Saif al-Islam al-Masri

Saif al-Islam al-Masri (Arabic: سيف الإسلام المصري) is the name of a certain member of al-Qaeda. The name is probably, but not certainly, a nom de guerre; Saif al-Islam means Sword of Islam and al-Masri means the Egyptian, but either or both could be a real name. Little is publicly known about this person, but his name has come up in reports and testimony on a variety of major terrorist attacks and related paramilitary and financial activities. According to those sources, Saif al-Islam

• was one of fifteen men—all Arabs—captured in the Pankisi Gorge in a joint operation by Georgian and American Special Forces, in early October 2002
• was until then a member of al-Qaeda's majlis al-shura and its military committee
• was handed over to the Americans
• ran the Jihad Wal training camp near Khost, Afghanistan in 1992
• had been an officer of the Chechnya branch of the terrorist charity Benevolence International Foundation
• fought against American forces in Somalia
• instructed Ali Mohamed to get training from Hezbollah in south Lebanon.