Abu Ubaidah al-Masri
{{Short description|Egyptian al-Qaeda member}}
Abu Ubaidah al-Masri ({{IPAc-en|ɑː|l|_|ˈ|m|ɑː|s|r|i}}; {{langx|ar|ابو عبيده المصري}}; died December 2007) was an al-Qaeda operative in Pakistan. Al-Masri was 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.
Biography
Al-Masri was Egyptian (the epithet literally means 'the Egyptian') but he received combat experience, and terrorist and insurgent training in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya.
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 | title=New Generation of Qaeda Chiefs Is Seen on Rise | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/02/world/middleeast/02qaeda.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp | work=The New York Times | date=April 2, 2008 | access-date=2008-04-02 }}
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.
Death
According to U.S. government counterterrorism sources, al-Masri is believed to have died in December 2007, in Pakistan's tribal region, probably due to hepatitis.{{cite news |author=Jonathan S. Landay |title=Al Qaida operative who helped direct London bombings is dead |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/33057.html |publisher=McClatchy Newspapers |date=April 8, 2008 |access-date=2008-04-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410225338/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/33057.html |archive-date=April 10, 2008 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}{{cite news | url=https://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 |author2=DeYoung, Karen | newspaper=Washington Post | date=2008-04-09 | access-date=2008-04-09}} Al-Masri was between 40 and 50 years old.
References
{{Reflist}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080405225052/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
{{Al-Qaeda}}
{{Militant Islamism in the Middle East}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masri, Abu Ubaidah al-}}
Category:Egyptian al-Qaeda members
Category:Year of birth missing