Al-Qaeda’s chemical ‘expert’ dead
US bomb attack in Pakistan’s tribal belt believed to have killed Abu Khabab al-Masri.
Abdel Bari al-Atwan, editor-in-chief of al-Quds Al Arabi newspaper, said al-Masri “represented the old guard of al-Qaeda, so it is going to be very difficult to replace him”.
“This was a huge success for the Americans in their pursuit of al-Qaeda leaders,” he said.
“Al-Qaeda usually replace these people in this situations, but actually, they won’t have the people with the determination and expertise of this man.
“He managed to experiment a lot with chemical and biological weapons in the Tora Bora area.
“Maybe he has disciples, but there’s no one with his skills. He knows the ideology of al-Qaeda very well and I don’t believe he will be easily replaced by other people.”
Senior bomb maker
Al-Masri, a 55-year-old Egyptian chemist, was regarded as one of the group’s senior bomb makers.
The statement said he had left behind him a generation of so-called students who would avenge his killing.
On Saturday, a Pakistani Taliban spokesman denied a US media report that Ayman al-Zawahri, al-Qaeda’s deputy leader, had been wounded or killed in what was believed to be the same US missile strike that killed Masri.
Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Kabul, said: “Afghanistan is seeing the worst violence since the Taliban was ousted in 2001.
“The killing of Masri also comes at a time when there have been increasing reports that a number of al-Qaeda fighters are now infiltrating into Afghanistan and working here alongside the Taliban.”
Ahmed Rashid, the Pakistani journalist and author, told Al Jazeera: “Masri has left behind a new generation of people that he did train.”
“It is quite possible that his death could spark retaliation outside the region … inside the region, in Afghanistan and in Pakistan, we are seeing an all-out offensive.”