Abu Ayyub al-Masri ( ; , ', translation: "Father of Ayyub the Egyptian"; 1967 – 18 April 2010), also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir
[Wanted Poster on al-Masri]
(in Arabic), US Department of State.[Wanted Poster on al-Masri](_blank)
, US Department of State. (; ', translation: "Father of Hamza the immigrant"), born Abdel Moneim Ezz El-Din Ali Al-Badawi ( ar, عبد المنعم عز الدين علي البدوي), was the leader of
Al-Qaeda in Iraq
Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI; ar, القاعدة في العراق, al-Qā'idah fī al-ʿIrāq) or Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia ( ar, القاعدة في بلاد الرافدين, al-Qā'idah fī Bilād ar-Rāfidayn), officially known as ''Tanzim Qaidat a ...
during the
Iraqi insurgency Iraqi insurgency may refer to:
* Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011), part of the Iraq War
** Iraqi insurgency (2003–2006), 2003–2006 phase of the Iraqi insurgency
** Iraqi civil war (2006–2008), multi-sided civil war in Iraq
* Iraqi insurgency (20 ...
, following the death of
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi ( ar, أَبُو مُصْعَبٍ ٱلزَّرْقَاوِيُّ, ', ''Father of Musab, from Zarqa''; ; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh (, '), was a Jordanian jihadist who ran a t ...
in June 2006.
He was war minister of the
Islamic State of Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI; ar, دولة العراق الإسلامية '), commonly referred to as al-Qaeda in Iraq ( ar, القاعدة في العراق '), is a militant Salafist jihadist group that aimed to establish an Islamic sta ...
from 2006–2010 and prime minister of the
Islamic State of Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI; ar, دولة العراق الإسلامية '), commonly referred to as al-Qaeda in Iraq ( ar, القاعدة في العراق '), is a militant Salafist jihadist group that aimed to establish an Islamic sta ...
from 2009–2010.
He was killed during a raid on his safehouse on 18 April 2010.
Entry in militant groups
Abdel Moneim Ezz El-Din Ali Al-Badawi was born in Kafr Al Asar,
Sharqia Governorate
Sharqia Governorate ( ar, محافظة الشرقية ', , rural: ) is the 3rd most populous of the governorates of Egypt. Located in the northern part of the country, its capital is the city of Zagazig.
Overview
Bilbeis is the former capital ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
.
He joined the
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...
and, according to General Caldwell, joined
Ayman al-Zawahiri
Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri (June 19, 1951 – July 31, 2022) was an Egyptian-born terrorist and physician who served as the second emir of al-Qaeda from June 16, 2011, until his death.
Al-Zawahiri graduated from Cairo University with ...
's
Egyptian Islamic Jihad
The Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ, ar, الجهاد الإسلامي المصري), formerly called simply Islamic Jihad ( ar, الجهاد الإسلامي, links=no) and the Liberation Army for Holy Sites, originally referred to as al-Jihad, and ...
in 1982, where he "worked with Zawahiri." Al-Masri went to
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
in 1999, where he attended
Osama bin Laden's al-Farouk camp, becoming an expert with explosives.
Marriage
al-Masri entered Yemen using a fake passport under the name "Yussef Haddad Labib" and taught in village schools. He married Hasna Yahia Ali Hussein, a native of
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
, in the capital
Sanaa
Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Governo ...
in 1998 and they had three children. Hasna was arrested in the same April 18 operation in the
Lake Tharthar
Lake Tharthar (also Therthar), and known in Iraq as Buhayrat ath-Tharthar ( ar, بحيرة الثرثار), is an artificial lake opened in 1956, situated 100 kilometers (62 mi) northwest of Baghdad between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers.
H ...
area, south of Baghdad, in which her husband was killed. "I only found out that he was Abu Ayyub al-Masri after the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," Hasna subsequently stated, referring to the Jordanian commander of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, who was killed in a 2006 US air raid and replaced by her husband. Hasna asserted that her husband had always been a "secretive character." In 2011, his wife Hasna was sentenced to death in Iraq.
Move to Iraq
After the American invasion of
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, al-Masri went to
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
via the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
in 2002, according to the subsequent account given by his widow. He lived initially in Baghdad's Karrada, then in the Amiriya fainal, and then al-Jadida, where he took charge of al-Qaeda's operations in the southern part of the country.
[Confusion swirls over Zarqawi successor](_blank)
UPI
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...
, 20 June 2006["New Terror Chief?"](_blank)
CNN transcripts, 15 June 2006 The United States military said that Masri "helped draw other insurgent groups into al-Qaeda’s fold."
''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
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...
River Valley supplying suicide bombers via
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
."
["Masri Now Leads Iraq Al Qaeda, Coalition Officials Say"](_blank)
, American Forces Press Service
DoD News Channel was a television channel broadcasting military news and information for the 2.6 million members of the U.S. Armed Forces. It was widely available in the United States as a standalone television channel, or as part of programming o ...
, 16 June 2006[Picture of a weakened Iraq insurgency](_blank)
''The Christian Science Monitor
''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...
'', 16 June 2006 After the US-led invasion, the family left
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
for Diyala to the north. Hasna related "The two-storey house where we were was hit in a US air raid. Then, one of the men was killed but my husband and I were able to escape to
Fallujah
Fallujah ( ar, ٱلْفَلُّوجَة, al-Fallūjah, Iraqi pronunciation: ) is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jew ...
"
he Sunni Arab town west of Baghdad that was at the time a bastion of the anti-US insurgency">Sunni.html" ;"title="he Sunni">he Sunni Arab town west of Baghdad that was at the time a bastion of the anti-US insurgency al-Masri participated in the major 2004
battle of Fallujah. After US troops stormed the town in November 2004, the family moved again, this time to the town of
Second Battle of Fallujah">battle of Fallujah. After US troops stormed the town in November 2004, the family moved again, this time to the town of Abu Ghraib, on the western outskirts of the capital. In 2007, al-Masri and his family moved to the Lake Tharthar area. "We were changing houses the whole time, right up to his death," claimed Hasna.
[Al-Zarqawi’s death opens new windows into al-Qaeda network](_blank)
, AP, 18 June 2006
Killings allegedly committed by al-Masri
A claim posted on an Islamic website said that
Associated Press">AP, 18 June 2006
Killings allegedly committed by al-Masri
A claim posted on an Islamic website said that Abu Hamza al-Muhajir personally killed June 2006 abduction of U.S. soldiers in Iraq">two U.S. Army soldiers who disappeared after an ambush in Iraq on 16 June 2006, as a means of "making his presence felt." Their bodies were later found mutilated and booby-trapped in Yusufiyah, Iraq, on 19 June 2006.
On 20 September 2006, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir claimed responsibility for personally killing Turkish hostage Murat Yuce, whose execution was captured in a video first released in August 2004. Murat Yuce was killed with three gunshot wounds to the head. He had been kidnapped in late July 2004, along with Turk co-worker Aytullah Gezmen, who was released in September 2004.
Rise
Abu Ayyub al-Masri was on the list of persons wanted by the coalition forces and Iraqi authorities in 2005, or possibly earlier.
[Abu Ayyub al-Masri](_blank)
at GlobalSecurity.org
The
Mujahideen Shura Council, which included
Al-Qaeda in Iraq
Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI; ar, القاعدة في العراق, al-Qā'idah fī al-ʿIrāq) or Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia ( ar, القاعدة في بلاد الرافدين, al-Qā'idah fī Bilād ar-Rāfidayn), officially known as ''Tanzim Qaidat a ...
and other Iraqi insurgent groups, named Abu Hamza al-Muhajir as their new emir in June 2006. However,
National Security Advisor A national security advisor serves as the chief advisor to a national government on matters of security. The advisor is not usually a member of the government's cabinet but is usually a member of various military or security councils.
National sec ...
Stephen Hadley
Stephen John Hadley (born February 13, 1947) is an American attorney and senior government official who served as the 20th United States National Security Advisor from 2005 to 2009. He served under President George W. Bush during the second term ...
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."
After
Abu Omar al-Baghdadi
Hamid Dawud Mohamed Khalil al-Zawi ( ar, حَمِيدُ دَاوُدَ مُحَمَّدُ خَلِيلِ ٱلزَّاوِيِّ, Ḥamīd Dāwud Muḥammad Ḵalīl az-Zāwī; 1959 – 18 April 2010), known as Abu Hamza al-Baghdadi and Abu Omar ...
's alleged capture by the American forces on 7 March 2007, the media started reporting about al-Masri's standing in the insurgency, and a video tape was released to the media in which al-Masri proclaims al-Baghdadi "the ruler of believers", with Iraqi Qaeda fighters under his command. al-Masri, as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, was denoted as "al-Zarqawi's successor" by the Coalition and the Bush administration posted a bounty on him, later raised to $25 million.
In 2008, the bounty was reduced to $100,000, with Central Command spokesman
Jamie Graybeal
Jamie is a unisex name. It is a diminutive form of James or, more rarely, other names. It is also given as a name in its own right.
People Female
* Jamie Anne Allman (born 1977), American actress
* Jamie Babbit (born 1970), American film and te ...
stating that "The current assessment, based on a number of factors, shows that
l-Masriis not ... an effective leader of al Qaeda in Iraq as he was last year," although, as the spokesman stated, "for security reasons," he couldn't go into detail about the assessment. The reduction of reward money knocked al-Masri off the U.S. State Department "Rewards for Justice" program list and placed him on a Department of Defense list for people with lower bounties.
On October 24, 2008 an interview with Abu Ayyub al-Masri was released by the
Al-Furqan Institute for Media Production. The audio runs for a total of 44 minutes. At one point he said his group carried out its "last operation in Britain, a good part of which was
launched on the airport, and the rest was not carried out due to a mistake made by one of the brothers.". There is support for this claim as just before the two men set off from Loch Lomond to Glasgow airport Kafeel Ahmed sent a text message to his brother Sabeel in Liverpool telling him to go to an email account. Secondly Bilal Abdulla (the other bomber) addressed his will to Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, “Minister of War,” who were the leader and deputy leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. There were reports that al-Muhajir recruited people for the plot between 2004 and 2005.
Reports of death
'Abu Hamza al-Muhajir' was erroneously reported killed during a US raid in
Haditha
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, image_skyline = Inbound3292807512093856589نواعير حديثة.jpg
, imagesize =
, image_caption =
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, map_caption ...
in October 2006, and in an "internal battle between militants" in May 2007. The person killed in the latter report was actually Muharib Abdul Latif al-Jubouri, a senior member of
Al-Qaida in Iraq
Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI; ar, القاعدة في العراق, al-Qā'idah fī al-ʿIrāq) or Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia ( ar, القاعدة في بلاد الرافدين, al-Qā'idah fī Bilād ar-Rāfidayn), officially known as ''Tanzim Qaidat a ...
and the "public relations minister" of al-Baghdadi's shadow cabinet.
Confirmed death
On April 18, 2010, Abu Ayyub al-Masri was killed in a joint American and Iraqi operation near
Tikrit
Tikrit ( ar, تِكْرِيت ''Tikrīt'' , Syriac language, Syriac: ܬܲܓܪܝܼܬܼ ''Tagrīṯ'') is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Gover ...
. The coalition forces believed al-Masri to be wearing a suicide vest and proceeded cautiously. After the lengthy exchange of fire and bombing of the house, the Iraqi troops stormed inside and found two women still alive, one of whom was al-Masri's wife, identified as al-Masri,
Abu Omar al-Baghdadi
Hamid Dawud Mohamed Khalil al-Zawi ( ar, حَمِيدُ دَاوُدَ مُحَمَّدُ خَلِيلِ ٱلزَّاوِيِّ, Ḥamīd Dāwud Muḥammad Ḵalīl az-Zāwī; 1959 – 18 April 2010), known as Abu Hamza al-Baghdadi and Abu Omar ...
, and al-Baghdadi's son. A suicide vest was found on al-Masri's corpse, according to the Iraqi Army.
Iraqi Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki
Nouri Kamil Muhammad-Hasan al-Maliki ( ar, نوري المالكي; born 20 June 1950), also known as Jawad al-Maliki (), is secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party and was the prime minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014 and the vice president ...
announced the killings of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri at a news conference in Baghdad and showed reporters photographs of their corpses. "The attack was carried out by ground forces which surrounded the house, and also through the use of missiles," Maliki said. "During the operation computers were seized with e-mails and messages to the two biggest terrorists, Osama bin Laden and
is deputy
In linguistics, a copula (plural: copulas or copulae; abbreviated ) is a word or phrase that links the subject of a sentence to a subject complement, such as the word ''is'' in the sentence "The sky is blue" or the phrase ''was not being'' i ...
Ayman al-Zawahiri," Maliki added. U.S. forces commander Gen.
Raymond Odierno
Raymond Thomas Odierno (8 September 1954 – 8 October 2021) was an American military officer who served as a four-star general of the United States Army and as the 38th chief of staff of the Army. Prior to his service as chief of staff, Odiern ...
praised the operation. "The death of these terrorists is potentially the most significant blow to al-Qaeda in Iraq since the beginning of the insurgency," he said. "There is still work to do but this is a significant step forward in ridding Iraq of terrorists."
On April 25, 2010, a four-page announcement by the
Islamic State of Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI; ar, دولة العراق الإسلامية '), commonly referred to as al-Qaeda in Iraq ( ar, القاعدة في العراق '), is a militant Salafist jihadist group that aimed to establish an Islamic sta ...
organisation was posted on a militant website early Sunday confirming the deaths of al-Masri and al-Baghdadi. The
ISI's shariah minister, Abu al-Walid Abd al-Wahhab al-Mashadani, stated in the announcement that the two leaders were attending a meeting when "enemy forces" engaged them in battle and launched an airstrike on their location. The announcement, in an apparent reference to the previous Friday's extensive bomb attacks, claimed that the "Crusaders and the Shi'ites will exploit the incident to improve the image of Iraqi security services and give the enemy alliance an 'illusory' victory after the mass-casualty incidents carried out by the ISI in Baghdad."
US Vice-President
Joe Biden stated that the deaths of the top two al-Qaeda figures in Iraq are "potentially devastating" blows to the terror network there and proof that Iraqi security forces are gaining ground.
On May 14, 2010,
al-Nasser Lideen Illah Abu Suleiman ( ') replaced al-Masri as war minister of the
Islamic State of Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI; ar, دولة العراق الإسلامية '), commonly referred to as al-Qaeda in Iraq ( ar, القاعدة في العراق '), is a militant Salafist jihadist group that aimed to establish an Islamic sta ...
.
"SITE: Qaeda in Iraq names new 'war minister1"
MiddleEastOnline, 14 May 2010.
See also
* Abu Yaqub al-Masri
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masri, Abu Ayyub al-
1967 births
2010 deaths
Assassinated al-Qaeda leaders
Deaths by firearm in Iraq
Egyptian al-Qaeda members
Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Egyptian Islamists
Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood members
Egyptian Sunni Muslims
Fugitives
Fugitives wanted by Iraq
Leaders of Islamic terror groups
Members of al-Qaeda in Iraq
People from Sharqia Governorate
Salafi jihadists