Ibrahim al-Asiri

Ibrahim Hassan Tali al-Asiri (Arabic: ابراهيم حسن طالي العسيري‎; April 18, 1982 – 2017) was a citizen of Saudi Arabia suspected of being chief bomb-maker of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.[1] He was reported to have been responsible for making the bombs used by his brother Abdullah al-Asiri in his suicide bombing, the 2009 Christmas Day bomb plot, the 2010 cargo plane bomb plot, and the May 8th 2012 Terror Plot.[2]

Ibrahim al-Asiri
Born(1982-04-18)April 18, 1982
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Died2017 (aged 34–35)
Yemen
Cause of deathDrone strike
Other names
  • Abu Saleh
  • Khalid Ibrahim Al Aseery
  • Khaled Ibrahim Ahmad Al-Sunbul Al-Assiri
CitizenshipSaudi Arabia
Known foral-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula bomb-maker
Home townRiyadh
RelativesAbdullah al-Asiri (younger brother)

History

Little is known about al-Asiri's early life; he was born in 1982 into a religious and military family in Riyadh with four brothers and three sisters.[3] Al-Asiri's father is a retired soldier. As of September 2009, he had two surviving brothers.[1]

The Saudi Gazette reported that al-Asiri had been imprisoned and released. His imprisonment was a result of an attempt to enter Iraq to join Islamist insurgents.[3] He reportedly left Saudi Arabia for Yemen together with his brother Abdullah al-Asiri — whom he had recruited to al-Qaeda — to join up with al-Qaeda members.[1]

On February 3, 2009, al-Asiri and Abdullah were named on a list of Saudi Arabia's most wanted terrorist suspects.[4][5][6] The list published by the Government of Saudi Arabia listed 85 individuals, 83 of whom were Saudis, and 2 were from Yemen.

On August 27, 2009, Abdullah blew himself up at the Jeddah palace of Saudi Arabia's Deputy Minister of the Interior prince Mohammed bin Nayef, in attempt to assassinate him after posing as a repentant militant.[1][7][8] Abdullah, who had been recruited by Ibrahim as a suicide bomber, used a pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) bomb that his brother had hidden in his rectum. Abdullah died in the attempt, but bin Nayef survived with minor injuries.[9][10]

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

al-Asiri is suspected of being the main explosives expert for Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the bomb-maker responsible for building the bombs in the 2010 cargo plane bomb plot.[11] He is a likely suspect due to his history of creating explosive devices using PETN, including his involvement in the failed Christmas Day bomb plot.[12] Evidence suggested the same person constructed both the Yemen parcel bombs and the device worn by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who attempted to ignite the Christmas Day bomb on a plane in 2009. One of the detonators was nearly identical to the one used in the Christmas Day attack.[13]

In May 2012, American security officials leaked their acquisition of a document describing how to prepare and use liquid explosive implants (surgically implanted explosive devices).[2][14][15][16] The implants would contain no metal parts, making them virtually undetectable by x-rays. Al-Asiri was reported to have been responsible for the development of the new weapon.

Reports of death

In September 2011, al-Asiri was reported to have possibly been killed by a drone strike together with other AQAP suspects, including American-Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.[17] A Yemeni official denied that al-Asiri was killed.[18] On August 13, 2013, it was reported that Al-Asiri may have been seriously wounded by a drone strike which occurred on August 10.[19] A Yemeni official denied that al-Asiri was wounded.[20] Al-Asiri was thought to have possibly been killed in a fire fight on April 20, 2014. Yemeni troops recovered bodies to run DNA tests, but the tests were not a match.[21][22]

Al-Asiri appeared in a 2016 video making references to Saudi Arabia's recent executions of al-Qaeda militants, thus confirming that he remained alive.[23]

On August 20, 2018, United States officials announced they were confident that Al-Asiri had been killed by a drone strike in late 2017.[24]

Writing in The Washington Post, Michael J. Morell, former deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency, said that, if confirmed, "he would be the most significant international terrorist removed from the battlefield since Osama bin Laden."[25]

Death confirmed

On 10 October 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that al-Asiri was killed by a missile fired from an unmanned aerial vehicle in 2017.[25][26]

Sanctions

On 24 March 2011, al-Asiri was added to the U.S. list of terrorists. He was wanted by the government of Saudi Arabia and was the subject of an Interpol Orange Notice.[27][28]

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See also
  • Nizar Rayan, who successfully recruited his own son for a suicide bombing mission

References
  1. Abdullah Al-Oreifij (September 1, 2009). "Suicide bomber named". Saudi Gazette. Archived from the original on September 1, 2009. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
  2. Daniel Klaidman, Christopher Dickey (2012-05-14). "Ibrahim al-Asiri: The Body Bomb Menace". Daily Beast. Retrieved 2012-05-14. mirror
  3. BBC News (9 May 2012). "Profile: Al-Qaeda 'bomb maker' Ibrahim al-Asiri". BBC News.
  4. "Kingdom unveils list of 85 wanted militants abroad". Arab News. February 3, 2009. Archived from the original on September 10, 2009.
  5. "85 on Saudi wanted list of militants". Saudi Gazette. February 3, 2009. Archived from the original on February 4, 2009. Retrieved February 3, 2009.
  6. Carol Rosenberg (February 2, 2009). "Saudi 'most wanted list' includes freed Guantánamo detainees". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on February 3, 2009.
  7. Hammond, Andrew (August 30, 2009). "Saudi prince defends policy on militants". Reuters. Archived from the original on September 1, 2009.
  8. "Bizarre tale of Saudi bomber: Al-Qaida terrorist rode victim's private jet". Metro US. August 30, 2009. Archived from the original on September 1, 2009.
  9. "Passenger jets carried Dubai bomb". Al Jazeera. October 31, 2010. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  10. "Saudi Bombmaker Key Suspect in Yemen Plot". CBS News. Associated Press. 1 November 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  11. McGreal, Chris; Dodd, Vikram (October 31, 2010). "Cargo bombs plot: US hunts Saudi extremist". London: The Guardian. Retrieved October 31, 2010.
  12. "Al-Qaeda plot: Flight ban on freight from Somalia". London: Telegraph. November 1, 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  13. Frank Gardner (November 1, 2010). "Saudi man 'key suspect' in jet bomb plot, says US". BBC News. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  14. David Pescovitz (2012-05-14). "You da bomb! (surgically-implanted explosives)". Boing boing. Archived from the original on 2012-05-14. Retrieved 2012-05-14.
  15. Anissa Haddadi (2012-05-14). "Al-Qaida's 'Body Bombs' increase Fears of Global Attacks by Master Bomb-Maker Ibrahim Hassan Tali al-Asiri". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 2012-05-14. Retrieved 2012-05-14.
  16. "Breast bombers: Doctors trained to plant explosives inside chest of female suicide bombers". The Daily Mirror. 2012-05-14. Archived from the original on 2012-05-14. Retrieved 2012-05-14.
  17. Top al Qaeda bombmaker dead in drone strike, CBS News, September 30, 2011
  18. Official: Al-Qaida in Yemen bomb maker not killed in Al-Awlaki strike, Associated Press in Washington Post, October 2, 2011
  19. Jim Miklaszewski, Courtney Kube and Richard Esposito (August 13, 2013). "Reports:Al-Qaeda's Master Bombmaker Wounded In US Drone Strike". NBC News. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  20. "Yemeni official denies report that US drones wounded AQAP's master bomb maker". Long War Journal. 13 August 2013.
  21. Was al Qaeda bomb chief killed in Yemen?, Mohammed Jamjoom and Barbara Starr, CNN, April 22, 2014
  22. DNA test: Remains from airstrike in Yemen not those of al Qaeda bomb-maker, Paul Cruickshank, Mohammed Jamjoom and Nic Robertson, CNN, April 28, 2014
  23. "Bomb-making terrorist threatens US, Saudi Arabia over executions". Fox News. Associated Press.
  24. Martin, David (August 20, 2018). "U.S. officials confident drone strike killed chief al Qaeda bomb maker". CBS News. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  25. Michael Crowley (2019-10-10). "Trump Confirms 2017 Killing of Feared Bomb Maker for Al Qaeda". The New York Times. p. A6. Retrieved 2019-10-11. Mr. Trump’s announcement belatedly confirmed news reports from August 2018 that cited United States officials expressing confidence that Mr. Asiri, a leader of the Yemen-based branch known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, had likely been killed by a drone strike in the country the year before.
  26. "Trump confirms al Qaeda underwear bomb maker killed two years ago". CNN. 10 October 2019.
  27. Department of State's Terrorist Designation of Ibrahim Hassan Tali Al-Asiri, U.S. Department of State, 24 March 2011
  28. US designates al-Qaida bomb maker as a terrorist, AP, Chicago Tribune, 24 March 2011
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