After six years, two wars, and dozens of senior al Qaeda figures arrested, Osama bin Laden and his chief associate Ayman al-Zawahiri remain at large. In this week’s List, FP runs down some of the other most dangerous senior al Qaeda leaders who are still on the loose.
Abu Ayyub al-Masri
Possible whereabouts: Iraq. Last October and again in May, Iraqi government sources reported him killed, but his death has not been confirmed.
Position: leader of al Qaeda in Iraq
Activities: An expert in roadside explosives, al-Masri has been one of al-Zawahiri’s disciples since joining Egyptian Islamic Jihad in 1982. He met his predecessor, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, when the two were training in Afghanistan in 1999. After moving to Iraq in 2001, al-Masri directed suicide bombers in Fallujah for al-Zarqawi and was charged with recruiting new members. In a notable show of brashness, al Qaeda announced al-Masri as al-Zarqawi’s replacement less than a week after the latter’s death in June of last year. “I think to some degree he’s had a much more difficult time than Zarqawi,” says Seth Jones, a counterterrorism analyst at the Rand Corporation. “I would point to the huge defeats they’ve had from Sunni tribes in Anbar. Also, the links between him and the core leadership are not as close as they were with Zarqawi.”
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Abu Obaidah al-Masri
Possible whereabouts: Pakistan or Afghanistan. Missed in a Pakistani air raid on a madrasa last October.
Position: senior commander
Activities: Jones calls this al-Masri “probably the most active and most important” operative on this list. “He’s been very active and had very serious involvement in operations abroad.” A veteran of the Afghan wars, al-Masri has coordinated attacks on U.S. forces in Afghanistan for some time, and has allegedly risen dramatically in rank since the death of Abu Hamza Rabia, another Egyptian operating in Pakistan. Pakistani officials identify al-Masri as the primary architect of a foiled plot to blow up several trans-Atlantic flights last summer.
Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah
Possible whereabouts: Iran
Position: financial officer, various other roles
Activities: Although al Qaeda’s finances have become far more decentralized since 9/11, Abdullah is believed to be in charge of finances of al Qaeda operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan. A veteran of Islamic Jihad in Egypt, Abdullah operated in Sudan and Kenya during the 1990s. He has been indicted for his role in facilitating and planning the U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. According to Jones, Abdullah has played “a number of different roles” in the organization. His FBI profile offers scant details beyond a scar on his lower lip and the fact that Abdullah “may wear a mustache.”
Mustafa Abu al-Yazid
Possible whereabouts: Afghanistan
Position: head of al Qaeda in Afghanistan
Activities: “Since [Abdul al-Hadi] al-Iraqi was captured he’s basically been their main Afghan guy,” says Jones, referring to a senior al Qaeda commander who is now in U.S. custody. One of the founding members of al Qaeda, al-Yazid has been active in Afghanistan since 1988, according to former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer. He also allegedly sent money to Mohammed Atta for the planning of the 9/11 attacks. Al-Yazid took over Afghanistan for al Qaeda in May 2007 after a “two-year jihadi mission” in Iraq and has since reaffirmed al Qaeda’s aim of reestablishing the Taliban government. But despite a multi-decade career as a jihadist, “few personal facts about Abu al-Yazid are known,” says Scheuer.
Saif al-Adel
Possible whereabouts: Iran
Position: military chief
Activities: Once a colonel in the Egyptian Special Forces, al-Adel reportedly took over al Qaeda’s military operations in 2001 after the death of Mohammed Atef, though it is not clear whether this position still exists. According to Dr. Mustafa Alani, a terrorism expert at Britain’s Royal United Services Institute, al-Adel is “not as capable” as his predecessor. Al-Adel is suspected of planning the U.S. Embassy attacks in Africa in 1998, training some of the 9/11 hijackers, and training the Somali militants who shot down a U.S. helicopter in Mogadishu in 1993. In his previous role as media coordinator, al-Adel is believed to have arranged the filming of Osama bin Laden’s video messages.
Saad bin Laden
Possible whereabouts: Iran
Position: leader of al Qaeda in Iran
Activities: Osama bin Laden’s 28-year-old son could be a possible successor to his father. The younger bin Laden is believed to have been involved in al Qaeda bombings in Riyadh, Casablanca, and Tunisia. Along with al-Adel and Abdullah, Saad bin Laden is believed to have been held under house arrest by the Iranian government, and then released. There are also unconfirmed reports that he is in Lebanon recruiting for Hezbollah at the behest of the Iranians. Jones stresses that the extent of bin Laden’s relationship with Iranian authorities is not certain. “It’s certainly true that they have not been willing to give him up, though,” he adds.
