Name Abdullah Abdullah | ||
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Born circa 1963 Egypt Known for Being placed on the list of FBI Most Wanted Terrorists
1998 United States embassy bombings | ||
Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah (Arabic: عبدالله أحمد عبدالله; born about 1963), known as Abu Mohammed al-Masri, is an Egyptian high-ranking member of al-Qaeda. He is wanted by the United States for his alleged role in the 1998 American embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya. He has been described as Al-Qaeda’s most experienced operational planner.
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History
Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah was born in Egypt in 1963. According to Abdullah, he was once a professional soccer player for the Ghazl El-Mehalla team in Egypt.
In 1992 he helped Saif al-Adel in providing intelligence and military training to those associated with Al Qaeda in Somalia and Sudan. It is sometimes claimed that his trainees were among the group who fought against the Americans during the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993.
According to United States indictment issued for his alleged role in the 1998 United States embassy bombings, Abdullah is a member of the 'majlis al-shura' of al-Qaeda. It is alleged that between 1996 and 1998 he operated training camps in Afghanistan for Al Qaeda. Abdullah was responsible for forging a passport for Mohammed Saddiq Odeh so he could get from Pakistan to Afghanistan and meet Osama bin Laden before the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
Abdullah was one of the 22 original members, and is still a member, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 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.
He fled Nairobi, Kenya on 6 August 1998 to Karachi, Pakistan. He was located in either Afghanistan or Pakistan.
Arrest in Iran
Sometime later, he was detained in Iran and placed under arrest. An interrogation of former al-Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith confirmed that Abdullah was under house arrest in Iran.
Release in Iran
He was released by Iran in March 2015 alongside al-Qaeda leaders Saif al-Adel and Abu Khayr al-Masri.
Family
He is married to the daughter of Ahmad Salama Mabruk, who he has three daughters with.