April 9, 2008

Abu Ubaida al-Masri believed dead

U.S. counterterrorism officials believe that Abu Ubaida al-Masri, a senior al Qaeda commander believed to have helped plan the 2005 subway bomb attacks in London, has died of natural causes in Pakistan.

Al-Masri was considered an explosives expert and one of the terrorist network's top figures, with close ties to Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Al-Masri is believed to have died several months ago in Pakistan, possibly from hepatitis.

Officials described the Egyptian native as a longtime jihadist who first fought against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. They said al-Masri played a "strong hand" in planning the London attacks in July 2005, when synchronized bombs in subways and buses in the British capital killed 52 people, and played a key role in a foiled plot to bomb trans-Atlantic airliners in 2006.