Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah عبد الله أحمد عبد الله | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1963-06-06)6 June 1963[1] |
| Died | 7 August 2020(2020-08-07) (aged 57)[2][3][4] |
| Cause of death | Drive-by shooting byIsraeliMossad Kidon |
| Known for | Being anFBI Most Wanted Terrorist 1998 United States embassy bombings |
Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah (Arabic:عبد الله أحمد عبد الله; 6 June 1963 – 7 August 2020;nom de guerre Abu Muhammad al-Zayat,Abu Mohammed al-Masri) was a high-rankingEgyptian member ofal-Qaeda. He has been described as al-Qaeda's most experienced operational planner and was said to be the second-in-command in the organization at the time of his death.
Abdullah was one of the 22 original members of the United StatesFBI list ofMost Wanted Terrorists. TheState Department, through theRewards for Justice Program, had offered up toUS$10 million for information on his location.[5][6] He was wanted by the United States for his alleged role in the1998 American embassy bombings inDar es Salaam, Tanzania, andNairobi, Kenya.[7][6] The FBI also gave other names used by Abdullah as Abu Mariam, Mustafa Abu Mariam Khaled, Abu Mohamed Al-Masri, Azayet, and Saleh, a possible abbreviation of Saleh Gamal.
On 14 November 2020,The New York Times reported that Abdullah had been killed on 7 August 2020 inTehran, Iran, by IsraeliMossad operatives at the request of the United States.[2] On 12 January 2021, theUnited States Secretary of StateMike Pompeo confirmed the death of Abdullah.[3][4]
Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah was born in theGharbia Governorate ofEgypt on 6 June 1963. According to Abdullah, he was once a professionalfootball player for theGhazl El-Mehalla team in Egypt.[8] Having joined the jihadist movement during theSoviet–Afghan War, he was not allowed to return to Egypt, and remained inAfghanistan, joiningOsama bin Laden.[2]
In 1992, he helpedSaif al-Adel in providing intelligence and military training to those associated withal-Qaeda inSomalia andSudan. His trainees were among the group who fought against the Americans during theBattle of Mogadishu in 1993.[9]
Between 1996 and 1998 he operated training camps in Afghanistan for al-Qaeda. Abdullah was responsible for forging a passport forMohammed Saddiq Odeh so he could get from Pakistan to Afghanistan and meet Osama bin Laden before thebombings of US embassies on 7 August 1998 inKenya andTanzania that killed 224 civilians and wounded more than 5,000 others.[10]
He fledNairobi, Kenya, on 6 August 1998, toKarachi, Pakistan.[9] He then travelled to Afghanistan. In 2000, Abdullah became a member of themajlis al-shura,al-Qaeda's leadership council.[9] A former Israeli intelligence official accused him of ordering the2002 Mombasa attacks.[2]
In 2003, he moved to theIranian Baluchestan province where he was later detained and placed underhouse arrest.[2][11] He was released by Iran in March 2015 with al-Qaeda leaders Saif al-Adel andAbu Khayr al-Masri in exchange for the release ofNour Ahmad Nikbakht, an Iranian diplomat who was being held inYemen.[12][13] ANew York Times source said he remained in Tehran, living under the protection of theIslamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and later theMinistry of Intelligence and Security.[2]
Abdullah was married to a daughter ofAhmad Salama Mabruk, with whom he had three daughters.[8] One of his daughters, named Maryam, had been married toHamza bin Laden (son of Al-Qaeda leaderOsama bin Laden).[14] Maryam was also killed in the attack that killed her father.[15]
The New York Times reported on 14 November 2020 that Abdullah, while driving his car in thePasdaran neighborhood of Tehran, Iran, on 7 August 2020, was shot to death by Israeli Mossad operatives from Kidon, a unit informally known as the "Tip of the Spear",[16] on a motorcycle, at the behest of the United States.[2]Kidon is a highly secretive unit withinMossad, the external intelligence agency ofIsrael. Abdullah's daughter, who was the widow to former al-Qaeda leaderOsama bin Laden's late son,Hamza bin Laden, was also reportedly killed in the attack.[15][17] Reuters had previously received similar information from a security official inAfghanistan, but could not independently receive confirmation of theTimes reporting via US or Israeli officials.[18] Iranian news sources at the time of his death claimed the identities of the dead pair to be of a Lebanese academic by the name of "Habib Dawood", who had ties toHezbollah, and his daughter.[19] Afghan news stationShamshad News also claimed his death.[20]
Iran denied theNew York Times report; itsForeign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement that the United States and Israel sometimes "try to tie Iran to such groups by lying and leaking false information to the media".[18]
Ha'aretz reported "According to intelligence sources in Israel, revelation of the assassination of Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Masri, is meant to convey a message toPresident-elect Joe Biden, who intends to renew negotiations with Iran. Israel wishes to portray Tehran as a terror incubator for the organization that was responsible for the September 11 attacks."[21]
“This exposes the regime in Iran as one that provides a haven for the organization that's most significant to the United States,” said a former senior defense official. "It's undeniably convenient for Iran to operate Al-Qaida against the United States because of sanctions or to exact a price for theassassination of Soleimani,” the official said,"[22]
On 12 January 2021, the United States secretary of stateMike Pompeo confirmed the death of Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah.[3][4]
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