Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat- According to information obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat, Ibrahim al-Asisi, a member of ‘al-Qaeda’ whom Washington claims was integral in the parcel bombs plot, is an expert in manufacturing explosives and preparing chemicals. He acquired his expertise in these areas through the training process he completed in Yemen. Ibrahim is the elder brother of Abdullah Hassan Asiri, who carried out the failed assassination attempt against Prince Mohammad bin Naif, Assistant Interior Minister for Security Affairs, in September 2009. Ibrahim al-Asiri, according to the information available to Asharq Al-Awsat, is known amongst ‘al-Qaeda’ in Yemen by the Arabic Kunya “Abu Salah”. He was born in the Saudi capital Riyadh, and is 29 years old. Al-Asiri, who was confirmed yesterday to be the prime suspect behind the parcel bombs, joined ‘al-Qaeda’ in Yemen by infiltrating into the country, which suffers from security tensions in many areas. His official passport was not registered [upon entering], according to the available information about him.
Ibrahim al-Asiri is one of 85 wanted men, pursued by Saudi Arabia on charges of belonging to ‘al-Qaeda’, and conspiring to attack domestic Saudi targets, such as oil facilities.
Saudi Arabia is accusing Ibrahim al-Asiri, specifically, along with a number of wanted individuals, of joining a terrorist cell which aims to carry out assassinations, and target oil facilities in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Asiri is skilled in martial arts, according to information about the cell targeting Saudi Arabia, which has trained its members in the art of self defense. In an exclusive statement regarding the wanted man, Riyadh stressed that al-Asiri left the country illegally in order to join ‘al-Qaeda’. Available information indicates that Ibrahim al-Asiri’s training in Yemen exposed him to a variety of weapons and missiles (such as the SAM 7, the MILAN [anti-tank] missile, mortars, RPGs and B10 rockets), in addition to enabling him to become an expert in manufacturing explosives, and preparing chemicals. Ibrahim al-Asiri is affiliated with other elements of ‘al-Qaeda’ in Yemen, such as Ammar al-Waeli, and Hamza al-Quaiti, although the latter was killed following a raid on a terrorist cell in Tarim in 2008.