28 Facts About Mohammed Atef

Mohammed Atef was the military chief of al-Qaeda, and was considered one of Osama bin Laden's two deputies, the other being Ayman Al Zawahiri, although Atef's role in the organization was not well known by intelligence agencies for years.

Mohammed Atef was killed in a US airstrike in November 2001.

Mohammed Atef was a police officer and a member of the group Egyptian Islamic Jihad before he moved to Afghanistan to repel the Soviet invasion, while operating from Peshawar.

Mohammed Atef has been credited as having convinced Abdullah Azzam to abandon his life and devote himself to preaching jihad at this time.

Mohammed Atef was sent to an Afghan training camp where he met Ayman al-Zawahiri, who later introduced him to Osama bin Laden.

Mohammed Atef attended two meetings from August 11 to 20 in 1988, along with bin Laden, al-Zawahiri, Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, Jamal al-Fadl, Wa'el Hamza Julaidan, and Mohammed Loay Bayazid and eight others, to discuss the founding of "al-Qaeda".

Mohammed Atef followed al-Qaeda to the Sudan in 1992 until the group was forced to leave, following the execution of the teenaged son of Ahmad Salama Mabruk, and Mohammed Atef moved to Afghanistan.

In 1994, he refused to allow American double agent Ali Mohammed Atef to know which name and passport he would be traveling under, expressing concerns that Mohammed Atef could be working with the American authorities.

Mohammed Atef traveled to Mombasa, Kenya where he met with Mohammed Odeh and gave him money to purchase himself a 7-tonne trawler and start a fishing business.

When Mohammed returned to Afghanistan, he turned to Atef to set up a meeting with bin Laden in Tora Bora, at which he told the pair his plans for military attacks against the United States.

In 1996, al-Qaeda's military chief Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri drowned in a ferry accident on Lake Victoria, and Mohammed Atef was chosen to succeed him.

Mohammed Atef drew up a plan summarizing the positive qualities of Taliban leaders, and showed his "nuanced understanding" that the United States had energy interests in the Caspian Sea which would lead them to want an oil pipeline built through Afghanistan in the near future.

In 1998, a number of militants began to speak openly of their disdain for Mohammed Atef, leading bin Laden to convene a meeting at which he spoke at length about Abu Bakr's loyalty to Muhammad.

Mohammed Atef was allegedly sent into Somalia at least twice to meet with tribal leaders, once having to escape aboard a small Cessna aircraft used for transporting khat.

On May 7,1998, Mohammed Atef faxed bin Laden a fatwa signed by Afghan scholars on May 7, which said that attacks against American civilians could be justified.

Mohammed Atef began speaking to Hambali in Singapore, as the Indonesian-based militant sought al-Qaeda's financing for Jemaah Islamiyah operations.

In turn, when Mohammed Atef informed Hambali of al-Qaeda's need for a new biological engineer, the latter sent Yazid Sufaat to al-Zawahiri.

Mohammed Atef is believed to have given Jose Padilla money to travel back to Egypt from Afghanistan, to visit his wife.

Mohammed Atef gave Ramzi bin al-Shibh money to travel from Karachi to Malaysia to meet with Atta.

When David Hicks completed his training at al-Farouq, Mohammed Atef interviewed him about his achievements and asked about the travel habits of Australians, before agreeing to suggest he be moved to the Tarnak Farms training camp.

Mohammed Atef was not the gregarious type who could live with the young mujahideen and understand and solve their problems and address their concerns.

Mohammed Atef is alleged to have written a 180-page manual entitled "Military Studies in the Holy Struggle against Tyrants", and directed Afghan training camps himself.

American intelligence intercepted communications from those digging through the rubble of Mohammed Atef's home, leading them to believe they had been successful in killing him.

Donald Rumsfeld was initially cautious and indicated only that reports of Mohammed Atef's death "seem authoritative".

Wall Street Journal reporter Alan Cullison purchased two computers that had been looted from the home on the black market, and noted that while Mohammed Atef's computer had relatively few files, the other computer appears to have belonged to Ayman al-Zawahiri and held nearly a thousand files, including some of importance.

Al-Libi told interrogators that Mohammed Atef had sent an emissary named Abu Abdullah to Iraq to obtain chemical and biological warfare training for two al-Qaeda members in December 2000.

Mohammed Atef appeared in a video released in September 2006 that showed the planning of the September 11 attacks.

Mohammed Atef has been named as a conspirator in the conspiracy charges against several of the Guantanamo captives.