Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri

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Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri (Arabic: أبو عبيدة البنشيري ‎) was the nom de guerre[1] of Ali Amin al-Rashidi ( علي أمين الرشيدي ), one of the founders of the Islamist terrorist network now known as al-Qaeda.[2][3][4] When he drowned in a ferry accident in Lake Victoria in 1996, he was the head of al-Qaeda's African presence and #2 in the whole organization, behind Osama bin Laden.

[edit] History

Al-Banshiri was born in May of 1950 in Cairo, and served as a policeman in Egypt before joining the anti-Soviet effort in Afghanistan.[4] His brother had participated in the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat. Ayman al-Zawahiri, head of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, introduced al-Banshiri to Osama Bin Laden, who was so favorably impressed that he made al-Banshiri military commander of the Afghan Arabs. Al-Bashiri's second in command, was Mohammed Atef.[5] While still in Afghanistan, in August of 1988, he attended the founding meeting of al-Qaeda, along with bin Laden, Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, and Abdullah Azzam.[citation needed]

While in Kenya and Tanzania he was known by the aliases Adel Habib, Karim, and Jalal. His real name had been kept secret even from his wife.[1]

At some point al-Banshiri acquired either Dutch citizenship[4] or forged Dutch papers.[1]

[edit] Death

When the news broke that the ferry MV Bukoba had sunk in Lake Victoria, al-Qaeda sent Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and Wadih el-Hage to the scene, to verify that al-Banshiri was dead, and had not defected or been captured.[6]

Al-Banshiri was succeeded as al-Qaeda's "military" commander by another Egyptian ex-policeman, Mohammed Atef. Al-Banshiri's senior role in East Africa was taken over, at least in part, by Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah.[1]

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c d Tactical Deception and Strategic Surprise in al-Qai’da’s Operations, Richard H. Shultz and Ruth Margolies Beitler; (other sources agree on his real name)
  2. ^ Indictment of Enaam Arnaout in 2002, archive at the US Department of Justice; describes the founding of al-Qaeda
  3. ^ Al-Qaeda gains first members, GlobalSecurity.org
  4. ^ a b c Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri, GlobalSecurity.org
  5. ^ Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, Vintage, 2006, ISBN 978-1-4000-3084-2, p. 147
  6. ^ Transcript of testimony in the trial of El Hage and others
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