Al Qaeda has released a eulogy for Abu al Khayr al Masri, who was killed in a US airstrike in Idlib, Syria in late February. The eulogy emphasizes his close relationship with Osama bin Laden and his role as al Qaeda’s “representative” in meetings with the Taliban. Once in Syria, Masri was “honored” to oversee “combat operations” in the insurgents’ “management and planning rooms.”
Al Qaeda agitated for Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman’s release from a US prison for more than 20 years. Rahman, whose teachings had a significant influence on al Qaeda’s development, was convicted in 1995 of conspiring to attack several New York City landmarks.
The Pentagon announced that 11 al Qaeda operatives were killed in a pair of airstrikes near Idlib, Syria earlier this month. One of them, Abu Hani al Masri, is described as “a legacy al Qaeda terrorist with ties to the group’s senior leaders, including Ayman al Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden.”
The State Department has designated Ibrahim al Banna as a terrorist. Al Banna has served as an al Qaeda official in Yemen since the 1990s. He originally joined the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) and has been one of Ayman al Zawahiri’s loyalists for decades.
Jabhat Fath al Sham, al Qaeda’s rebranded branch in Syria, announced earlier today that Ahmed Salama Mabrouk has been killed in an airstrike in Idlib. Mabrouk was an Egyptian al Qaeda veteran and served on Jabhat Fath al Sham’s elite shura council.
Abu Muhammad al Julani announced that Al Nusrah Front has been rebranded as Jabhat Fath Al Sham. Many have read into Julani’s statement as a formal disassociation with al Qaeda. But Julani didn’t actually say that, as his language was intentionally ambiguous. While sitting next to a longtime al Qaeda veteran from Egypt, Julani did not explicitly say that his group has broken from al Qaeda.
Ahmed Salama Mabruk, a veteran Egyptian jihadist, is now a key figure in Al Nusrah Front. Mabruk’s dossier stretches back to the early 1980s, when he was first imprisoned following the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. He reportedly oversaw Egyptian Islamic Jihad and al Qaeda networks in the 1990s, before being captured in a CIA-led manhunt. He was released from an Egyptian prison following the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.
Thirwat Salah Shehata has been arrested in a suburb of Cairo. According to Egyptian officials, he had been training militants in eastern Libya. Shehata has been tracked by US intelligence for more than a decade.
Members of the Nasr City cell proudly display their loyalty to al Qaeda as they await trial in Egypt. The cell has multiple ties to al Qaeda. And one of its leaders, Muhammad Jamal al Kashef, trained some of the fighters who participated in the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.
A close look at Ansar Jerusalem’s attempted assassination of Egypt’s interior minister on Sept. 5, 2013 reveals multiple connections to al Qaeda’s international network.
Muhammad bin Mahmoud Rabie al Bahtiyti denounced both the current regime in Egypt and the previous Muslim Brotherhood-led government. He said he hoped the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood would give its supporters the chance to “review themselves and correct their path.”
The UN added Muhammad Jamal al Kashef to its al Qaeda sanctions list on Oct. 18. The US government previously designated Jamal on Oct. 7. The UN noted Jamal’s ties to the Sept. 11, 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, whereas the US government’s announcement did not. Jamal’s network continues to plan attacks.
Mohammed Zawahiri, the brother of al Qaeda’s emir, is one of the 20 Egyptian jihadists who issued a statement calling upon Sunnis to launch attacks in Shiite-led countries in response to the Bashir al Assad regime’s offensive in Qusayr, Syria. Iran and Hezbollah have reportedly joined the fight in Qusayr alongside Assad’s forces.
Abu Obeida Sharif Khattab, an Egyptian who appeared in at least two videos with Mohammed al Zawahiri, died in an attack along with three other Egyptians in Mali earlier this month. Mohammed al Zawahiri is the younger brother of al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri.
Abd el Kader Mahmoud Mohamed el Sayed was a close advisor to al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri and served as a military commander in Afghanistan before he was killed. El Sayed was involved in the Luxor massacre and, while living in Milan, was recorded by Italian intelligence discussing terror plots against the West.
A British paper incorrectly reported that Mohammed al Zawahiri was arrested in Syria.
Al-Qaeda seeks foothold in Libya
Die Welt, a German daily, has published an account that jibes with The Long War Journal’s reporting on the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi.
Al Qaeda’s emir also lauded the imprisoned jihadist cleric and vowed to help free him from US custody.
MEMRI has published excerpts of Al Jazeera’s interview with Mohamed al Zawahiri, the brother of al Qaeda’s emir. Mohamed al Zawahiri justified 9/11 and al Qaeda’s terrorism in general during the interview. An Egyptian military court acquitted him earlier this year.
CNN interviewed the brother of al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri. Mohamed al Zawahiri is just one of many known and suspected terrorists to be freed from Egyptian prisons since the fall of Hosni Mubarak’s regime.
During a speech in Tahrir Square, the new Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, called for Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman to be freed. Rahman is a longtime ally of al Qaeda and was convicted by a US court for his involvement in terrorist plots.
Aboud al Zomor, who served as Egyptian Islamic Jihad’s first emir and was jailed for his role in Anwar Sadat’s assassination, said that Ayman al Zawahiri is no threat to Egypt and should be given safe haven.
In Cairo Quarter, Islamists Try to Profit From Revolution
Ahmed Omar Abdul Rahman, the son of the spiritual leader of the Egyptian Islamic Group, was killed today, according to the terror group.
Former Egyptian militants turn to politics
The Egyptian doctor who globalized his caliphate crusade
Guantanamo documents name Pakistan ISI as al Qaeda associate
Osama Hassan was a member of the Egyptian Islamic Group and may have played a role in getting that group’s external faction to merge with al Qaeda in 2006.
Sadat’s unrepentant killer aims for political future