Shehri, member of the personal protection team of former Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, was killed during an American air strike at the tribal zone in Pakistan, according to informed sources. Nicknamed Abu Hafs, Al-Shehri was number 11 on the list of the 85 most wanted terrorists and was the coordinator between Al-Qaeda central leadership and Taliban network in Pakistan, according to a report published in Al-Hayat Arabic daily. The sources told the newspaper that Al-Shehri's mother received a call from a relative of her son's wife, who is not Arab. The relative said that Osama was killed in an American air strike and he was buried in Pakistan. At his Riyadh residence, Osama's family received condolences. Al-Shehri joined Al-Qaeda before 9/11 and worked in the militant organization with his cousin Sa'ad Al-Shehri, who was killed and was number 36 on the most wanted list, the sources said. Both were in the team in charge of providing personal protection to Osama Bin Laden, the sources added. Osama Al-Shehri and his cousin Sa'ad trained some new members who were convinced into joining the organization and showed them how to use weapons. Sa'ad also used to accompany Qalb Al-Din Hekmatyar, the former Afghani leader. Osama was assigned the mission of training members of his team on how to develop fighting skills. He was planning to return to the Kingdom to carry out a terrorist act. Two American officials said Thursday that the air strike carried out by a CIA drone killed a major Al-Qaeda leader in the tribal zone of Pakistan. He was described by American officials as the leader of Al-Qaeda operations in Pakistan and the coordinator between Al-Qaeda and Taliban. The killing of the leader is another blow to Al-Qaeda in Pakistan which has lost its operations leader. His loss will constitute a challenge for the current Al-Qaeda leader, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, sources said. Sa'ad Al-Shehri's death earlier this year was a major breakthrough in the fight against Al-Qaeda. His death was sympathized by neither his family nor his tribe. Saudi Gazette reported on Feb. 16 that Sheikh Fahd Bin Tahir Bin Da'bash, sheikh of the Aal Waleed tribes to which Al-Shehri belonged, denounced the militant and said the deceased represented “no one but himself”. “What happened to him is the fate of anyone how deserts his people and nation,” Sheikh Da'bash said. “What he did was disobedience to the country that raised him, sheltered him and bestowed its blessings on him.” He added that the half a million-strong Bani Shehr tribal grouping of which Aal Waleed are a part, “condemn the despicable things he did”. “We are fully behind our country and its leaders, and we stand as one with the people of this nation in the face of the corrupt and deviant,” he said. The capture or death of Saeed Al-Shehri was one of the highest priorities for security forces in the Kingdom and Yemen. Apart from his status in founding the so-called “Al-Qaeda Organization in the Arabian Peninsula” which sought to use Yemen as a launch pad for attacks on the Kingdom, Al-Shehri also had a significant impact on finding new members.
