One of al-Qaeda's top activists, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the network's chief of operations in the Persian Gulf, has been captured, senior U.S. government officials said Thursday.
Al-Nashiri, a suspected mastermind of the USS Cole bombing in October 2000, was taken in an undisclosed foreign country earlier this month and is now in U.S. custody, officials said, according to AP. Earlier this year, it was reported that US officials believed he was in Afghanistan when the war began in October 2001. Al-Nashiri, also known as Umar Mohammed al-Harazi and Abu Bilal al-Makki, was thought to have moved to Pakistan when the Taliban fell.
Al-Nashiri is suspected in a number of other al-Qaeda plots, including the 1998 East Africa embassy bombings. He is believed to have recruited his cousin, Azzam, to train in Afghanistan and serve as one of the suicide bombers in the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi. Al-Nashiri, born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, is believed to be in his mid-30s and a longtime associate of Osama bin Laden. (Albawaba.com)
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