I will never forget 9/11

The criminals of 9/11 must be brought to justice.

After six years, two wars, and dozens of senior al Qaeda figures arrested, Osama bin Laden and his chief associate Ayman al-Zawahiri remain at large. In this week’s List, FP runs down some of the other most dangerous senior al Qaeda leaders who are still on the loose.

Abu Ayyub al-Masri

Possible whereabouts: Iraq. Last October and again in May, Iraqi government sources reported him killed, but his death has not been confirmed.

Position: leader of al Qaeda in Iraq

Activities: An expert in roadside explosives, al-Masri has been one of al-Zawahiri’s disciples since joining Egyptian Islamic Jihad in 1982. He met his predecessor, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, when the two were training in Afghanistan in 1999. After moving to Iraq in 2001, al-Masri directed suicide bombers in Fallujah for al-Zarqawi and was charged with recruiting new members. In a notable show of brashness, al Qaeda announced al-Masri as al-Zarqawi’s replacement less than a week after the latter’s death in June of last year. “I think to some degree he’s had a much more difficult time than Zarqawi,” says Seth Jones, a counterterrorism analyst at the Rand Corporation. “I would point to the huge defeats they’ve had from Sunni tribes in Anbar. Also, the links between him and the core leadership are not as close as they were with Zarqawi.”