| Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah alias Saleh |
|
|---|---|
Senior al-Qaeda suspect |
|
| Born | circa 1963 Egypt |
| Known for | On the list of FBI Most Wanted Terrorists 1998 United States embassy bombings |
| Spouse | Mariam[1] |
Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah (Arabic: عبدالله أحمد عبدالله; born about 1963) is an Egyptian national wanted[2][3] by the United States for his part in the 1998 American embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and especially Nairobi, Kenya. The FBI lists[3] his aliases Abu Mariam, Abu Mohamed Al-Masri, and Saleh, which may be[4] an abbreviation of Saleh Gamal.
According to the indictment, Abdullah
Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah was born in Egypt in 1963. Like other Islamic fugitives, Abdullah fled to Egypt to join the others. In 1992 he was one of the many who helped Saif al-Adel in providing intelligence and military training to those associated with Al Qaeda in Somalia and Sudan. Those who were trained, were among the group who fought against the Americans during the battle on Mogadishu and Operation Restoring Hope in 1993. Also between 1996 and 1998 he operated training camps in Afghanistan for Al Qaeda. Abdulla was responsible for forging a passport for Mohammed Saddiq Odeh so he could get from Pakistan to Afghanistan before the attack on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. After these attacks Abdulla Ahmed Abdullah has remained on the USA's most wanted list of terrorists and remains a terrorists operations planner for Al Qaeda.[5]
Abdullah told colleagues he had been a professional soccer player for the Ghazl El-Mehalla team in Egypt.[1]
Abdullah's location since he fled Nairobi has been unknown. In the few years after his disappearance, he was generally thought to be in tribal Afghanistan or Pakistan.[6] Later speculation put him in Iran under the protection of the Quds Force,[7] and in Somalia under the protection of the Islamic Courts Union.[8] A more substantial report,[9] citing unnamed UN and other sources, says that Abdullah and other al-Qaeda personnel were in Liberia around 2001, buying conflict diamonds on behalf of al-Qaeda. But another claim about Iran has appeared; the MIPT record on Abdullah [10] reads in part
A joint Saudi-Egyptian-Jordanian intelligence inquiry in April 2006 concluded that Abdullah currently resides in Southeast Iran, under the protection of the Hamze unit of the Revolutionary Guards.
He is married to Mariam, the daughter of Ahmad Salama Mabruk.[1]
Abdullah was one of the 22 original members, and is still a member, of the FBI's list of Most Wanted Terrorists. The State Department, through the Rewards for Justice Program, is offering up to US$5 million for information on the location of Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah.[11]