ABU AYYUB AL-MASRI

'Abu Ayyub al-Masri' ( 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 Muhajir) are two pseudonyms of the same person according to an FBI wanted poster and the U.S. State Department. Wanted Poster on al-Masri, in Arabic. US Department of State.^[1] 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. ^[2]
Al-Masri is 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, US Pentagon sources identified him as among the prime candidates to assume direction of the Iraqi insurgency.^[3]
He is described by the United States military as a native Egyptian who is about 39 years of age. ^[4] He joined the Muslim Brotherhood ^[5], 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 reportedly succeeded al-Zarqawi as the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Under the name Abu Ayyub al-Masri, he has been wanted by Coallition and Iraqi authorities since 2005 or possibly earlier.^[6] ''Washington Post'' wrote,^[7] "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.^[8]
Al-Masri is thought to have been born around 1967.^[9] He had been since 2003 an aide to his predecessor al-Zarqawi.^[10] He joined the Muslim Brotherhood^[11], 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 ^[12]) 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. ^[13] 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.” ^[14]
On October 3, 2006, "Abu Hamza al-Muhajir" was erroneously^[15] believed to have been killed during a US raid in Haditha^[16].
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."^[17]. This was denied later that day in an Islamic State of Iraq press release^[18].
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."
U.S. can't confirm al-Qaida death report 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.
On May 5 2007 it was reported that an audio tape from "Abu Hamza al-Muhajir" had been posted on a Web site used by Islamists. The tape was published on May 4 2007. Purported tape from "dead" Qaeda leader put on Web , but the date of when the recording was made is unknown. It does not mention the claims of his death.

Contents

His Identity

Biography

References

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^[19]) and Abdullah bin Rashid al-Baghdadi (the current "emir" of that council).^[20][21] 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. ^[22] 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.” ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁴
According to the Washington Post some Jordanian and American officials claim that al-Masri uses another alias of Yusif al-Dardiri.^[9]
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.^[24] The lawyer was later arrested due to his connections to Al Qaeda.[1]

Biography

According to General Caldwell^[25], 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.^[26][27] The United States military said that Masri "helped draw other insurgent groups into al-Qaeda’s fold."^[28] 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."^[29][30] 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,^[31] 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.” ^[32] 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.” ^[33] One anti-Masri tactic Caldwell mentioned was portraying Masri as foreigner who has no significant ties to the Iraqi people. ^[34]
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.^[35] Yuce's coworker Aytullah Gezmen was released in September of 2004 after "repenting" working for the Americans.
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."^[36] 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."^[37] One anti-Masri tactic Caldwell mentioned was portraying Masri as foreigner who has no significant ties to the Iraqi people.^[28]
According to the Associated Press, the Bush administration posted a $200,000 bounty on Masri even before Zarqawi’s death.¹⁴ Now, the reward is up to $5 million.^[19]
Not much is known about him. 'Muhajir' is thought to be a pseudonym.Al-Qaeda in Iraq names new head, BBC News, June 12 2006. Al-Qaeda experts were surprised when it was announced he succeeded Zarqawi.^[40] 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.Zarqawi successor vows revenge BT Yahoo News, June 13 2006. As of 15 June 2006, the U.S. military has confirmed this identification. Apparent Al Qaeda In Iraq Leader Is Eqyptian Abu Ayyub Al-Masri, CBS News, June 16 2006There 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.Zarqawi successor 'in Egypt jail' Aljazeera, July 06 2006 The lawyer was later arrested due to his connections to Al Qaeda.[2] According to the Washington Post some unidentified American and Jordanian officials claim that al-Masri has another alias of Yusuf al-Dardiri. ^[9]
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^[42], 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.^[43]

References

1. Wanted Poster on al-Masri, in English. US Department of State.
2. "Al Qaeda in Iraq chooses Zarqawi successor", Reuters
3. Jay Solomon, "Jordan Emerges as a Vital U.S. Ally", ''WSJ'' 10 June 2006
4. Terror expert fleshes out Masri links. UPI. 19 June 2006.
5. Garamone, Jim. Masri Now Leads Iraq Al Qaeda, Coalition Officials Say. American Forces Press Service. 16 June 2006.
6. Abu Ayyub al-Masri at GlobalSecurity.org
7. Egyptian seen replacing Zarqawi, ''Washington Post Foreign Service'', 16 June 2006
8. Aljazeera airs al-Baghdadi audiotape, ''Al Jazeera'', 20 June 2006
9. c
10. c
11. Masri Now Leads Iraq Al Qaeda, Coalition Officials Say, American Forces Press Service, 16 June 2006
12. Confusion swirls over Zarqawi successor
13. Filkins, Dexter. U.S. Portrayal Helps Flesh Out Zarqawi’s Heir. The New York Times. Section A, Column 5, Foreign Desk, p.1. 16 June 2006.
14. Al-Zarqawi’s successor: A new face at the top of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Associated Press June 16 2006.
15.
SITE Institute: Islamic State of Iraq Announces Establishment of the Cabinet of its First Islamic Administration in Video Issued Through al-Furqan Foundation. Version of 2007-APR-19. Retrieved 2007-APR-20.
16. Iraqis test dead militant's DNA
17. Al-Qaida in Iraq Leader Abu Ayyub Al-masri Believed Dead
18. El-Kaida-Anführer im Irak angeblich tot
19. c
20. U.S. Portrayal Helps Flesh Out Zarqawi’s Heir, New York Times/International Herald Tribune, 16 June 2006
21. Al-Zarqawi’s successor: A new face at the top of al-Qaeda in Iraq, AP, 16 June 2006
22. Waterman, Shaun. Confusion swirls over Zarqawi successor. UPI. 20 June 2006.
23. c
24. Iraq al-Qaeda chief jail mystery
25. c
26. Confusion swirls over Zarqawi successor, UPI, 20 June 2006
27. U.S. Profiles Iraq’s new terror chief, ''Baltimore Sun'', 16 June 2006.
28. c
29. c
30. Picture of a weakened Iraq insurgency, ''Christian Science Monitor'', 16 June 2006
31. Al-Zarqawi’s death opens new windows into al-Qaeda network, AP, 18 June 2006
32. Peterson, Scott. Picture of a weakened Iraq insurgency. Christian Science Monitor. World section, p.1. 16 June 2006.
33. Gilmore, Gerry J. Mosque Bombing Co-Conspirator Nabbed in May, Officials Reveal. American Forces Press Service. 29 June 2006.
34. Daragahi, Borzou. U.S. Profiles Iraq’s new terror chief. The Baltimore Sun. Telegraph section, 1A. 16 June 2006.
35. Video of Turkish Hostage Allegedly Executed by Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, SITE, 25 September 2006
36. c
37. Gains are seen against insurgency, ''Boston Globe'', 30 June 2006
38. c
39. c
40. c
41. c
42. Militant Chosen to Succeed al-Zarqawi, SFgate.com, June 12 2006.
43. Who will succeed al-Zarqawi?, Newsday.com, June 9 2006