Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri
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Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri (Arabic: أبو عبيدة البنشيري ) was one of the founders of the Islamist terrorist network now known as al-Qaeda[1]. When he drowned in a ferry accident in Lake Victoria in 1996, he was #2 in the organization, behind Osama bin Ladin.
While in Kenya and Tanzania he was known by the aliases Adel Habib, Karim, and Jalal. His real name could be Ali al-Rashidi ( علي الرشيدي ).
When the news broke that the ferry MV Bukoba had sunk in Lake Victoria, al-Qaeda sent Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and Wadih el-Hage to the scene, to verify that al-Banshiri was dead, and had not defected or been captured.[2]
Al-Banshiri was Egyptian and had also acquired Dutch citizenship. He was succeeded as al-Qaeda's "military" commander by Mohammed Atef.
- ^ Indictment of Enaam Arnaout in 2002, archive at the US Department of Justice; describes the founding of al-Qaeda
- ^ Transcript of testimony in the trial of El Hage and others
