Abu Ayyub al-Masri

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Abu Ayyub al-Masari (Father of Ayyub the Egyptian)
photo from US Department of State
Born	c. 1967  Egypt

Abu Ayyub al-Masri (Arabic: أبو أيّوب المصري ‎ Translation: Father of Ayyub (the eldest) the Egyptian) (born c. 1967) and Abu Hamza al-Muhajir ( أبو حمزة المهاجر Translation: Father of Hamza (the eldest) the immigrant) are two pseudonyms of the same person according to an FBI wanted poster and the U.S. State Department. ^[1][2] In a Reuters article it was alleged that a posting on an unnamed Islamist website that Abu Hamza al-Muhajir was announced to be the new leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq on June 12, 2006.^[3]

Al-Masri was also a member of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. He was a senior aide to former leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike on June 7, 2006. On that day, U.S. Pentagon sources identified him as among the prime candidates to assume direction of the Iraqi insurgency.^[4]

He was described by the United States military as a native Egyptian who was about 39 years of age.^[5] He joined the Muslim Brotherhood ^[6], and in 1982 he joined Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which later became part of al-Qaeda. He went to Afghanistan in 1999, where he became an explosives expert. In 2004 he was put in charge of al-Qaeda’s overseas networks, and in 2006 he succeeded al-Zarqawi as the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Under the name Abu Ayyub al-Masri, he has been wanted by Coalition and Iraqi authorities since 2005 or possibly earlier.^[7] Washington Post wrote,^[8] "Officials in Washington said Masri is also known -- and equally unknown -- by the name Yusif al-Dardiri [ يوسف الدرديري ]". Montasser el-Zayat reportedly agrees that Abu Ayyub's real name is Yusif al-Dardiri.^[9]

Al-Masri was thought to have been born around 1967.^[8] Since 2003, he served as an aide to his predecessor, al-Zarqawi.^[7] He joined the Muslim Brotherhood^[10], and in 1982 he joined Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which later became part of al-Qaeda.

The Mujahideen Shura Council, which claims to speak for Tenzheem Qa'adah al-Jihad and other groups in Iraq, named Abu Hamza al-Muhajir ^[11]) as its new emir in June 2006. However, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley said, “It’s not clear at this point who is in (control). We’ve seen a number of different reports… In our view it’s not yet settled.”

United States Army Major General William Caldwell, spokesman for the coalition military forces in Iraq, said another possible candidate for al-Qaeda leadership in Iraq is Iraqi Abdullah al-Rashid al-Baghdadi, another Mujahedin Shura Council leader. ^[12] Yasser al-Sirri, an Egyptian in charge of the Islamic Observation Center in London, thinks Baghdadi is more likely to be the new leader, and that he is “95 percent sure that this al-Masri doesn’t exist.” He speculated that al-Qaeda may want the public to believe that their new leader in Iraq is an Egyptian and not Iraqi “because they work under the Islamic banner…and they seek international jihad.” ^[13]

On October 3, 2006, "Abu Hamza al-Muhajir" was erroneously^[14] believed to have been killed during a US raid in Haditha^[15].

On May 1, 2007 Iraqi officials announced they had information that Abu Ayyub al-Masri was killed in a clash between rival Sunni fighters in the Taji area. Brigadier General Abdul Kareem Khalaf of the Iraqi Interior Ministry told Reuters: "We have definite intelligence reports that al-Masri was killed today."^[16]. This was denied later that day in an Islamic State of Iraq press release^[17].

On May 2, 2007 Rear Admiral Mark Fox USN, stated: "At this point I haven't seen any reports that say we have any bodies or that we have taken custody or that we had any direct participation in that."^[18] As of May 3, it appears that the person killed was actually Muharib Abdul-Latif al-Jabouri, a senior member of Al-Qaida in Iraq and the "public relations minister" of al-Baghdadi's shadow cabinet.^{[citation needed]}

On May 5, 2007 it was reported that an audio tape from "Abu Hamza al-Muhajir"^{[verification needed]} had been posted on a Web site used by Islamists. The tape was published on May 4, 2007.^[19], but the date of when the recording was made is unknown. It does not mention the claims of his death.

• His wanted poster was removed from the United States Justice Department website as of April 8, 2008.

• US Slashes Reward Posted for Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq U.S. News & World Report May 12, 2008

Contents 1 His identity 2 Biography 3 Reported arrest 4 References

[edit] His identity

Upon the death of Zarqawi, the American military mentioned at least two candidates to succeed him: Abu Ayyub al-Masri (the last living member of the original Mujahideen Shura Council^[2]) and Abdullah bin Rashid al-Baghdadi (the current "emir" of that council).^[20][13] Both were already wanted by Coallition and Iraqi authorities.

Caldwell also said Masri and Muhajir “were probably one and the same,” a statement greeted with derision on al-Qaeda-friendly internet message boards. ^[21] Egyptian lawyer Montasser el-Zayat, who was in jail with Ayman al-Zawahiri from 1981-1984, said, “His codename [al-Masri] doesn’t ring a bell for me; he’s not one of the wanted Jihadis in Egypt.” ^[13] Also, according to the Associated Press, the style of clothing and facial hair of the person identified as Masri in the photo released by the United States Defense Intelligence Agency were more consistent with someone from the Gulf States than someone from Egypt. ^[13]

According to the Washington Post some Jordanian and American officials claim that al-Masri used another alias of Yusif al-Dardiri.^[8]

A Cairo lawyer and a former member of "the Jihad group" Mamdouh Ismail has stated that the Egyptian man identified in the photograph by the US as the new al-Qaeda leader in Iraq has been in jail in Egypt for seven years.^[22] The lawyer was later arrested due to his connections to Al Qaeda.[1]

[edit] Biography

According to General Caldwell^[20], Masri joined Ayman al-Zawahiri’s Egyptian Islamic Jihad in 1982, where he was Zawahiri’s protégé. He remained a member after that organization was merged into Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda. He went to bin Laden’s Farouk (or al-Farouq) camp in Afghanistan in 1999, where he worked with explosives, especially truck bombs and roadside bombs like those currently used in Iraq. After the American invasion of Afghanistan, he went to Iraq, where he took charge of al-Qaeda’s operations in the southern part of the country.^[23][24] The United States military said that Masri "helped draw other insurgent groups into al-Qaeda’s fold."^[24] DefenseLINK News reported that Masri "helped establish the Baghdad cell of al-Qaeda in early 2003". Soon after, he "worked the ‘rat line’ down the Euphrates River Valley supplying suicide bombers via Syria."^[10][25] Masri organized fund-raising and recruitment efforts in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East to aid in al-Qaeda’s activities in Iraq. One envoy he sent for those purposes was Yasser al-Misri, arrested in Algeria in July 2005.

Masri participated in the major 2004 battle of Fallujah,^[26] Zarqawi, a Sunni Muslim, often attacked the Shiite Muslim population of Iraq, possibly against his leaders’ wishes.

Masri has become a primary target of the American military in Iraq. General Caldwell said, “Al-Masri’s intimate knowledge of al-Qaeda in Iraq and his close relationship with [Zarqawi’s] operations will undoubtedly help facilitate and enable them to regain some momentum if in fact he is the one that assumes the leadership role.” ^[27] And on another occasion he said, “There is no question that if we can take him down that will just disrupt the organization to the point to where it would be ineffective for a long period of time.” ^[28] One anti-Masri tactic Caldwell mentioned was portraying Masri as foreigner who has no significant ties to the Iraqi people. ^[29]

On 20 September 2006 Abu Hamza al-Muhajir claimed responsibility for personally killing Turkish hostage Murat Yuce in a video that was first released in August of 2004.^[30] Murat Yuce was killed with three gunshot wounds to the head in a video released on the internet. He was kidnapped in late July 2004 along with a co-worker named Aytullah Gezmen. Aytullah Gezmen was released in September 2004 after "repenting" working for the Americans. [2] [3]

According to the Associated Press, the Bush administration posted a $200,000 bounty on Masri even before Zarqawi’s death.^[13] Now, the reward is up to $5 million.^[2]

Not much is known about him. 'Muhajir' is thought to be a pseudonym.^[31] After the death of al-Zarqawi, an American military spokesperson identified him as the most likely to succeed al-Zarqawi. Some analysts identify Muhajir as an Egyptian militant Abu Ayyub al-Masri, who trained in Afghanistan, formed al Qaeda's first cell in Baghdad, and is sought by the U.S. military as a Zarqawi aide.^[32]. As of 15 June 2006, the U.S. military has confirmed this identification. ^[33]There has been some debate as to the accuracy of the U.S. military's claim. On July 6, 2006 an Egyptian newspaper indicated that Mamduh Ismail, an Egyptian lawyer, reported that Sharif Hazaa, or Abu Ayyub al-Masri, has been in a Cairo prison for the past seven years.^[34] The lawyer was later arrested due to his connections to Al Qaeda.[4] According to the Washington Post some unidentified American and Jordanian officials claim that al-Masri has another alias of Yusuf al-Dardiri. ^[8]

A claim posted on an Islamic website said that Abu Hamza al-Muhajir personally killed two U.S. Army soldiers who disappeared after an ambush in Iraq on June 16, 2006, as a means of "making his presence felt." Their bodies were later found mutilated and booby-trapped in Yusufiya, Iraq on June 19, 2006. However Rita Katz, the head of SITE institute, said she believed that message was a fake. [5][6] [7]

Muhajir means "immigrant", "emigrant" or "exile" in Arabic, and is often used to refer to the group of the Prophet Muhammad and his followers who fled to Medina (the Hijra). This may indicate that he is not from Iraq^[35], but rather imply a person who was an "exile" in his own land, as per the original meaning of muhajir. In recent weeks Zarqawi's group has tried to establish a more "local" profile in an attempt to appeal to potential Iraqi recruits, and the name "Muhajir" may alternatively indicate an Iraqi Sunni Muslim who opposed Saddam Hussein. It is known that several radical Sunnis native to Iraq - among them several individuals who were close to Zarqawi and initially believed likely candidated for successorship - were influenced by the former leader's 1990s campaign of reislamization which was initially hailed by Islamist circles (the prime motivation for the secular regime was to make itself more appealing to religiously motivated Iraqis and other Arabs) but dismissed as a sham later.^[36]

[edit] Reported arrest

The Iraqi Defense Ministry announced on May 8, 2008 that a person claiming to be al-Masri had been arrested in Mosul^[37]. This does not seem to be correct however; according the US military spokesperson Peggy Kageleiry^{[citation needed]}, a person called Abu Hamza al-Muhajir or similarly^{[verification needed]} was indeed arrested, but turned out to be not the wanted militant.^[38]

[edit] References