Al-Qaida chief apparently dead from hepatitis

[unhappycamper]

Al-Qaida chief apparently dead from hepatitis
By Pamela Hess - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Apr 9, 2008 19:38:31 EDT

WASHINGTON — An Egyptian al-Qaida boss thought to be the planner behind the foiled 2006 terrorist plot to blow up airliners over the Atlantic is dead of natural causes, U.S. counterterror officials said Wednesday.

One official said the strategist, Abu Obeida al-Masri, also was responsible for attacks on U.S. forces in Afghanistan and is linked to the July 7, 2005, attacks against the London transit system, one official said.

Al-Masri is thought to have died of hepatitis in late 2007 in Pakistan’s lawless tribal area bordering Afghanistan, a second counterterror official said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

One official said al-Masri was “a senior external operations planner” for al-Qaida, which U.S. intelligence says has reconstituted its headquarters in western Pakistan.

Al-Masri planned the disrupted 2006 attacks in which as many as 10 passenger jets bound for the U.S. were supposed to have been blown up over the Atlantic simultaneously with liquid explosives. British authorities arrested 24 suspects in August 2006 after almost a year’s surveillance. The suspects planned to smuggle bombs and detonators disguised as drinks and electronic devices onto the planes in their carry-on baggage.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_almasri_040908/

[SteinbachMB]

1. Good news.

Good riddance.

[Clear Blue Sky]

2. RIP - not...