omar Maulvi Said Muhammad, better known as Maulvi Omar or Maulvi Umar, is a senior Taliban commander who was captured by the Pakistani security forces in August 2009. Omar, a spokesman for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was a close associate of ...

, himself captured five days after the attack, denied the claim that al-Masri had been killed. Others suggested that the report of his death was a Pakistani attempt to refute recent American accusations that sections of the ISI were still assisting al-Qaeda. On February 9, 2009, the Indian government received a video from al-Yazid in which he reiterated the promise of Pakistani retaliation if India launched a first strike. This video took everyone by surprise as he was presumed to be dead.

Confirmed death

He was reported as having been killed in a U.S.

drone attack Drone warfare is a form of warfare using military drones or military robots. The robots may be remote controlled or have varying levels of autonomy during their mission. Types of robots include unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponi ...

in Pakistan on May 21, 2010, along with his wife, three daughters and granddaughter. His death was confirmed by both US officials and

References

External links