Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Most wanted English Arabic Notes
Yousif Saleh Fahd al-'Uyayri ( or Ayyiri , etc . ) يوسف صالح فهد العييري leader , writer , and webmaster , killed June 2003 in Saudi Arabia
3 Khalid Ali bin Ali Hajj خالد علي بن علي حاج leader , killed in Riyadh March or April 2004
1 Abdulaziz Issa Abdul-Muhsin al-Muqrin عبد العزيز عيسى عبد المحسن المقرن leader , killed in Riyadh 18 June 2004
5 Saleh Muhammad 'Audhuallah al-'Alawi al-Oufi صالح محمد عوض الله العلوي العوفي leader , killed 17 or 18 August 2005 in Madinah
2 Rakan Muhsin Mohammed al-Saikhan راكان محسن محمد الصيخان killed 12 April 2004 in Riyadh
7 Saud Hamoud 'Abid al-Qatini al-'Otaibi سعود حمود عبيد القطيني العتيبي senior member , one of 15 killed in a 3-day battle in Ar Rass April 2005
4 Abdul Kareem Al-Majati عبد الكريم المجاطي Moroccan , killed with Saud al-Otaibi at Ar Rass , was wanted in the USA under the name Karim El Mejjati
6 Ibrahim Muhammad Abdullah al-Rais إبراهيم محمد عبدا لله الريس killed 8 December 2003 in Riyadh
8 Ahmad Abdul-Rahman Saqr al-Fadhli أحمد عبدالرحمن صقر الفضلي killed 22 April 2004 in Jeddah
9 Sultan Jubran Sultan al-Qahtani alias Zubayr Al-Rimi سلطان جبران سلطان القحطاني q.v . , killed 23 September 2003 in Jizan
10 Abdullah Saud Al-Siba ' i عبد الله سعود السباعي killed 29 December 2004
11 Faisal Abdul-Rahman Abdullah al-Dakhil فيصل عبدالرحمن عبدالله الدخيل killed with al-Muqrin
12 Faris al-Zahrani فارس آل شويل الزهراني ideologue , captured 5 August 2004 in Abha
13 Khalid Mobarak Habeeb-Allah al-Qurashi خالد مبارك حبيب الله القرشي killed 22 April 2004 in Jeddah
14 Mansoor Muhammad Ahmad Faqeeh منصور محمد أحمد فقيه surrendered 30 December 2003 in Najran
15 'Issa Saad Muhammad bin 'Ushan عيسى سعد محمد بن عوشن ideologue , killed 20 July 2004 in Riyadh
16 Talib Saud Abdullah Al Talib طالب سعود عبدالله آل طالب at large ; ( last of the original 26 )
17 Mustafa Ibrahim Muhammad Mubaraki مصطفى إبراهيم محمد مباركي killed 22 April 2004 in Jeddah
18 Abdul-Majiid Mohammed al-Mani ' عبد المجيد محمد المنيع ideologue , killed 12 October 2004 in Riyadh
19 Nasir Rashid Nasir Al-Rashid ناصر راشد ناصر الراشد killed 12 April 2004 in Riyadh
Members
The group has taken advantage of Yemen 's `` slow collapse into near-anarchy . Widespread corruption , growing poverty and internal fragmentation have helped make Yemen a breeding ground for terror . `` [ 136 ] More than two years later , on April 25 , 2012 , a suspected US drone strike killed Mohammed Said al-Umdah , a senior AQAP member cited as the number four in the organization and one of the 2006 escapees . He had been convicted of the 2002 tanker bombing and for providing logistical and material support . [ 137 ] Yemeni analyst , Barak Barfi , discounted claims that marriage between the militant group and Yemeni tribes is a widespread practice , though he states that the bulk of AQAP members hail from the tribes . [ 138 ] AQAP is a popular choice for radicalized Americans seeking to join Islamist terror organizations overseas . In 2013 alone , at least three American citizens or permanent residents — Marcos Alonso Zea , Justin Kaliebe , and Shelton Thomas Bell — have attempted to join AQAP . [ 139 ] They count among over 50 Americans who have attempted to join terrorist groups overseas , including AQAP , since 2007 . [ 139 ] Reportedly , as many as 20 Islamist British nationals traveled to Yemen in 2009 to be trained by AQAP . [ 140 ] In February 2012 , up to 500 Internationalistas from Somalia 's Al Shabaab , after getting cornered by a Kenyan offensive and conflict with Al Shabaab national legions , fled to Yemen . [ 141 ] It is likely that a number of this group merged with AQAP . The following is a list of people who have been purported to be AQAP members . Most , but not all , are or were Saudi nationals . Roughly half have appeared on Saudi `` most wanted '' lists . In the left column is the rank of each member in the original 2003 list of the 26 most wanted .
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (Arabic: تنظيم القاعدة في جزيرة العرب , romanized: Tanẓīm al-Qāidah fī Jazīrat al-Arab, lit. 'Organization of the Base in the Arabian Peninsula' or تنظيم قاعدة الجهاد في جزيرة العرب , Tanẓīm Qāidat al-Jihād fī Jazīrat al-Arab, Organization of Jihad's Base in the Arabian Peninsula), or AQAP, also known as Ansar al-Sharia in Yemen (Arabic: جماعة أنصار الشريعة , Jamāat Anṣār ash-Sharīah, Group of the Helpers of the Sharia), is a militant Islamist group primarily active in Yemen and Saudi Arabia that is part of the al-Qaeda network. It is considered the most active of al-Qaeda's branches that emerged after the weakening of central leadership. The U.S. government believes AQAP to be the most dangerous al-Qaeda branch. The group established an emirate during the 2011 Yemeni Revolution, which waned in power after foreign interventions in the subsequent Yemeni Civil War. The group has been designated a terrorist organization by the United Nations and several countries and international organizations.