US officials said that Thirwat Shehata, 53, an Egyptian who is a senior al Qaeda figure and former deputy to Ayman al Zawahiri, has left Iran and was in Libya in 2013. A number of top al Qaeda operatives have left Iran in recent years, and the US has placed Iran-based operatives on its terrorist sanctions list. Guantanamo prosecutors added a charge of conspiracy against detainee Abd al Hadi al Iraqi, who served Osama bin Laden as a senior deputy in Iraq.
