Abd al-Rahman al-Maghrebi

Abd al-Rahman al-Maghrebi
عبد الرحمن المغربي
Born
Mohamed Abattay

1970 or 1975
CitizenshipMorocco
Alma materHochschule Niederrhein
OccupationGlobal terrorist
Years active1999–present
Organization Al-Qaeda
SpouseNabila al-Zawahiri
RelativesAyman al-Zawahiri (father-in-law)

Abd al-Rahman al-Maghrebi (Arabic: عبد الرحمن المغربي; born 1970 or 1975) is a Moroccan-born terrorist and senior member of Al-Qaeda (AQ) who leads the organization's External Communications Office, including As-Sahab Media. He is the son-in-law of the group's late emir Ayman al-Zawahiri, and is seen as a potential successor to Saif al-Adel as leader of the terror group.

Though primarily known by a nom de guerre which references his Moroccan birthplace, his given name is Mohamed Abattay (Arabic: محمد أبطاي). After his radicalization in the late 1990s, al-Maghrebi abandoned his schooling in Germany and departed for the infamous Al Farouq training camp outside Kandahar, Afghanistan, where he was hand-picked by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed for work in the groups propaganda arm.

Following the September 11 attacks, al-Maghrebi is believed to have quickly fled to Iran. He subsequently rose through the ranks of Al-Qaeda, gaining trust, and winning the hand of Zawahiri's daughter in marriage. By 2012, al-Maghrebi had become al-Qaeda's general manager for all of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The US moved to designate al-Maghrebi a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in early 2021. After the Taliban's return to power in August of that year, al-Maghrebi was believed to have been living together with Zawahiri in the same house in downtown Kabul where Zawahiri would later be killed in a U.S. drone strike. As of 2023 his whereabouts are unknown.