Mohammed Atef (also transliterated as Muhammad Atef, Muhammed Atef, and several other ways) was the alleged military chief of the international terrorist organization al-Qaida.

Among his known aliases are Abu Hafez, Abu Hafs, Abu Hafs al-Masri, Abu Hafs El-Masry El-Khabir, Taysir, Sheikh Taysir Abdullah, and Abu Khadijah.

Atef was a policeman in his native Egypt and a member of the group Egyptian Islamic Jihad before he joined Al-Qaida.

U.S. prosecutors claim that he instigated the attacks on U.S. forces in Somalia in 1993. However, he first became wanted by the U.S. government after the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings. The FBI offered a five million dollar bounty for his capture.

In January, 2001 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Atef's daughter married Mohammed bin Laden, son of Osama bin Laden.

Atef was killed when a U.S. air-strike struck his home near Kabul during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan on November 16, 2001. His death was confirmed when the ambassador of the Taliban, Abd Al-Salam Dhaif said three days later, "Abu Hafs al-Masri died from injuries he suffered after US warplanes bombed his house near Kabul."

External link

• FBI Wanted Poster on Atef (http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/terrorists/teratef.htm)
• Al-Jazeera Article on Atef (http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D2D48F79-B330-40E3-A17D-B4CDD01EE1A0.htm)
• BBC Article on Atef (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1660487.stm)
• Abu-Hafs Website Threatening Europe (http://www.hostinganime.com/abu-hafs)
• An Abu-Hafs Website (http://www.hostinganime.com/abuhafs)