Abu Khayr al-Masri

History Al-Masri was a member of Egyptian Islamic Jihad alongside Ayman al-Zawahiri and fled the country in the mid-1980s along with many other Islamic militants. He headed al-Qaeda's political committee and was a member of the Shura Council. He has been described as operating as a "trusted lieutenant" of the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri with whom al-Masri worked in Sudan and Afghanistan.

Arrest He left Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks and prior to the United States invasion of Afghanistan. He fled to Iran, where he was arrested in Sistan and Baluchestan province in April 2003. Also arrested alongside him were other senior al-Qaeda leaders including Saif al-Adel, Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah and Sulaiman Abu Ghaith. According to a statement that Sulaiman Abu Ghaith gave to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, four al-Qaeda leaders were first jailed in an Iranian intelligence building in Tehran for approximately one year and eight months.

Release by Iran In September 2015 it was reported that Abu Khayr al-Masri was released by Iran in March 2015 together with other al-Qaeda leaders including Saif al-Adel and Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah in a prisoner exchange. He was reported to have then traveled to Syria with three men to join the Al-Nusra Front branch of al-Qaeda. There was no immediate official confirmation from either the United States or al-Qaeda. Guardian journalists Tom McCarthy and Martin Chulov later reported that jihadist leaders confirmed that al-Masri was killed in the drone strike. The airstrike also killed another Tahrir al-Sham militant traveling in the car. A US intelligence official and al-Qaeda later confirmed that al-Masri had been killed in the strike, which used a variant of the AGM-114 Hellfire missile. This weapon, known as the AGM-114 R9X, lacks an explosive warhead. Instead, it deploys six blades just before impact so it may kill its target while reducing the likelihood of harm to people nearby.