MADRID, Spain — Abu Obaidah al-Masri, a suspected mastermind of al-Qaida plots including the London transport bombings of 2005, has died of an infectious disease in Pakistan, Western anti-terrorism officials said Wednesday.
The Egyptian militant is thought to have died of hepatitis C, a U.S. anti-terror official said. Al-Masri was the powerful, if little-known, chief of the network’s external operations who allegedly trained recruits in hideouts in Pakistan and dispatched them on attacks against the West, according to Western investigators.
As the Los Angeles Times reported last week, officials in three countries believed that al-Masri had died, but investigators did not have confirmation and noted that al-Qaida had not paid tribute to al-Masri with eulogies on the Internet as with other fallen leaders.
Recently, however, anti-terror investigators detected conversations among al-Qaida militants revealing that al-Masri had died of hepatitis C, the U.S. official said. Death of natural causes would explain the lack of eulogies, which are generally reserved for extremists who die violently as “martyrs,” officials said.
“The bad guys have been talking about it among themselves,” said the U.S. anti-terror official. “I would say it happened during the past three months. If it had been an air strike they would have said it. But Abu Obaidah al-Masri wasn’t well known enough or high-ranking enough to warrant automatic obituaries unless he died (as a ‘martyr’).”
It is likely al-Masri has already been replaced, experts said. Potential successors include Khaled Habib, an Egyptian who — according to expert Rohan Gunaratna, author of “Inside Al Qaeda” — has overseen al-Qaida “internal” operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Others who worked with al-Masri and may have replaced him include Hamza al Jawfi, a Gulf Arab, and Midhat Mursi, 53, an Egyptian chemist who has allegedly overseen al-Qaida’s efforts to develop unconventional weapons. Mursi was present while recruits from northern Europe were trained last spring, according to investigators.
Anti-terrorism officials consider operations chiefs more urgent prey than even Osama bin Laden because they are front-line figures in attacks on the West. Al-Masri was the target of several air strikes over the years and was even reported dead after a missile blew up an al-Qaida safe house in January 2006.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
