Abdelhamid Abou Zeid

{{Infobox person

| name = Abdelhamid Abou Zeid

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1965|12|12}}{{cite web | url=https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20080717 | title=Anti-Terrorism designations | Office of Foreign Assets Control }}

| birth_place = Algeria

| death_date = {{death date and age|2013|2|25|1965|12|12|df=yes}}

| image = Abdelhamid Abou Zeid.jpg

| caption = Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, one of the leaders of AQIM.

| other_names = Emir of the South; {{nowrap|Mosab Abdelouadoud}}

| module = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes

|allegiance = {{flagicon image|Flag of al-Qaeda.svg|size=23px}} Al-Qaeda

|branch = {{flagicon image|ShababFlag.svg|size=23px}} AQIM
{{small|(?–2013)}}

|serviceyears = ?-2013

|rank = Governor (Emir) of Timbuktu

|battles =

Insurgency in the Maghreb

}}

Abdelhamid Abou Zeid (born Mohamed Ghadir;{{efn| The Algerian press has raised questions about his legal identity: Abid Hamadou or Mohamed Ghedir{{cite news|title=France confirms death of Al-Qaida chief Abou Zeid |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fgw-abou-zeid-20130323,0,6473195.story |access-date=24 March 2013 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=23 March 2013 |agency=Associated Press |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130324100752/http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fgw-abou-zeid-20130323%2C0%2C6473195.story |archive-date=24 March 2013 }} }} 12 December 1965 – 25 February 2013) was an Algerian national and Islamist jihadi militant and smuggler who, in about 2010, became one of the top three military commanders of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a Mali-based militant organization.{{cite news|url=http://blogs.channel4.com/lindsey-hilsum-on-international-affairs/has-france-killed-top-al-qaeda-commander-in-mali/1786|title=Has France killed a top al-Qaeda commander in Mali?|author=Lindsey Hilsum|newspaper=Channel4|date=20 October 2010|access-date=28 February 2013}}{{cite news| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mali-rebels-france-idUSBRE92305D20130304 | work=Reuters | title=France says al Qaeda chief Abou Zeid "probably" killed | date=4 March 2013}}{{cite web|author=Cheick Diouara |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0301/Abou-Zeid-killed-Local-Malians-say-it-happened-but-French-not-so-sure |title=Abou Zeid killed? Local Malians say it happened, but French not so sure |publisher=CSMonitor.com |date=1 March 2013 |access-date=24 May 2014}} He competed as the chief rival of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, an Algerian national who had become the major commander in AQIM and later head of his own group.{{cite news|url=http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2013/02/07/feature-02|title=In Amenas attack magnifies Belmokhtar, AQIM rift|newspaper=Magharebia|date=7 February 2013|access-date=28 February 2013}} Both gained wealth and power by kidnapping and ransoming European nationals. After taking control of Timbuktu in 2012, Abou Zeid established sharia law and destroyed Sufi shrines.

Abou Zeid was killed by French and Chadian troops on 25 February 2013 in fighting in Northern Mali. On 23 March, Zeid's death was "definitively confirmed" by the French president's office.

Early life

Abou Zeid was born in Algeria on 12 December 1965.{{cite news|last=Chikhi|first=Lamine |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mali-rebels-qaeda-idUKBRE91R1L820130228|title=Al Qaeda commander Abou Zeid killed in Mali – Algeria's Ennahar TV|newspaper=Reuters|date=28 February 2013|access-date=1 March 2013}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

Militant activities

Abou Zeid was one of the senior members of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, (AQIM), an Islamist militant organization.{{cite news|title=Chad President Deby: Al Qaeda's Abou Zeid killed in Mali|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21637829|access-date=5 March 2013|newspaper=BBC|date=2 March 2013}} He had been promoted by the emir of AQIM, Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud (a.k.a. Abdelmalek Droukdel); some commentators speculated that Wadoud wanted to have an alternative to Mokhtar Belmokhtar, an increasingly powerful commander in AQIM also operating in Mali.{{cite journal|last=Filiu|first=Jean Pierre|title=Could Al-Qaeda Turn African in the Sahel?|journal=Carnegie Papers|date=June 2010|url=http://carnegieendowment.org/files/al_qaeda_sahel.pdf|access-date=17 January 2013}}

Abou Zeid is believed to have ordered the executions of hostages, including Edwin Dyer in 2009 and Michel Germaneau in 2010.{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/28/abdelhamid-abu-zeid-killed_n_2781588.html|title=Abdelhamid Abu Zeid, Al Qaeda Commander, Reportedly Killed in Mali|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=28 February 2013 |access-date=28 February 2013}} He is believed to have been behind the kidnapping of more than 20 Westerners between 2008 and 2013. The victims were held to gain ransoms to fund the activities of AQIM.

When Abou Zeid controlled Timbuktu, he ordered amputations as punishment, and his forces destroyed historic Sufi shrines.{{cite news|author=Cheick Diouara|url=http://www.torontosun.com/2013/03/01/abou-zeid-killed-mali-locals-say-al-qaida-commander-dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130412011642/http://www.torontosun.com/2013/03/01/abou-zeid-killed-mali-locals-say-al-qaida-commander-dead|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 April 2013|title=Abou Zeid killed: Mali locals say al-Qaida commander dead|newspaper=Toronto Sun|date=1 March 2013|access-date=1 March 2013}}

With both Abou Zeid and Belmokhtar exerting power in the Sahel region, in the fall of 2012, Wadoud appointed Djamel Okacha (also known as Yahya Abou el-Hammam) as the overall commander of AQIM in the Sahara, in an effort to keep control. According to a memo from him to Abou Zeid found in Timbuktu, Wadoud was concerned that the rapid push to establish Sharia law would provoke armed intervention. In January 2013, France and West African nations responded to the Malian government's request for help and entered with troops in northern Mali to dislodge AQIM.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/03/world/aqim-double-blow/ |author= Tim Lister and Paul Cruickshank|title=Al Qaeda reported to suffer double blow in Sahara|newspaper=CNN|date=26 January 2013|access-date=6 March 2013}}{{cite news|last=Hinshaw|first=Drew|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324662404578333971047215246 |title=Chad Claims Killing of al Qaeda Commander|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=1 March 2013|access-date=6 March 2013}}

Leading a contingent of Islamists in central Mali, Abou Zeid attacked the small town of Diabaly in January 2013.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/20/AR2010102005252.html |title='Emir of the south' Abu Zeid poised to take over al-Qaeda in NW Africa|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=20 October 2010|access-date=18 January 2013|first=Edward|last=Cody}}{{cite news|title=Algerian hostage crisis raises the stakes in Mali|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/algerian-hostage-crisis-raises-the-stakes-in-mali/story-e6frg6so-1226556138023|access-date=18 January 2013|newspaper=AFP|date=18 January 2013}}

At the request of the Malian government, the French launched a quick intervention in January to drive the radical Islamists from northern Mali. They entered the area with 1,200 French troops, 800 Chadian soldiers and some elements of the Malian army, fighting in the Adrar mountain range.

Death

Abou Zeid was reported killed along with 40 militants on 25 February 2013, by French and Chadian troops near the mountainous region of Tigargara, Northern Mali.{{cite news|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2013/02/28/un-chef-d-aqmi-a-ete-tue-par-l-armee-francaise-au-mali_1840892_3212.html|title=Un chef d'AQMI tué par l'armée française au Mali|newspaper=Le Monde|date=28 February 2013|access-date=28 February 2013}} At the time, he and his men were believed to be holding at least four French citizens who had been kidnapped in 2010 in Niger. His death was first reported by Algeria's independent Ennahar TV on 28 February 2013. On 1 March 2013, Idriss Deby, President of Chad, said his forces had killed Abou Zeid during fighting in northern Mali.{{cite news|title=Chad Says Forces Killed Top Al-Qaida Commander|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/chad-says-forces-killed-top-alqaida-commander/1613626.html|newspaper=Voice of America|access-date=1 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130302061520/http://www.voanews.com/content/chad-says-forces-killed-top-alqaida-commander/1613626.html|archive-date=2 March 2013|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|title=Conflicting accounts emerge over AQIM leader's reported death|journal=Long War Journal|date=3 March 2013|url=http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2013/03/conflicting_accounts_over_aqim.php|access-date=5 March 2013}} His death was confirmed by an Al Qaeda member on 5 March.{{cite news|title=Al Qaeda leader Abou Zeid 'killed in Mali'|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20130304-al-qaeda-confirms-abou-zeid-death-mali-0|access-date=5 March 2013|newspaper=FRANCE 24|date=5 March 2013}}{{cite news|title=Al Qaeda confirms Abou Zeid killed in Mali|url=http://globalnation.inquirer.net/66673/al-qaeda-confirms-abou-zeid-killed-in-mali-report|access-date=10 March 2013|newspaper=Inquirer|date=4 March 2013|agency=AFP|location=Nouakchott}} According to a Reuters security source, he was replaced as AQIM's leader by Algerian Djamel Okacha (a.k.a. Yahya Abu al-Humam).{{cite news|first=Lamine |last=Chikhi|date=24 March 2013|title=Algerian Okacha replaces Abou Zeid as Qaeda-linked group's leader|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-algeria-qaeda-okacha-idUKBRE92N0C420130324|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918005412/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-algeria-qaeda-okacha-idUKBRE92N0C420130324|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 September 2016|work=Reuters|access-date=24 March 2013}}

On 16 June 2013, AQIM officially confirmed the death of Abou Zeid in a martyrdom statement.{{cite news| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/16/abou-zeid-dead-aqim-confirms-death-of-al-qaeda-leader_n_3450611.html |title=Abou Zeid Dead: AQIM Confirms Death of Al Qaeda Leader |date=16 June 2013 |access-date=19 June 2014| work=Huffington Post }}