Bin Laden’s
DIRTY
A List of the Top
High-Value Targets
In the War on Terror
By Brian Bennett
and David Meeks
Tribune Washington Bureau
Osama bin Laden had been at the
top of a secret targeting list main-
tained by the military’s Joint Special
Operations Command and the CIA
at a center at Bagram Air Field in
Afghanistan.
While the U.S. government won’t
release the names of the high-value
targets, as they are called, or even of-
ficially confirm that the list exists, in
the aftermath of bin Laden’s death,
here are a dozen other al-Qaida lead-
ers the U.S. seeks to kill or capture,
based on a review of government
most-wanted lists and a consensus
of experts.
1. Ayman al-Zawahri
Bin Laden’s longtime deputy is consid-
ered al-Qaida’s organizational master-
mind. Al-Zawahri is a
medical doctor and an
Egyptian militant who
joined bin Laden in the
earliest days of the net-
work. But he is far less
popular and lacks the
charisma that drew fight-
ers to bin Laden’s side.
Egyptian protests: Al-Zawahri earlier this
year released recordings denouncing
corruption in the Egyptian regime in an
effort to align protesters with al-Qaida.
Born: 1951, Egypt.
Affiliation: Al-Qaida.
Suspected location: Pakistan.
2. Anwar al-Awlaki
The American-born Muslim cleric, who
has been linked to the 2009 Christmas
Day bombing plot and the
2010 Yemen mail bomb
plot, is a lieutenant in the
Yemen-based al-Qaida
branch. Al-Awlaki is be-
lieved to have inspired the
2009 attack at Fort Hood,
Texas, in which Army
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is
charged with killing 13 people. Al-Awlaki
studied at Colorado State University and
was an imam at mosques in California
and Virginia.
Got away: A U.S. drone attack in Yemen
in early May was an attempt to kill al-
Awlaki, but he managed to get away, ap-
parently uninjured, a U.S. official said.
Born: 1971 in Las Cruces, N.M.
Affiliation: Al-Qaida of the Arabian
Peninsula.
Suspected location: Yemen.
3. Mullah Mohammed
Omar
When he was the head of the Taliban re-
gime in Afghanistan, Omar sheltered bin
Laden as he helped plan
the Sept. 11 attacks. Omar
continues to lead the
Taliban insurgency in Af-
ghanistan. In a November
2009 statement, he said,
“The invading Americans
want (holy warriors) to
surrender, under the pre-
text of negotiations. This is something
impossible.”
War wound: Omar lost an eye fighting
the Soviets in Afghanistan in the late
1980s.
Affiliation: Taliban.
Suspected location: Pakistan.
4. Sirajuddin Haqqani
Haqqani is the head of a Pakistan-based
militant network closely linked to al-
Qaida. The Haqqani net-
work presents the biggest
threat to U.S. forces in
Afghanistan and has led
brazen attacks on Ameri-
can military installations
in Afghanistan, including
an assault on Bagram Air
Field in May 2010.
Hotel attack: Haqqani claimed respon-
sibility for planning the January 2008
raid on the Serena Hotel in Kabul that
killed eight people.
Born: Approx. 1973, Afghanistan.
Affiliation: Haqqani network.
Suspected location: Pakistan.
5. Abu Yahya al-Libi
The charismatic Libyan-born cleric has
the strongest religious credentials in the
senior leadership of al-
Qaida. He has appeared
in propaganda videos and
is a member of al-Qaida’s
religious guidance com-
mittee.
Slipped away: Al-Libi
was arrested by U.S. forc-
es in Afghanistan in 2002
but escaped from the U.S.-run prison at
Bagram Air Field in 2005.
Born: Approx. 1963, Libya.
Affiliation: Al-Qaida.
Suspected location: Pakistan.
TERROR SUSPECTS
THE
DOZEN
IRAQ IRAN
SAUDI
ARABIA
YEMEN
ETHIOPIA
KEY
SOMALIA
The suspected locations of the top dozen al-Qaida leaders the United States seeks to kill
or capture.
Balkis Press | Abaca Press | MCT
Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was
killed by U.S. forces in a raid on his
compound in Pakistan.
6. Atiyah Abd al-Rahman
The Libyan explosives expert is believed
to have been promoted to run al-Qaida’s
financial operations
after Sheik Said Masri
was killed in a U.S. drone
strike in May 2010. Al-
Rahman also was an al-
Qaida liaison to militant
groups in Iran. In 2005,
he authored an opera-
tional letter to al-Qaida
in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi that
rebuked the group for indiscriminate
violence against Shiites. Al-Rahman was
reported killed in October 2010, but the
U.S. believes he is still alive.
Longtime follower: As a teenager in the
1980s, al-Rahman met bin Laden during
the anti-Soviet campaign in Afghanistan
and became a protege and confidant.
Born: Approx. 1970, Libya.
Affiliation: Al-Qaida.
Suspected location: Pakistan.
7. Ilyas Kashmiri
As a leader of Pakistani terrorist orga-
nization Lashkar-e-Taiba, Kashmiri is a
key military planner for
al-Qaida and as recently
as 2009 was running
a training camp in the
tribal areas of Pakistan.
Kashmiri is a veteran of
the anti-Soviet campaign
in Afghanistan and the
Kashmir conflict. He has been linked to
the planning of the Mumbai attacks in
2008 that killed some 170 people and
is currently believed to be in charge of
active al-Qaida-backed plots against tar-
gets in India and Europe.
Distinguishing features: Kashmiri is
missing an index finger, has lost sight
in one eye and is known to wear aviator
sunglasses, according to a State Depart-
ment report.
Born: 1964, Bhimber, Pakistan-adminis-
tered Kashmir.
Affiliation: Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Suspected location: Pakistan.
8. Hakimullah Mehsud
The head of the Pakistani Taliban is
wanted by the U.S. for his part in the
2009 attack on a CIA out-
post in Afghanistan that
killed seven Americans.
Mehsud’s organization
also has claimed respon-
sibility for planning the
failed New York Times
Square bombing in May
2010.
Near miss: Mehsud survived a U.S.
military strike targeting him in the tribal
areas of Pakistan in January 2010.
Death Creates
Opening On FBI
Fugitives List
By Dawn Rhodes
Chicago Tribune
With Osama bin Laden dead, the process
is under way to replace him on the FBI’s
10 Most Wanted Fugitives list.
That selection starts with the 56 field of-
fices submitting candidates’ names to FBI
headquarters, which could take up to three
weeks, a spokeswoman said. The Criminal
Investigative Division and the public af-
fairs office will work together to choose
AFGHANISTAN
one fugitive, and that selection eventually
will be approved by the FBI director.
There is no set time frame for when
the final choice will be made, the spokes-
PAKISTAN woman said.
Despite bin Laden’s notoriety as the lead-
INDIA ing figure behind the Sept. 11 attacks, that
terrorist act was not the reason he became
a top-10 fugitive.
Bin Laden (first name “Usama” on the
FBI list) landed on the list on June 7, 1999,
after he was indicted for his role in the
1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Tan-
zania and Kenya, which killed more than
200 people. To date, his summary on the
list states that he was a suspect in other
terrorist attacks worldwide but does not
specifically mention Sept. 11.
The other nine fugitives on the list, in
400 km order of when they were added:
Suspected
location
400 miles
Victor Manuel Gerena
Age: 52
chicago tribune | MCT Added: May 14, 1984 (longest
tenure in history)
Accused of: Robbing a West
Hartford, Conn., security com-
Born: Approx. 1982, Pakistan. pany of $7 million in 1983. Dur-
Affiliation: Pakistani Taliban. ing the robbery, he allegedly handcuffed and
Suspected location: Pakistan. bound two security guards and injected them
with an undetermined substance to further dis-
able them.
9. Adnan Shukrijumah
A leader of al-Qaida’s external opera-
Glen Stewart Godwin
tions arm, Shukrijumah is wanted by the
FBI for his alleged role in Age: 52
a thwarted 2009 plot to Added: Dec. 7, 1996
attack the New York City Accused of: Escaping from Fol-
subway system. He holds som State Prison in California
a Guyanese passport and in 1987, where he was serving a
since the Sept. 11 attacks murder sentence. He was later
has been tracked by the convicted of drug trafficking in Mexico and sent
FBI to Trinidad, where he to a Guadalajara prison, where he was accused
is believed to have met with militants. of murdering a fellow inmate and escaped five
U.S. ties: Born in Saudi Arabia, as a months later.
teenager Shukrijumah lived with his
parents in Miramar, Fla., and is a trained James J. Bulger
pilot.
Age: 81 (oldest fugitive added,
Born: 1975.
at age 69)
Affiliation: Al-Qaida.
Added: Aug. 19, 1999
Suspected location: Pakistan. Accused of: A role in numerous
Boston-area organized crime
10. Adam Gadahn homicides from the early 1970s
A top propagandist for al-Qaida, Gadahn through the mid-1980s.
is an American citizen who has appeared
in videos alongside al- Robert William Fisher
Qaida’s Ayman al-Zawahri
Age: 50
and has encouraged U.S.
Added: June 29, 2002
soldiers to join the net-
Accused of: Killing his wife and
work. He is wanted by the
two children, then blowing up the
FBI for treason and mate-
Scottsdale, Ariz., home where they
rial support to al-Qaida.
all lived in April 2001.
Early years: Gadahn
grew up on a goat farm in Alexis Flores
Southern California.
Age: Unknown
Born: 1978, United States. Added: June 2, 2007
Affiliation: Al-Qaida. Accused of: Involvement in the
Suspected location: Pakistan. kidnapping and strangulation
of a 5-year-old girl in Philadel-
11. Fazul Abdullah phia in July 2000.
Mohammed
An important, long-standing al-Qaida Jason Derek Brown
operative in East Africa, Mohammed is Age: 40 or 41
wanted by the FBI for his Added: Dec. 8, 2007
role in the 1998 bomb- Accused of: Murdering an ar-
ings against the U.S. mored car guard in Phoenix in
embassies in Nairobi and November 2004, then fleeing
Dar es Salaam. He was with the money.
the target of a missile
strike in Somalia in Janu- Joe Luis Saenz
ary 2007, but survived. Age: 35
Computer expert: A Kenyan national, Added: Oct. 19, 2009
Mohammed is a computer expert. Accused of: Fatally shooting
Born: Approx. 1972, Moroni, Comoros two rival gang members in Los
Islands. Angeles in 1998, and then kid-
Affiliation: Al Shabaab. napping, raping and killing his
Suspected location: Somalia. girlfriend less than two weeks later. He’s also
believed responsible for a fourth murder in Los
12. Saif al-Adel Angeles County in 2008.
According to Al Jazeera, Saif al-Adel
is now interim leader of al-Qaida. He’s Eduardo Ravelo
thought to have played Age: Unknown
a role in Egyptian Presi-
Added: Oct. 20, 2009
dent Anwar Sadat’s 1981 Accused of: Racketeering,
death, set up al-Qaida conspiracy to possess and
training camps in Sudan distribute narcotics, and con-
and Afghanistan, and au- spiracy to launder money. He
thorized terrorist attacks was indicted in Texas in 2008.
that began in Riyadh in
2003. Semion Mogilevich
Wanted: Al-Adel is wanted by the FBI in Age: 64
connection with the 1998 U.S. embassy Added: Oct. 21, 2009
bombings in Tanzania and Kenya. Accused of: Defrauding thou-
Born: Both 1960 and 1963 used as birth- sands of investors of a public
dates; Egypt. company of more than $150
Affiliation: Al-Qaida. million from 1993 to 1998. He
Suspected location: Had been in Iran, was indicted in April 2003.
now suspected to be in Pakistan-
Afghanistan border region. Photos courtesy of FBI
sources:Government “Most-Wanted” list, Chicago Tribune