Al-Raymi was born on 5 June 1978 in the Raymah Governorate, near the Yemen capital of Sana'a. He was a trainer at an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan during the 1990s before returning to Yemen. In 2004, he was imprisoned for five years for being suspected in a series of embassy bombings in the capital.[7][1]
After escaping from prison in 2006, al-Raymi, along with Nasir al-Wuhayshi, oversaw the formation of al-Qaeda in Yemen, which took in both new recruits and experienced Arab fighters returning from battlefields across Iraq and Afghanistan.[8][9]
The group claimed responsibility for two suicide bomb attacks that killed six Western tourists before being linked to the assault on the US embassy in Sana'a in September 2008, in which militants detonated bombs and fired rocket-propelled grenades. Ten Yemeni guards and four civilians were killed, along with six assailants.[8]
On February 3, 2009, Saudi security officials published a new list of Saudi most wanted terrorist suspects.[15][16]
The 68th individual found on the list was named
"Muhammad Qasim Mehdi Reemy" or "Qassem Mohammed Mahdi Al-Rimi", with the aliases "Abu Hurayrah" and "Abu Ammar". Qassem Al-Rimi on the Saudi wanted list was one of two Yemenis on the list, and was said to be a "linked to Al Qaeda in Yemen, Saudi Arabia".
A few days later an anonymous Saudi official supplied documents to the Associated Press, which alleged that al-Raymi had "links to a plot targeting the U.S. ambassador in San'a."[17][18] The documents also reported that he rented the house where the operation was planned and that he "monitored the US embassy".[17]
Al-Raymi's death has been reported multiple times. He was reported to have died during a raid by Yemeni security officials on 9 August 2007.[21]Ali bin Ali Douha and two other militants were reported to have been killed during the raid.[citation needed]
Abu al-Raymi was the target of a raid on al-Qaeda camps in Yemen on December 17, 2009, which reportedly was carried out by U.S. cruise missiles. He was not reported killed.[22]
It was reported that he was killed in a January 4, 2010 raid by Yemeni security forces, though this was proven false. However, according to officials, a Yemeni air strike on two cars, one of which reportedly contained al-Raymi, was conducted on Friday, January 15, 2010. Al-Raymi was reported to be one of those killed.[23][24] Of the eight men thought to be in the two cars, six are thought to have been killed in the strike.[25]
Following reports of his death, al-Raymi was described as the military commander for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).[23][24] He was reported to have "orchestrated" 25 December 2009 attempted suicide bombing of NigerianUmar Farouq Abdulmutallab. Al-Raymi announced the creation of an "Aden-Abyan Army" to free the country of "crusaders and their apostate agents," in an Internet audio tape.[26]
Apology for hospital attack
Following the 2013 attack on the Yemeni Defense Ministry, which resulted in the killing of numerous doctors and patients at a hospital present in the compound, al-Raymi released a video message apologizing, claiming that the team of attackers were directed not to assault the hospital in the attack, but that one had gone ahead and done so.[27]
Yakla raid
On January 29, 2017, al-Raymi was the supposed target of a military action undertaken by the United States known as the Yakla raid. The raid resulted in the death of a Navy SEAL and of a number of civilians including a U.S. citizen. Shortly after the raid, on February 5, 2017, al-Raymi released an audiotape onto the internet referencing the raid. The fact that al-Raymi had been a main target of the raid had not been previously confirmed. In the audiotape, al-Raymi confirmed he was still alive and taunted U.S President Donald Trump.[28]
Emir of AQAP
On June 16, 2015, following the death of former AQAP Emir and founder Nasir al-Wuhayshi, AQAP commander Khaled Batarfi confirmed al-Raymi had been elected by the group's leadership council to succeed Wuhayshi.[8]
On July 8, 2015, al-Raymi swore allegiance to al-Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri. He congratulated the recent successes of the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, al-Nusra Front, and the gains made by Army of Conquest coalition in Syria. He called for renewed attacks against the United States, remarking ""All of you must direct and gather your arrows and swords against [America].".[9] Reports say that on 28 June 2016, an airstrike targeted the home of Qasim in Abyan Governorate, killing five people, including two family members of the targeted leader. Qasim survived the attack, with only some wounds.[29][30]
On October 18, 2016, the US State Department announced that it is offering rewards of $5 and $10 million for information concerning al-Raymi and another AQAP leader. The US State Department offered $10 million for information on al-Raymi and $5 million for Khalid al-Batarfi.[31]
For more than five years al-Raymi had eluded U.S. forces as he led what experts sometimes refer to as al-Qaida's “most dangerous franchise.” He was the target of the Jan. 29, 2017, special operations raid in which Navy SEALWilliam Owens was killed.[32][33]
Death
On January 31, 2020, The New York Times reported that three U.S. officials "expressed confidence" that al-Raymi, the emir of AQAP was killed by a U.S. airstrike on 29 January,[a] while traveling in a car with another senior AQAP leader, Abu Al-Baraa Al-Ibby, in the Yakla area of Wald Rabi' District, Al Bayda Governorate, Yemen, according to local sources, although there was no official confirmation.[34]
On February 1, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to confirm reports that the U.S. had killed Qassim al-Rimi, the leader of an al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen by retweeting reports claiming that the CIA had conducted a drone strike targeting the AQAP leader.[35] Some experts considered him to be a possible successor to Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda overall.[35]
On February 6, 2020, the White House released a statement confirming al-Rimi's death.[36]
On February 23, 2020, AQAP confirmed al-Rimi's death and announced Khalid Batarfi as his successor.[37]
^There were two U.S. airstrikes in the previous week in Yemen, the first was on 25 January, in Al Abdiyah District, Ma'rib Governorate, which led to killing an individual, whose identity is unknown. The second airstrike was on 27 January, which killed Abdullah Al-Adani.[34]
^"Saudi suspects seeking to revive al-Qaida". Boston Herald. 7 February 2009. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2011. Qassem al-Reemi, 30, meanwhile, one of the few Yemenis on the list, has "links to a plot targeting the U.S. ambassador in San'a," the capital of Yemen. "He rented the house in which the plot for that operation was hatched," according to the documents. "He also monitored the U.S. Embassy."
^"مصادر لـ24: إصابة زعيم القاعدة قاسم الريمي في غارة أمريكية بأبين" [Sources for 24: injury Qaeda leader Qasim al-Rimi in a US raid in Abyan] (in Arabic). 29 June 2016. Archived from the original on 29 June 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2017. وقال مصدر قبلي لـ24 إن زعيم القاعدة في اليمن قاسم الريمي أصيب في الغارة ونقل إلى جبال المراقشة في أبين لتلقي العلاج، مؤكداً أن اصابة الريمي خطيرة.
