Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri
Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri (Arabic: أبو عبيدة البنشيري; May 1950 – 21 May 1996) was the nom de guerre[1] of Ali Amin al-Rashidi, was a founding member of al-Qaeda and served as the groups first military commander. He was known within the group as the "most capable and popular leaders".[2][3][4][5]
Ali Amin al-Rashidi
Ubaidah al-Banshiri, Adel Habib, Karim, Jalal
1983-1996
Military Commander
He was the head of al-Qaeda's African presence, overseeing both funding and military operations in the continent, and second in command of the whole organization, below Osama bin Laden.
Death[edit]
On 21 May 1996 Ali Amin al-Rashidi drowned in Lake Victoria after the ferry he was travelling on sank. When the news broke that the ferry MV Bukoba had sunk, al-Qaeda sent Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and Wadih el-Hage to the scene to verify that al-Banshiri had drowned, and had not been murdered.[14] A source has claimed that al-Rashidi was attempting to obtain material for a dirty bomb when he drowned and when the brother of Ayman al Zawahiri had informed al-Rashidis wife of his death, he told her that he was making preparations for an attack when he drowned.[6]
Al-Rashidi was succeeded as al-Qaeda's military commander by Mohammed Atef, who had been his protegee. Al-Banshiri's senior role in East Africa was taken over, at least in part, by Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah.[1]
A poem entitled "Tears in the Eyes of Time" was written about al-Banshiri, commemorating him among the greatest of the "fallen mujahideen". Al-Zawahiri recited the poem in his January 2006 internet broadcast.[15]