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Image posted, EPA
Al-Masry is accused of participating in plans to bomb the US embassies in Kenya (pictured) and Tanzania.
Iran has denied the authenticity of a report by the American New York Times, in which it is claimed that Israeli agents assassinated Al-Qaeda’s second man in the Iranian capital, Tehran.
Holding the United States flag, Abu Muhammad al-Masri was shot by two men, riding a motorcycle, in August, the newspaper reported.
Abu Muhammad al-Masri, whose real name is Abdullah Ahmad Abdullah and who is of Egyptian origin, is accused of helping to plan the bombing of two US embassies in Africa.
The newspaper reported that the shooting occurred on August 7, the same day that the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed in 1998, killing 224 people.
Al-Masry was at the top of the US FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist List. And Washington had assigned a $ 10 million reward to anyone who provided information leading to his arrest.
The newspaper said the assassination of al-Masri, who was considered a potential successor to current al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, has been kept secret until now, according to what it cited four intelligence officials.
So far it is unclear what role the United States played in the assassination of the al-Qaeda member, if it played a role in the first place. But the New York Times indicated that Washington had been tracking Al-Masry, about 58, and other al Qaeda activists in Iran for years.
The newspaper claimed that Al-Masry was one of Al-Qaeda’s founding leaders, and that he was assassinated along with his daughter Maryam, the widow of Hamzah bin Laden, son of former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in his car near their home after four bullets were fired at them.
Last August, social media users in Iran and Lebanon, as well as the Lebanese MTV channel, shared the news of an attack. However, the victim was reported to be a Lebanese history professor who supported the Hezbollah group, named Habib Daoud, and his daughter, Maryam.
Image posted, FBI
Al-Masry was wanted by the US authorities
On Saturday, Iran denied the claim in the New York Times report, saying there are no Al Qaeda “terrorists” on its territory.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement that the United States and Israel “sometimes attempt to link Iran to these groups by lying and leaking false information to the media, to evade responsibility for the criminal activities of this organization. and other terrorist organizations in the region. “
Khatibzadeh added that “the Trump administration’s method of intimidation against Iran has become commonplace.”
A US official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, declined to confirm any details about the New York Times report or to reveal whether there was any US involvement in the operation.
The White House National Security Council did not respond to calls and requested comment on the information in the New York Times report.
The newspaper quoted unidentified US intelligence officials as saying that Al-Masry had been “detained” in Iran since 2003, but had been living freely in an exclusive suburb of Tehran since 2015.
The newspaper said that US counterterrorism officials believe Iran may have allowed him to live there to carry out attacks on US targets.
It was not immediately known what impact the assassination of al-Masry would have on al-Qaeda activities, if it had any effect.
US forces killed Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, in a raid on a housing complex where he was hiding in Pakistan in 2011.
Although the group has lost its top leaders in the two decades since the 9/11 attacks, it has maintained active branches from the Middle East to Afghanistan and even West Africa.
