Article

2010-06-01 India-Pakistan

Al Qaida El Numero Tres Bites the Big One

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Posted by James Carville/Karl Rove 2010-06-01 00:22|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [11135 views ] Top

#1 Is there a link for this?

Posted by gorb 2010-06-01 02:15|| 2010-06-01 02:15|| Front Page Top

#2 Try this, Gorb.
Al-Qaida's number three a co-founder of the terror network has been killed in Pakistan's border area with Afghanistan, according to a statement attributed to the group that was posted on Islamist websites Monday.

The statement did not say how Egyptian-born Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, who was also known as Sheik Sa'id al-Masri, was killed nor did it identify a successor.

Al-Yazid was al-Qaida's financial director and ran its operations in Afghanistan. It was al-Yazid who shortly before the September 11 attacks transferred several thousand dollars to Mohammed Atta, the leader of the 9/11 hijackers.
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His death has been mistakenly reported before, but this is the first time it has been acknowledged by al-Qaida, whose statement added that his wife, three of his daughters, his granddaughter and other men, women and children were killed.

One senior U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity told NBC News that al-Yazid was killed in an attack by a missile-carrying Predator drone aircraft.

Other sources told NBC's Jim Miklaszewski that the attack took place more than a week ago. The U.S. did not want to publicize the death until al-Qaida had confirmed it, which it did Monday.

'A hand in everything'
Another official called it "a big victory" in terms of counterterrorism, describing al-Yazid as "the group's chief operating officer, with a hand in everything from finances to operational planning. He was also the organization's prime conduit to Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. He was key to al-Qaida's command and control."

"In some respects, Sheikh Sa'id's death is more important for al-Qaida operations than if bin Laden or Zawahiri was killed," said Roger Cressey, former deputy chief for counterterrorism at the National Security Council and now an NBC News consultant. "Any al-Qaida operation of any consequence would run through him."

Evan Kohlmann, who tracks al-Qaida for NBC News, added that al-Yazid "was one of the original founders of al-Qaida in 1988, and has served on the group's Shura Council since then. His death is a significant loss for al-Qaida."

A report Monday that he was bin Laden's brother-in-law was incorrect.

2009 profile on al-Masri

Al-Yazid, who was 56, had been involved with Islamic extremist movements for nearly 30 years since he joined radical student groups led by fellow Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahri, now the No. 2 figure in al-Qaida after bin Laden.

In the early 1980s, al-Yazid served three years in an Egyptian prison for purported links to the group responsible for the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

After his release, al-Yazid turned up in Afghanistan, where, according to al-Qaida's propaganda wing Al-Sabah, he became a founding member of the terrorist group.

He later followed bin Laden to Sudan and back to Afghanistan, where he served as al-Qaida's chief financial officer, managing secret bank accounts in the Persian Gulf that were used to help finance the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington.

After the U.S. and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001, al-Yazid went into hiding for years. He surfaced in May 2007 during a 45-minute interview posted on the Web by Al-Sabah, in which he was introduced as the "official in charge" of the terrorist movement's operations in Afghanistan.

Posted by tipper 2010-06-01 06:07|| 2010-06-01 06:07|| Front Page Top

#3 What about the women, children, fluffy bunnies, and baby ducks killed by this indiscriminate use of overwhelming force? I thought The One was going to bring them all to NY City for trial.

Oh, well, at least there's fewer folks at Gitmo. Not quite closed, however.

How's that Nobel Peace Prize thing workin' out for ya, international community?

Posted by Bobby 2010-06-01 06:25|| 2010-06-01 06:25|| Front Page Top

#4 Is there a link for this?

There wasn't when I published it, gorb, which is why I moved it to Opinion from WoT Operations, where it would have gone had there been a link rather than the report of a rumour.

Posted by trailing wife 2010-06-01 07:32|| 2010-06-01 07:32|| Front Page Top

#5 it's on ABC too, now

Posted by Frank G 2010-06-01 07:41|| 2010-06-01 07:41|| Front Page Top

#6 Muy bueno!

Posted by JohnQC 2010-06-01 08:23|| 2010-06-01 08:23|| Front Page Top

#7 this is what, the 4th #3 we've zapped? Forget fishing in the Bering Sea, being AQ's #3 is the deadliest job.

Posted by IG-88 2010-06-01 09:19|| 2010-06-01 09:19|| Front Page Top

#8 It could have been worse for him, he could have been captured, waterboarded and forced to give up information.

Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2010-06-01 10:58|| 2010-06-01 10:58|| Front Page Top

#9 Thanks, tipper/TW.

Posted by gorb 2010-06-01 11:23|| 2010-06-01 11:23|| Front Page Top

#10 Kinda makes me wonder if there really is a number 1, or if the post is only manned by an imaginary person and the 3's we've been bagging are really the bosses after all.

Either way, good hunting.

Posted by Redneck Jim 2010-06-01 14:38|| 2010-06-01 14:38|| Front Page Top

#11 AQ #3.14159265

Posted by john frum 2010-06-01 14:52|| 2010-06-01 14:52|| Front Page Top

#12 Really john, there's nothing irrational about this. :)

Posted by Procopius2k 2010-06-01 17:06|| 2010-06-01 17:06|| Front Page Top

#13 Just a reminder that this the worst job in the world.
"Yet another €œthird highest ranking al-Qaida leader€ has been killed, this time by a rocket attack from an unmanned drone. There are a lot of jobs that I wouldn'€™t want, and €œthird highest ranking al-Qaida leader is right at the top. But I can tell you for sure that if I ever got that job, the first thing I'€™d do is narc out one of the top two guys so I could move up a notch."
Scott Adams

Posted by Guillibaldo Unusing2147 2010-06-01 17:54|| 2010-06-01 17:54|| Front Page Top

#14 Thought John was point out Abu's Pious tendency.

Posted by swksvolFF 2010-06-01 17:54|| 2010-06-01 17:54|| Front Page Top

#15 A circular argument if I ever heard one.

Posted by lotp 2010-06-01 20:05|| 2010-06-01 20:05|| Front Page Top

#16 Al Qaeda No. 3 Leader is just a middleman between the upper leadership and the grunts.

Then again, so is Al Qaeda Number One.

Posted by Thing From Snowy Mountain 2010-06-01 21:15|| 2010-06-01 21:15|| Front Page Top

#17 this is what, the 4th #3 we've zapped? Forget fishing in the Bering Sea, being AQ's #3 is the deadliest job.

NPR reported today that this is the seventh Number Three killed off since 2001. The reporter then waxed eloquent about what the Number Three job is about. I felt awfully smug during the entire report, because we here at Rantburg have used the meme since 2004 or 2005.

But then, NPR seems to use Rantburg as a source. From the story

A joke in terrorism circles is that the fastest way to get killed is to become the No. 3 in al-Qaida, given the number of so-called No. 3s who have been killed.

Indeed.

Posted by trailing wife 2010-06-01 23:48|| 2010-06-01 23:48|| Front Page Top

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