Al-Qaida leaders, associates

Amin al-Haq

Citizenship: Afghan

Aliases: Muhammed Amin

Personal: Bin Laden’s personal security coordinator.  Born in Nangahar Province, he fought against the Soviets in the 1980’s and is familiar with the territory of Afghanistan and nearby areas of Pakistan and Iran. 

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Suleiman Abu Ghaith

Citizenship: Revoked by Kuwait in 2003

Aliases: The Spokesman

Personal: A former religious studies teacher, he is now al-Qaida’s spokesman.  He left Kuwait in 2000 and traveled to Afghanistan to work with Bin Laden.  He was unknown to U.S. intelligence before his appearance on an al-Qaida tape aired on al Jazeera the day U.S. operations began in Afghanistan.   Bin Laden can be seen poking fun at him in several of the tapes.  Not viewed as part of the operational component of al-Qaida, he has been increasingly vocal in recent months.  He is believed to be in Iranian control.

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Mafouz Ould Walid

Citizenship: Mauretanian

Aliases: Abu Hafs the Mauretanian, Khalid al Shiquiti, Mafouz Walad al-Walid, Mahamedou Ouid Slahi.

Personal: A native of the African nation of Mauritania, Walid was said by the U.S. to have been killed in an air strike in Afghanistan in January 2002, but he has recently been placed among dozens of al-Qaida members being sheltered in Iran. He was listed by the Pentagon as one of bin Laden's top aides in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 2001 terror attacks.  He is believed to be in Iranian control.

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Thirwat Saleh Shirhata

Citizenship: Egyptian

Aliases: Thirwat Saleh Shihata

Personal: Egyptian Islamic Jihad Deputy Emir, Zawahiri’s No. 2.  He has received two death sentences in absentia in Egypt for alleged terrorist activities.  Believed to have been part of the plot to assassinate Anwar Sadat. He is believed to be in Iranian control.

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Abu Musab al Zarqawi

Citizenship: Jordanian

Aliases: Khalailah, Ahmed Fadee Ii Al-Khalaylah, Ahmad Fadi1 Nazza1i, Abu Al-Mu'taz

Personal: Has ties to al-Qaida, al-Ansar and Hezbollah. A new FBI description of him notes: “Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi has had a long-standing connection to senior al-Qaida leadership and appears to be highly regarded among al-Qaida and a close associate of bin Laden and Saif al-Adel.”

He has participated in acts of terrorism, trained terrorists, led terrorist cells, facilitated transport of terrorists and is being cited in the international press as a suspect in the recent devastating bombing of the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad…provided financial and other support to the terrorists who assassinated U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley in Amman, Jordan last October.  Zarqawi has also been involved in smuggling terrorists into Israel, has arranged training for Jordanian terrorists in al-Qaida camps.  In his speech to the United Nations Security Council last February, Secretary of State Powell revealed that under the regime of Saddam Hussein, Zarqawi and his network found refuge in Iraq and Zarqawi himself was treated in a Baghdad hospital.  Zarqawi’s network also established a poisons and explosives training camp in Northwest Iraq. Indicted in absentia in Jordan for his role in the al-Qaida Millennium bombing plot targeting the Radisson SAS hotel in Amman as well as other American, Israeli, and Christian religious. sites in Jordan.

The U.S. has established a reward of $25 million for information leading to his capture.  He swore personal fealty to Bin Laden in October 2004.

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