Abu Ayyub al-Masri (1967? -) (possibly also identified as Abu Hamza al-Muhajer) is an Egyptian Islamic Jihad militant and member of al-Qaeda in Iraq. He was a senior aide to former leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike on June 7 2006. On that day, US Pentagon sources identified him as among the prime candidates to assume direction of the Iraqi insurgency.http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB114990397641376914-U1ADBJN11eD55trR0J0ybiyrg2U_20060710.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top Jay Solomon, "Jordan Emerges as a Vital U.S.