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| Iraq |
| Egyptian Daily Reveals Details Of Al-Qaeda In Iraq Leader |
| 2007-05-03 |
| (AKI) - As US investigators seek to verify through DNA tests that the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq was killed recently in clashes north of Baghdad, Egyptian daily al-Ahram has revealed new biographical details about the man who stepped into the shoes of the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Behind the pseudonym al-Masri, the paper says, is Abdel Muniem Ezzedin Ali Ismayl, born 21 December 1969 in the eastern provinces of Egypt. He did not finish his university studies and is believed to have used various battle names during his Islamist militancy; Abu Jihad al-Masri, Abu Al-Darda, Yusuf Hadad, Yusuf Labib and Labib Hadad. Al-Masri was sentenced in absentia by an Egyptian court in 1999 to seven years in jail because he had left the country at the end of the 1980s for Pakistan, from where he then moved to Afghanistan. His move to Iraq was reportedly under the urgings of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri who wanted him to lead the local franchise after the death last June of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The paper's report said that they trusted him to manage the economic aspects of al-Qaeda in Iraq. According to an accord between al-Masri and bin Laden, some of the money of the Iraqi cells was to be transferred to the 'head office' in Afghanistan. Al-Masri is also considered an expert in explosives, the paper noted. The Egyptian newspaper said al-Masri's presence was also reported in Iran at a time of contacts between the regime in Tehran and al-Qaeda to allow his safe passage to Iraq. The version given by al-Ahram coincides with that provided by a renowned leader of Egyptian Islamist militants, Montaser al-Zeyat, in the Saudi newspaper al-Watan. Despite the announcement by the interior ministry that al-Masri had been killed im combat with tribal Sunni militants in al-Anbar, the US command has not yet confirmed the news of the death of al-Masri and is awaiting a DNA test on the corpses of five dead insurgents. The Islamic State in Iraq, the group into which al-Qaeda has merged, has denied the reports of his death. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Interesting. Sounds like the Egyptian paper was given the ok to print his bio. Now, why would you release this info on the up-to-now unknown leader...oh, right. He's dead, Jim. |
| Posted by: Steve 2007-05-03 07:37 |