Profile of 'Local Leader' of Al-Qa'ida in Saudi Arabia

He is in his thirties. He trained with the Al-Qa'ida organization (in Afghanistan), trained others, and fought in Bosnia. He smuggled weapons from Spain to Algeria via Morocco. He was arrested and imprisoned in Somalia until he was deported to Saudi Arabia. After his release from prison in Saudi Arabia he secretly left for Yemen and arrived in Afghanistan and then returned to Saudi Arabia as leader of Al-Qa'ida.

The above encapsulates the biography of Abd-al-Aziz al-Muqrin, defendant number one in the recently announced list of the 26 most wanted persons. His name was also on the famous list of the 19 most wanted persons announced on 7 May this year. His nom de guerre is "Abu-Hajar." According to security sources, Al-Muqrin is considered "the real leader of the (Al-Qa'ida) organization in Saudi Arabia, succeeding Yusuf al-Ubayri." Al-Ubayri was one of the wanted person on the list of 19 and was killed during a clash with the security forces in Turbat Ha'il in northern Saudi Arabia in which two policemen were also killed and five others wounded.

A detailed biography of defendant number one, Abd-al-Aziz Isa Abd-al-Muhsin al-Muqrin, is as follows: His place of residence was Al-Suwaydi Quarter in Riyadh. He was born and grew up in Riyadh. He did not complete his secondary education. He married when he was 19 years old. He has a daughter, who is now 10 years old. He deserted his wife, who is now separated from him. Reports say that he married recently, without the knowledge of his family, and has a daughter, who is not yet two years old.

His relationship with Afghanistan began when he was 17 years old. He left school and traveled to Afghanistan. He visited Afghanistan frequently during the period 1990-1994. He started training with an Arab group under the supervision of an Arab trainer in a training camp known as "Wal Camp." After a few months of training, he participated in the so-called "Khost battle" near the camp where he was training. According to a source who knows him well, those in charge of training the "Afghan Arabs" promoted Al-Muqrin from a "trainee to a trainer in that camp." The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Al-Muqrin was transferred from Afghanistan to Algeria to fight on the side the Islamic Liberation Front (FIS) in the mid-1990s. He was then in his mid-twenties. He was assigned the task of "smuggling weapons and military gear, which were purchased in Spain and smuggled to Algeria via Morocco." The source noted that Islamic groups in Algeria "managed to smuggle him and rescue him from the security services, which killed and arrested some of his colleagues who were active in smuggling weapons."

After he was smuggled out of Algeria, he spent a short period of time traveling between Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. He then went to Bosnia-Herzegovina, working initially as a member of a training staff in a military camp. He then went to the battlefront. During that period eight Arab fighters who were trained by him were killed in the fighting. He did not stay long in Bosnia-Herzegovina and returned with other groups to Saudi Arabia.

Abd-al-Aziz al-Muqrin did not stay long in Saudi Arabia. He left secretly for Yemen and then headed for Somalia. He fought against Ethiopia in the Ogaden province battles under the banner of a group known as the "Islamic Union in Somalia." He and his group, who were moving in the Ogaden province villages for two and a half years, were captured by the Ethiopian authorities. He was then extradited to Saudi Arabia at its request. A Saudi religious court sentenced him to four years in prison. He behaved well while in prison and learned the Noble Koran by heart. This prompted the concerned authorities in the Interior Ministry to commute his prison sentence by half. He was released from prison two years ago.

Upon his release from prison, he lived with his old parents for two months. Afterward, he left secretly for Yemen and from there to Afghanistan, stopping over in several countries before reaching his destination. He arrived in Afghanistan a few days after the 11 September 2001 events. During that period other groups of Saudi youths arrived in Afghanistan before the start of the US war against the Taliban regime. Some members of these groups were later killed, others were arrested and imprisoned in the Guantanamo detention camp, and the rest were arrested in Saudi Arabia, which later released some of them, including those who are now on the lists of the 19 and 26.

After his recent return to Saudi Arabia he visited his family in Al-Suwaydi Quarter (in Riyadh). However, he stopped visiting them some 13 months ago. During this period he trained recently recruited Al-Qa'ida elements in the central and western regions. The training was carried out in secret camps set up in difficult terrain between valleys and mountains.

The Saudi authorities discovered one of these small and secret camps in an area between Mecca and Medina at the beginning of this year and arrested a group composed of 20 persons. Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayif Bin-Abd-al-Aziz disclosed these arrests in a press statement a few days after the success of the security operation "in which citizens participated," according to one of the notables of the Harb clan, which lives in the area between Mecca and Medina.

In a telephone conversation with Al-Sharq al-Awsat, one of his acquaintances, who was an active member of the religious trend in the past, noted that Al-Muqrin gained combat experience during his stints in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzogvina, Algeria, and Somalia. However, his role was not confined to participating in real combat; he was also entrusted with other missions. In the beginning he trained newly recruited Al-Qaida elements. He then kept in touch with and coordinated among various groups in Saudi Arabia and abroad. His success in this regard "may have contributed to his assumption of a prominent post, namely the local leader (of the Al-Qa'ida organization in Saudi Arabia)."

(Description of Source: London Al-Sharq al-Awsat in Arabic -- Influential Saudi-owned London daily providing independent coverage of Arab and international issues; editorials reflect official Saudi views on foreign policy)