Saif al-Islam al-Masri explained

Saif al-Islam al-Masri (Arabic: سيف الإسلام المصري) is the name of a certain member of al-Qaeda. The name is probably, but not certainly, a nom de guerre; Saif al-Islam means Sword of Islam and al-Masri means the Egyptian, but either or both could be a real name. Little is publicly known about this person, but his name has come up in reports and testimony on a variety of major terrorist attacks and related paramilitary and financial activities. According to those sources, Saif al-Islam

• was one of fifteen men—all Arabs—captured in the Pankisi Gorge in a joint operation by Georgian and American Special Forces, in early October 2002^{[1] [2]}
• was until then a member of al-Qaeda's majlis al-shura^[3] and its military committee^[1]
• was handed over to the Americans^[4]
• ran the Jihad Wal training camp near Khost, Afghanistan in 1992^[5]
• had been an officer of the Chechnya branch of the terrorist charity Benevolence International Foundation^[3]
• fought against American forces in Somalia^[1]
• instructed Ali Mohamed to get training from Hezbollah in south Lebanon.^[6]

References

1. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4686228 Al-Qaida: Dead or captured
2. http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/6579.htm In the Caucasus, a Foreign Element Threatens
3. http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/po3632.htm Treasury Designates Benevolence International Foundation and Related Entities as Financiers of Terrorism
4. http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-riebling102402.asp Behind the Moscow-theater attack
5. http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/profiles/saif_al_islam_el_masry.htm Saif al Islam el Masry
6. http://www.weeklystandard.com/Utilities/printer_preview.asp?idArticle=12500&R=ED3B21 Bin Laden's "Brothers"