Mustafa Ahmed Muhammad Uthman Abu al-Yazid ( ar, مصطفى أحمد محمد عثمان أبو اليزيد), better known as Saeed al-Masri ( ar, سعيد المصري) or simply al-Masri, (February 27, 1955 - May 21, 2010) was an

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

who was alleged to have acted as the financial chief for

al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

. Along with

Mahfouz Ould al-Walid Mahfouz Ould al-Walid (Arabic: محفوظ ولد الوالد), kunya Abu Hafs al-Mauritani ( ar, أبو حفص الموريتاني), is a Mauritanian Islamic scholar and poet previously associated with al-Qaeda. A veteran of the Soviet–Afgh ...

and Saif al-Adel, al-Masri was believed to have opposed the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

two months prior to their execution. He was killed in a

targeted killing Targeted killing is a form of murder or assassination carried out by governments outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield. Since the late 20th century, the legal status of targeted killing has become a subject of contention within and betw ...

drone airstrike in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

on May 21, 2010.

In Pakistan

He was initially arrested among hundreds of others following the assassination of

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...

in 1981.

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

Senior al-Qaeda commander killed in Pakistan
August 12, 2008 He was imprisoned for three years in Egypt, and shortly after he joined

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 ...

, and in 1988 went to Afghanistan. He had two wives and several sons and daughters, including one married to the son of

Sheikh Omar Abd al-Rahman Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman ( ar, عمر عبد الرحمن), (ʾUmar ʾAbd ar-Raḥmān; 3 May 1938 – 18 February 2017), commonly known in the United States as "The Blind Sheikh", was a blind Egyptian Islamist militant who served a life sent ...

.Michael Scheuer (July 3, 2007
''Al-Qaeda's New Leader in Afghanistan: A Profile of Abu al-Yazid''
Terrorism Focus Volume 4, Issue 21. The Jamestown Foundation. Washington, DC. p. 5-7. As of 1991, al-Masri was working as the financial chief for al-Qaeda, running the ''Mektabh al-Muhassiba'' (accounting office) in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

. He was alleged to have appointed

Ibrahim al-Qosi Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi ( ar, إبراهيم أحمد محمود القوصي) (born July 1960) is a Sudanese militant and paymaster for al-Qaeda.NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

projects.

In Sudan

Al-Masri set up a financial office on McNimr Street in

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

on June 9, 1993, from where he managed al-Qaeda's payroll. al-Fadl aided al-Masri until he was replaced by Abu Dijana al-Yemeni and Abdallah Lubnani. After receiving his pilot license,

L'Houssaine Kherchtou L'Houssaine Kherchtou (born May 15, 1964) was an early initiate in al-Qaeda, joining the militant group in 1991. In 2000, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder, but as he was the chief witness against four of his former colleagues, all of whom ...

returned to the Sudan in December 1995, but was appalled to find that his wife, heavily pregnant and in need of $500 for a

cesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section or caesarean delivery, is the surgical procedure by which one or more babies are delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen, often performed because vaginal delivery would put the baby or mo ...

, was begging on the streets for money to allow her entrance to Khartoum's general hospital. Kherchtou went to al-Masri and asked him to cover his wife's medical bills, and was upset upon being informed there was no money to spare and al-Masri suggested he take her to a Muslim charitable hospital for free treatment. He angrily demanded to know "if it was your wife or your daughter, you would take her there", and later recounted that he was angry enough to have shot al-Masri if he had had a gun at the time.Benjamin, Daniel & Steven Simon. "The Age of Sacred Terror", 2002Vest, Jason. American Prospect
Pray and Tell
, June 19, 2005Bergen, Peter. "The Osama bin Laden I Know", 2006. p. 141 & 154

Return to Pakistan, claims of death

In May 2007, al-Masri released a video promising Americans that al-Qaeda troops had been training through the winter and were ready to begin a fresh summer offensive in Afghanistan.Al-Jazirah carries video remarks by 'new' al-Qa'ida official in Afghanistan
May 27, 2007. In December, al-Masri was said to have claimed responsibility for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, telling Adnkronos International that "we terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat

mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term th ...

". The

Asia Times Online ''Asia Times'' (), formerly known as ''Asia Times Online'', is a Hong Kong-based English language news media publishing group, covering politics, economics, business and culture from an Asian perspective. ''Asia Times'' publishes in English and ...

also reported that it had received a claim of responsibility from al-Masri by telephone. al-Masri allowed himself to be interviewed on

Geo Television Geo Television Network is a television channel based in Pakistan. It was established in May 2002 and is owned by the Jang Media Group. The channel began its test transmission on 14 August 2002, with regular transmission beginning on 1 October ...

in July 2008 following the Danish embassy bombing, which he claimed were carried out by a Saudi follower of al-Qaeda. Pakistan's

DAWN Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizo ...

reported him killed on August 13, 2008 in an airstrike in

Bajaur Bajaur District ( ps, باجوړ ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, then during restructuring that merged ...

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

Al-Qa'eda's Abu Saeed al-Masri 'killed on Afghan border'
August 12, 2008

al-Qaeda leader among 18 killed in Bajaur
August 13, 2008

Tehrik-i-Taliban The Pakistani Taliban (), formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (Urdu/ ps, , lit=Student Movement of Pakistan, TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani bor ...

spokesman

Maulvi Omar Maulvi Said Muhammad, better known as Maulvi Omar or Maulvi Umar, is a senior Taliban commander who was captured by the Pakistani security forces in August 2009. Omar, a spokesman for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was a close associate of Ba ...

, himself captured five days after the attack, denied the claim that al-Masri had been killed. Others suggested that the report of his death was a Pakistani attempt to refute recent American accusations that sections of the ISI were still assisting al-Qaeda. On February 9, 2009 the Indian government received a video from al-Yazid in which he reiterated the promise of Pakistani retaliation if India launched a first strike. This video took everyone by surprise as he was presumed to be dead.

Confirmed death

He was reported as having been killed in a US

drone attack Drone warfare is a form of aerial warfare using unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The United States, United Kingdom, Israel, China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, India, Pakis ...

in Pakistan on May 21, 2010 along with his wife, three daughters and granddaughter. His death was confirmed by US officials and al-Qaeda.NBC News
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References

External links