Saif al-Adel | |
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File:Saif al-Adel in Afghanistan, January 2000.jpg | |
Born | |
Occupation(s) | Explosives expert, al-Qaeda leader |
Saif al-Adel is a former Egyptian Army officer, explosives expert, and the leader of al-Qaeda.
Saif al-Adel was a colonel in Egypt's El-Sa'ka Forces in the 1980s. In 1987, the Egyptian military deported him and detained him along with thousands other Islamists on charges that they were trying to reestablish the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and plotting to overthrow Hosni Mubarak. Saif left Egypt for Afghanistan shortly after the charges were dropped, joining Afghan Arab mujahideen who were fighting the Soviet invasion in 1988 under the leadership of al-Qaeda precursor Maktab al-Khidamat. Saif would later lead the recently established media division of al-Qaeda and helped create Osama Bin Laden's movies, which attracted viewers from all over the world.