U.S. holding terror network’s chief of Persian Gulf operations WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 — Al-Qaida’s chief of Persian Gulf operations has been captured, U.S. government officials said Thursday. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, also known as “Al Maqqi,” is believed to have been involved in planning numerous attacks, including the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen, officials said. AL NASHIRI IS the highest-ranking al-Qaida operative captured since the CIA, FBI and Pakistani authorities captured bin Laden’s operations chief, Abu Zubaydah, in Faisalabad, Pakistan, in March. U.S. officials had recently said a senior al-Qaida leader had been caught, but they had declined to identify him. On Sunday, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said the leader was providing information to his interrogators. Al Nashiri is of Saudi origin and in his late thirties or early forties. He has most recently been operating on the Arabian Peninsula. But officials said he “gets around.” He ranks in the “top dozen” al-Qaida operatives worldwide and has a $25 million reward on his head. One of the earliest members of al-Qaida, joining in the late 1980’s, Al Nashiri fought with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. It isn’t known whether he followed bin Laden to Sudan, but he rejoined bin Laden in Afghanistan at some point in the 1990’s. Al Nashiri is well traveled and was involved in the planning of “multiple attacks, both past and present,” including the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen. His role in the East Africa Embassy bombings is not as clear cut but he “certainly has ties to people in the bombing conspiracy.” Link
