Ibrahim Sulayman Muhammad al-Rubaysh | |
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| Born | Ibrahim Sulayman Muhammad al-Rubaish (1979-07-07)7 July 1979[1] |
| Died | 12 April 2015(2015-04-12) (aged 35) |
| Cause of death | Drone attack |
| Criminal status | Detained atGuantanamo, repatriated in 2006 and placed on the Saudi most wanted list in 2009. Became senior leader in AQAP, killed in drone strike |
Ibrahim Sulayman Muhammad al-Rubaish (July 7, 1979 – April 12, 2015) was a militant and a senior leader ofAl Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), who was held inextrajudicial detention in the United States'sGuantanamo Bay detention camp inCuba. He was released into the custody of Saudi Arabian authorities and then escaped in 2006.[2] He became AQAP'smufti (expounder of Islamic law).
Al-Rubaish was captured near the Pakistan-Afghan border and transferred to Saudi Arabia on December 13, 2006.[3]
When he was captured by the US army in 2001 for alleged connections to Al-Qaeda, he was a teacher in Pakistan, ultimately being released from Guantánamo in 2006, a time during which he wrote a famed poem,Ode to the Sea, which caused controversy in India when it was included in the BA second semester syllabus atCalicut University, eventually withdrawing it.[4]
On February 3, 2009, Saudi security officials published a newlist of Saudi suspected terrorists. Al-Rubaish was one of 11 of the 85 men on this list who was a former Guantanamo captive.[3]
In November 2009, a research paper from thethink tankThe Jamestown Foundation asserted that al-Rubaish was now amufti forAl Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).[5][6]
The paper's authorMurad Batal Al-Shishani asserted that Al-Rubaish had produced an audio tape Al-Qaida had released in September attempting to justify a recent attempt to assassinate a senior member of theSaudi Royal Family. The paper asserted Al-Rubaish had published a book criticizingShaykhSalman al-Ouda, a critic ofal Qaida's attacks on September 11, 2001. It also claimed that he had released an additional audio tape in November 2009, criticizing the Saudi government's introduction of mixed sex education for children.
Al-Rubaish was transferred to Saudi Arabia on December 13, 2006, then escaped from custody and joined AQAP in Yemen, becoming a senior figure in the group.[5][7]
In early 2013, al-Rubaish called forjihad against Americans, saying "It is my duty to spur the Muslims to kill the Americans, to get them out of the Muslims' land", also expressing hope that Sunnis would unite in a war against Shiite Iran.[8]
In October 2014, theU.S. State Department'sRewards for Justice program opened a US$5 million reward for Al-Rubaish's location.[9] In December 2014, he was designated aSpecially Designated Global Terrorist.[10]
AQAP released a statement in April 2015 announcing that al-Rubaish had been killed with other unnamed individuals in adrone strike nearMukalla in April 2015. It is believed that the drone strike was carried out by the United States.[7]
Being "the main ideologue and theological adviser" of AQAP, "his writings and sermons were prominent in its publications."[11]
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