Abu Zubair al-Haili was born Saudi Arabia and became a senior al-Qaida recruiter and operational commander. Also known as "The Bear" due to his posture and weight (over the 150kg). He was trained as an intelligence agency officer in Iraq where he fought against the Kurdish people in Northern Iraq. Before the September 11 terrorist attack he ran some of bin Laden's training camps in Afghanistan. He was considered to be among the top 25 al-Qaida lieutenants of Osama bin Laden and therefore on the American most wanted list. During the U.S.-led war against the Taliban and al_Qaida, he helped evacuate al_Qaida operatives from the country. He was captured in the first half of June 2002 by the Moroccan authorities. How he came to Morocco is unclear.

Later his name was often used in internet posting from the terrorist Mohammed Bouyeri who killed filmmaker Theo van Gogh.