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Dialuna 16 november 2020

US, Israel worked together to track and kill al-Qaida No. 2

zbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Aug. 4 explosion at the port
Jihad. of Beirut and did not get
much attention. Hezbollah
The revelations that Iran was never commented on reports
harboring an al-Qaida leader and Lebanese security offi-
could help Israel bolster its cials did not report that any
case with the new U.S. ad- citizens were killed in Teh-
ministration. ran.
A Hezbollah official on Sat-
Al-Masri had been on a kill urday would not comment
or capture list for years. but on al-Masri's death, saying
his presence in Iran, which Iran’s foreign ministry had
has a long history of hostility already denied it.
toward al-Qaida, presented
significant obstacles to either The alleged killings seem to
apprehending or killing him. fit a pattern of behavior at-
tributed to Israel in the past.
Iran denied the reports, say- In 1995, the founder of the
ing the government is not Palestinian militant group
harboring any al-Qaida lead- Islamic Jihad was killed by
ers and blaming the U.S. and a gunman on a motorcycle
Israel for trying to foment in Malta, in an assassina-
anti-Iranian sentiment. U.S. tion widely attributed to the
officials have long believed Mossad. The Mossad also re-
(AP) — The United States knowledge of the operation tration was in the advanced a number of al-Qaida lead- portedly carried out a string
and Israel worked togeth- and another former CIA of- stages of trying to push ers have been living quietly of similar killings of Iranian
er to track and kill a senior ficer briefed on the matter through the U.N. Security in Iran for years and publicly nuclear scientists in Iran early
al-Qaida operative in Iran — said al-Masri was killed Council the reinstatement released intelligence assess- last decade. Iran has accused
earlier this year, a bold by Kidon, a unit within the of all international sanctions ments have made that case. Israel of being behind those
intelligence operation by secretive Israeli spy organi- on Iran that were lifted under killings.
the two allied nations that zation Mossad allegedly re- the nuclear agreement. Al-Masri's death, albeit un-
came as the Trump ad- sponsible for the assassina- None of the other Secu- der an assumed name, was Yoel Guzansky, a senior fel-
ministration was ramping tion of high-value targets. In rity Council members went reported in Iranian media low at the Institute for Na-
up pressure on Tehran. Hebrew, Kidon means bayo- along with the U.S., which on Aug. 8. Reports identified tional Security Studies and
net or “tip of the spear.” has vowed to punish coun- him as a Lebanese history former analyst on Iranian
Four current and former U.S. tries that do not enforce the professor potentially affili- affairs in the prime minis-
officials said Abu Moham- The official in the intelligence sanctions as part of its “maxi- ated with Lebanon's Iranian- ter’s office, said it has been
med al-Masri, al-Qaida’s No. community said al-Masri's mum pressure” campaign on linked Hezbollah movement known for some time that
2, was killed by assassins in daughter, Maryam, was also Iran. and said he had been killed Iran is hiding top al-Qaeda
the Iranian capital in August. a target of the operation. The Israeli officials are concerned by motorcycle gunmen along figures. While he had no di-
The U.S. provided intelli- U.S. believed she was being the incoming administration with his daughter. rect knowledge of al-Masri's
gence to the Israelis on where groomed for a leadership role of President-elect Joe Biden death, he said a joint opera-
they could find al-Masri and in al-Qaida and intelligence could return to the nucle- Lebanese media, citing Ira- tion between the U.S. and
the alias he was using at the suggested she was involved in ar accord. It is likely that if nian reports, said that those Israel would reflect the two
time, while Israeli agents car- operational planning, accord- Biden does engage with the killed were Lebanese citizen nations' close intelligence
ried out the killing, according ing to the official, who like Iranians, Israel will press for Habib Daoud and his daugh- cooperation, with the U.S.
to two of the officials. The the others, spoke on condi- the accord to be modified ter Maraym. typically stronger in the tech-
two other officials confirmed tion of anonymity to discuss to address Iran’s long-range nical aspects of intelligence
al-Masri’s killing but could sensitive intelligence. missile program and its mili- The deaths of al-Masri and gathering and Israel adept at
not provide specific details. tary activity across the region, his daughter occurred three operating agents behind en-
Al-Masri’s daughter was the specifically in Syria and its days after the catastrophic emy lines.
Al-Masri was gunned down widow of Hamza bin Laden, support for groups like He-
in a Tehran alley on Aug. 7, the son of al-Qaida master-
the anniversary of the 1998 mind Osama bin Laden. He
bombings of the U.S. embas- was killed last year in a U.S.
sies in Nairobi, Kenya, and counterterrorism operation
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Al- in the Afghanistan-Pakistan
Masri was widely believed to region.
have participated in the plan-
ning of those attacks and was The news of al-Masri's death
wanted on terrorism charges was first reported by The
by the FBI. New York Times.
Both the CIA and Israeli
Al-Masri’s death is a blow to Prime Minister Benjamin
al-Qaida, the terror network Netanyahu’s office, which
that orchestrated the Sept. 11, oversees the Mossad intel-
2001, attacks in the U.S, and ligence agency, declined to
comes amid rumors in the comment.
Middle East about the fate of
the group’s leader, Ayman al- Israel and Iran are bitter ene-
Zawahiri. The officials could mies, with the Iranian nuclear
not confirm those reports program Israel’s top security
but said the U.S. intelligence concern. Israel has welcomed
community was trying to de- the Trump administration’s
termine their credibility. withdrawal from the 2015
Iranian nuclear accord and
Two of the officials — one the U.S. pressure campaign
within the intelligence com- on Tehran. At the time of the
munity and with direct killings, the Trump adminis-