Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi

Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi is a senior leader of the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) based in Yemen. al-Ansi has featured in many of AQAP's propaganda videos, claiming the capture of U.S photojournalist Luke Somers and the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris.

In 1993, al-Ansi enrolled at the Iman University, which was headed by Sheikh Abdul Majid al-Zindani, a longtime ally of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda.

Al-Ansi was member of the Bosnian Muslim El-Mudžahid detachment of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War in 1995. There, he received military training and fought against the Army of Republika Srpska. He remained in Bosnia and Herzegovina for a year, and returned to Yemen.

In 1996 he tried to fight in Kashmir, but the Pakistani authorities prevented him from doing so. Instead, he went to Afghanistan where he met senior al-Qaeda officials, Abu Hafs al-Masri and Saif al-Adel. Along with other al-Qaeda members, al-Ansi tried to join the front in Tajikistan but failed to reach the country "due to the heavy snow".

He went home in Yemen in 1997, but returned to Afghanistan in 1998. He was received by Osama bin Laden, who sent him to Kabul and placed him as Emir of the Kabul Reception, where he stayed as its emir for a longer period. Al-Ansi joined al-Qaeda's forces on the battlefield and was selected to participate in the most intense course held in Afghanistan, called the "Qualification of the Forces" course. Senior al-Qaeda leaders taught the course and among his trainees was Qassim al-Raymi, who was AQAP's military commander. Al-Ansi and al-Raymi then received training at the Al-Farouq camp.

In 2001, Bin Laden had al Ansi travel to the Philippines, where he was to qualify the mujahideen in Sharia and militarily. That same year, al-Ansi assisted As-Sahab, al Qaeda's propaganda arm, in creating two productions: the "American Intervention" and the "State of the Islamic Ummah". Al-Ansi completed his mission for bin Laden in the Philippines, and tried to return to Afghanistan after the US-led coalition responded to the 9/11 attacks. However, he was detained in Yemen en route to Afghanistan in early 2002. Yemeni authorities kept him imprisoned for six months before he was released.

After release, he studied for a long time at the Iman University, where he received a certificate in Sharia jurisprudence. In addition to attending lectures at Iman, he preached among the youth and conducted some special training. Al-Ansi eventually became a senior official in AQAP and has now been tasked with delivering an important message to the warring jihadists in Syria.