Jihad Joe

by J. M. Berger

  38. Interrogation of Jamal Al Fadl (Gamal Ahmed Mohamed Al Fedel), November 10, 1991; confidential interview with source close to the investigation, August 5, 2010.

  39. FBI FD-302, Interrogation of El Sayyid Nosair, December 27, 2005, http://www.scribd.com/doc/35687185/FBI-302-El-Sayyid-Nosair-12-20-05; interrogation of Jamal Al Fadl (Gamal Ahmed Mohamed Al Fedel), November 10, 1991.

  40. Author interview with Bilal Philips, August 25, 2010.

  41. Confidential interview with source close to the investigation, August 5, 2010; interrogation of Jamal Al Fadl (Gamal Ahmed Mohamed Al Fedel), November 10, 1991; and USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcripts, May 17, 1995, and August 2, 1995. Tahir’s name is alternately spelled Tahir, Tehar, and Taher, but all three refer to the same person.

  42. USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcript, August 2–3, 1995, Testimony of Clement Hampton-El (Abdullah Rashid).

  43. Ibid.; Hampton-El e-mails to the author, 2009 to 2010, inclusive; author interview with Bilal Philips, August 25, 2010.

  44. USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcript, August 2–3, 1995, Testimony of Clement Hampton-El (Abdullah Rashid); author interview with Bilal Philips, August 25, 2010.

  45. USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcript, August 2–3, 1995, Testimony of Clement Hampton-El (Abdullah Rashid); author interview with Bilal Philips, August 25, 2010.

  46. Author interview with Bilal Philips, August 25, 2010.

  47. Interview with Muradif Pajt, former business associate of the Third World Relief Agency, July 9, 2008; confidential interview with former senior Bosnian government official, October 2008; surveillance tape, Siddig Ali, May 31, 1993, Tape CM-29; author interview with Bilal Philips, August 25, 2010; and USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcript, August 2–3, 1995, Testimony of Clement Hampton-El (Abdullah Rashid). Saffet Catovic did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.

  48. USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcripts, May 11, 1995.

  49. Surveillance tape, Siddig Ibrahim Ali, Cassette 41, undated.

  50. USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcripts, May 18, 1995.

  51. USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcripts, March 21, 1995, and April 4, 1995.

  52. USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcripts, September 5, 1995.

  53. Interview with Muhammad Filipovic, July 2008.

  54. Interview with Muradif Pajt, former business associate of the Third World Relief Agency, July 9, 2008; USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcript, August 2–3, 1995, Testimony of Clement Hampton-El (Abdullah Rashid).

  55. USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcript, August 2–3, 1995, Testimony of Clement Hampton-El (Abdullah Rashid).

  56. Interview with Ken Wasserman, Hampton-El’s defense attorney, June 2008.

  57. Author interviews with Tom Corrigan, June 24, 2008, through June 23, 2010, inclusive.

  58. Author interview with Bilal Philips, August 25, 2010.

  59. Ibid.

  60. USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcript, August 2–3, 1995, Testimony of Clement Hampton-El (Abdullah Rashid); USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcripts, July 31, 1995.

  61. USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcripts, January 30, 1995, and others; author interviews with Tom Corrigan, June 24, 2008, through June 23, 2010, inclusive; and safe house video surveillance tape provided by Tom Corrigan.

  62. Andrew C. McCarthy, Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad (New York: Encounter Books, 2008), 257.

  63. Khalil, “Jamaican-Born Canadian Interviewed on Islamic Missionary Work among US Troops.”

  64. Author interview with Bilal Philips, August 25, 2010.

  65. USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcript, August 2–3, 1995, Testimony of Clement Hampton-El (Abdullah Rashid); interview with former FBI agent Christopher Voss, June 20, 2008; author interviews with Tom Corrigan, June 24, 2008, through June 23, 2010, inclusive; and interviews with former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer, October 27, 2008, and August 18, 2009.

  66. Mike Barber, “Muslims in the U.S. Military Are as Loyal as Any, Chaplain Says,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 20, 2001; Qaseem Uqdah, Memorandum, “Islamic Observance of Ramadan and Eid-Ul-Fitr,” American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council, retrieved September 1, 2010, http://www.uscg.mil/lantarea/docs/AMAF%20and%20VAC%20Ramadan%202010%20ltr.pdf.

  67. Author e-mail interview with Clement Hampton-El, 2009 and 2010.

  68. Surveillance tape, Siddig Ali, May 31, 1993, Tape CM-29; Evan Kohlmann, AlQaida’s Jihad in Europe: The Afghan-Bosnian Network (New York: Berg Publishers, 2004), 38–39.

  69. Montasser Al Zayat, The Road to Al Qaeda: The Story of Bin Laden’s Right-Hand Man (Sterling, Virginia: Pluto Press, 2003), 62.

  70. USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcripts, Sept. 5, 1995.

  71. Interview with former FBI agent Christopher Voss, June 20, 2008.

  Chapter 5. Rebuilding The Network

  1. U.S. v. Muhamed Mubayyid, Emadeddin Muntasser, and Samir Al Monla, Criminal Action No. 05-40026-FDS (2007), Affidavit of FBI Special Agent James T. Martinelli, April 5, 2005.

  2. Ibid.

  3. Al Hussam newsletter, March 3, 1993.

  4. Al Hussam newsletter, December 17, 1993.

  5. Al Hussam newsletter, January 28, 1994.

  6. Al Hussam newsletter, August 26, 1994.

  7. Ibid.

  8. U.S. v. Muhamed Mubayyid, Emadeddin Muntasser, and Samir Al Monla, Criminal Action No. 05-40026-FDS (2007), FBI wiretap, January 19, 1996, conversation between Imad Muntasser, Kassem Daher, and Adham Hassoun.

  9. Al Hussam newsletter, March 24, 1995.

  10. Al Hussam newsletter, April 16, 1993; U.S. v. Muhamed Mubayyid, Emadeddin Muntasser, and Samir Al Monla, Criminal Action No. 05-40026-FDS (2007), Exhibit 448A.

  11. Al Hussam newsletter, March 15, 1996.

  12. Al Hussam newsletter, July 28, 1995.

  13. U.S. v. Muhamed Mubayyid, Emadeddin Muntasser, and Samir Al Monla, Criminal Action No. 05-40026-FDS (2007), Exhibit 285, letter to Hekmatyar, Exhibit 283, meeting minutes, Exhibits 266, 283.

  14. The Martyrs of Bosnia, Bosnian mujahideen propaganda video; U.S. v. Muhamed Mubayyid, Emadeddin Muntasser, and Samir Al Monla, Criminal Action No. 0540026-FDS (2007), Exhibit 270.

  15. U.S. v. Muhamed Mubayyid, Emadeddin Muntasser, and Samir Al Monla, Criminal Action No. 05-40026-FDS (2007), Exhibit 556.

  16. Interview with Aloke Chakravarty, Assistant U.S. Attorney in Boston, June 2008; U.S. v. Muhamed Mubayyid, Emadeddin Muntasser, and Samir Al Monla, Criminal Action No. 05-40026-FDS (2007), various financial exhibits.

  17. Interview with Aloke Chakravarty, Assistant U.S. Attorney in Boston, June 2008.

  18. Al Hussam newsletter, June 16, 1995.

  19. U.S. v. Muhamed Mubayyid, Emadeddin Muntasser, and Samir Al Monla, Criminal Action No. 05-40026-FDS (2007), Exhibit 436, CARE International flyers, April 4, 1997; Esad Hecimovic, “Mysteries Surround 1997 B-H Murder Victim Misidentified as Terrorist Hisham Diab,” Dani, January 14, 2005.

  20. U.S. v. Muhamed Mubayyid, Emadeddin Muntasser, and Samir Al Monla, Criminal Action No. 05-40026-FDS (2007), Exhibit 510A, transcript of November 19, 1994 wiretap.

  21. The Martyrs of Bosnia, (video); Al Hussam newsletter, June 16, 1995.

  22. Al Hussam newsletter, June 2, 1995; U.S. v. Muhamed Mubayyid, Emadeddin Muntasser, and Samir Al Monla, Criminal Action No. 05-40026-FDS (2007), Exhibit 436, American Islamic Group flyer.

  23. E-mail interview through an intermediary with Yamin Ramzi, a former jihadist cleric, October 2009; confidential e-mail interview with an American mujahid in Bosnia through an intermediary; and Bryan Brumley, “Bosnian Mujahedeen Will Welcome, Not Threaten, U.S. Soldiers,” Associated Press, December 4, 1995.

  24. Jody Jenkins and Mark Claywell, American Jihadist, independent film, 2010. All Isa Ali quotes and information are taken from the documentary except as otherwise cited.

  25.
William Branigin, “U.S. Sniper in Beirut: Abdullah from D.C. Hunts Israeli Targets,” Washington Post, July 29, 1982.

  26. Jenkins and Claywell, American Jihadist.

  27. Branigin, “U.S. Sniper in Beirut.”

  28. Jenkins and Claywell, American Jihadist.

  29. Ibid.

  30. Ibid.

  31. Ibid.

  32. Ibid.

  33. Ibid.

  34. Letter from Randall Royer to Judge Leonie Brinkema, March 31, 2004.

  35. Interview with Ray Royer, October 2008.

  36. Karen Branch-Brioso, “Islam Set Direction of Area Man’s Life; He Is Charged with Conspiring to Fight with Muslim Groups Abroad,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 29, 2003.

  37. Ibid.

  38. Letter from Randall Royer to Judge Leonie Brinkema, March 31, 2004.

  39. Branch-Brioso, “Islam Set Direction of Area Man’s Life; He Is Charged with Conspiring to Fight with Muslim Groups Abroad.”

  40. Interview with Ray Royer, October 2008.

  41. Letter from Randall Royer to Judge Leonie Brinkema, March 31, 2004.

  42. “1994: Market Massacre in Sarajevo,” BBC News, retrieved July 19, 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/5/newsid_2535000/2535435.stm.

  43. See http://ismailroyer.blogspot.com/2002_09_15_archive.html.

  44. Propaganda video and photographs obtained by the author during a trip to Bosnia; author interview with Tomo Petrovic, the father of one of the victims, July 2008; and interview with Vlado Petrovic, the brother of the victim (no relation to Tomo Petrovic), July 2008.

  45. Bosnian Intelligence records showing surveillance of mujahideen phone records were obtained by the author. In addition, a phone record in the same format showing a call from a mujahideen facility to Osama bin Laden was shown to the author by terrorism expert Evan Kohlmann. Additional data from interviews with CIA analyst Michael Scheuer, August 2008, and NSA analyst John Schindler, June 2008.

  46. USA v. Usama bin Laden et al., S(7) 98 Cr. 1023, court transcript, February 6, 2001, and subsequent days, Testimony of Jamal Al Fadl; Expert Report Concerning the Area Financial Investigations, Third World Relief Agency, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY); contents of al Qaeda hard drive seized in Sarajevo.

  47. Letter from Randall Royer to the author, October 31, 2009.

  48. E-mail interview through an intermediary with Yamin Ramzi, former jihadist cleric, October 2009.

  49. USA v. Christopher Paul, 2:07cr:87, Indictment, April 11, 2007; Justice Department press release, “Ohio Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Terrorism Conspiracy to Bomb Targets in Europe and the United States,” February 26, 2009, retrieved July 12, 2010, http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/February/09-nsd-171.html.

  50. USA v. Enaam M. Arnaout, No. 02 CR 892, Government’s Evidentiary Proffer Supporting the Admissibility of Coconspirator Statements, January 6, 2003.

  51. Confidential interview with Justice Department official, October 2009.

  52. Material from al Qaeda hard drive seized in Sarajevo.

  53. Undated CIA cable from Al Qaeda hard drive; interviews with CIA analyst Michael Scheuer, August 2008; and author interview with Evan Kohlmann, terrorism expert, June 23, 2008.

  54. U.S. v. Muhamed Mubayyid, Emadeddin Muntasser, and Samir Al Monla, Criminal Action No. 05-40026-FDS (2007), multiple CARE International checks introduced as exhibits.

  55. USA v. Kifah Wael Jayyousi and Kassem Daher, Case No. 04-3565RID, Criminal Complaint; U.S. v. Muhamed Mubayyid, Emadeddin Muntasser, and Samir Al Monla, Criminal Action No. 05-40026-FDS (2007), various FBI wiretaps; and U.S. v. Muhamed Mubayyid, Emadeddin Muntasser, and Samir Al Monla, Criminal Action No. 05-40026-FDS (2007), Exhibit 272, CARE International letter, April 4, 1997.

  56. U.S. v. Muhamed Mubayyid, Emadeddin Muntasser, and Samir Al Monla, Criminal Action No. 05-40026-FDS (2007), FBI wiretap, January 19, 1996, conversation between Kifah Jayyousi and Samir Al Monla and various other wiretaps, Exhibits 273 and 273 (flyers).

  57. USA v. Kifah Wael Jayyousi and Kassem Daher, Case No. 04-3565RID, Criminal Complaint; USA v. Adham Amin Hassoun et al., 04-60001-CR, April 7, 2005, Fourth Superseding Indictment.

  58. USA v. Adham Amin Hassoun et al., 04-60001-CR, April 7, 2005, Fourth Superseding Indictment.

  59. U.S. v. Muhamed Mubayyid, Emadeddin Muntasser, and Samir Al Monla, Criminal Action No. 05-40026-FDS (2007), FBI wiretap, August 3, 1998, conversation between Kifah Jayyousi and Samir Al Monla.

  60. USA v. Kifah Wael Jayyousi and Kassem Daher, Case No. 04-3565RID, Criminal Complaint; “Former Agent of Islamic Charity Awaiting Deportation Ruling,” Associated Press, October 9, 2002.

  61. USA v. Adham Amin Hassoun et al., 04-60001-CR, April 7, 2005, Fourth Superseding Indictment.

  62. Ibid.

  63. FBI FD-302, Interrogation of Jose Padilla, May 8, 2002; Michael Grunwald and Amy Goldstein, “An Unusual Odyssey: U.S.-Born Latino Turns Islamic Terror Suspect,” Washington Post, June 11, 2002. Various media reports have attributed a bewildering number of different gang affiliations to Padilla.

  64. FBI FD-302, Interrogation of Jose Padilla, May 8, 2002.

  65. Manuel Roig-Franzia and Amy Goldstein, “A Bomb Suspect’s Search for Identity: In Padilla’s Metamorphosis into Al Muhajir, Fla. Provided a Turning Point,” Washington Post, June 15, 2002.

  66. Wanda J. Demarzo, Sara Olkon, and Daniel de Vise, “Bomb Suspect Changed His Life in South Florida; Al Qaeda Called Jose Padilla ‘the Immigrant,’” Miami Herald, June 12, 2002; FBI FD-302, Interrogation of Jose Padilla, May 8, 2002; and USA v. Adham Amin Hassoun et al., 04-60001-CR, April 7, 2005, Sentencing Memorandum, November 29, 2007.

  67. FBI FD-302, Interrogation of Jose Padilla, May 8, 2002.

  68. USA v. Binyam Ahmed Muhammad, military commission charge sheet.

  69. David Johnston, “At a Secret Interrogation, Dispute Flared over Tactics,” New York Times, September 10, 2006.

  70. Remarks of Deputy Attorney General James Comey regarding Jose Padilla, June 1, 2004, retrieved September 2, 2010, http://nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/FeaturedDocs/azizDOJ_PadillaLink.pdf.

  71. Kat Long, “American Al Qaeda Leader Was at Home on Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue,” New York Examiner, August 9, 2010, retrieved August 9, 2010, http://www.examiner.com/historic-places-in-new-york/american-al-qaeda-leader-was-at-home-on-brooklyn-s-atlantic-avenue.

  72. Josh Meyer, “A Mystery Man Who Keeps the FBI up at Night,” Los Angeles Times, September 3, 2006; David Kocieniewski and Peg Tyre, “Feds: Plotters Taped,” Newsday, July 2, 1993.

  73. Susan Candiotti and Ross Levitt, “From Dishwasher to al Qaeda Leadership: Who Is Adnan Shukrijumah?” CNN.com, August 6, 2010, retrieved August 8, 2010, http://www.cnn.com/2010/IME/08/06/terror.qaedaleader/?hpt=Mid.

  74. Lisa J. Huriash, “Former Miramar Man Now Runs al-Qaida, FBI Says. Not True, His Mother Says,” South Florida Sun-Sentinel, August 7, 2010; Richard Willing, “Pursuit of Al Qaeda Keeps Coming Back to Fla.,” USA Today, June 15, 2004.

  75. Candiotti and Levitt, “From Dishwasher to al Qaeda Leadership: Who Is Adnan Shukrijumah?”; Meyer, “A Mystery Man Who Keeps the FBI up at Night.”

  Chapter 6. War on America

  1. Triple-Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America (National Geographic Video, 2007).

  2. USA v Ali Abdelseoud Mohamed, S(7) 98 Cr. 1023 (LBS), Sealed Complaint, Affidavit of Daniel Coleman, September 1998.

  3. Confidential interview with retired U.S. Army officer, October 25, 2008.

  4. Interviews with former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer, October 27, 2008, and August 18, 2009.

  5. USA v. bin Laden et al., S(7) 98 Cr. 1023, court transcript, February 6, 2001, and subsequent days, Testimony of Jamal Al Fadl.

  6. USA v Ali Abdelseoud Mohamed, S(7) 98 Cr. 1023 (LBS), Sealed Complaint, Affidavit of Daniel Coleman, September 1998.

  7. USA v. Usama bin Laden, S(7) 98 Cr. 1023, court transcript, June 26, 2001; US v. Usama bin Lad
en, court transcript, May 1, 2001.

  8. Orlana Zill, “A Portrait of Wadih El Hage, Accused Terrorist,” PBS Frontline, retrieved August 30, 2010; http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/upclose/elhage.html, USA v. bin Laden, S(7) 98 Cr. 1023, Indictment, November 5, 1998, Superseding Indictment, undated; USA v. bin Laden, S(7) 98 Cr. 1023, court transcript, April 16, 2001, Testimony of Mohammed Odeh; Douglas Farah, “Report Says Africans Harbored Al Qaeda: Terror Assets Hidden in Gem-Buying Spree,” Washington Post, December 29, 2002; USA v Ali Abdelseoud Mohamed, S(7) 98 Cr. 1023 (LBS), Sealed Complaint, Affidavit of Daniel Coleman, September 1998.

  9. USA v. bin Laden, S(7) 98 Cr. 1023, court transcript, May 1, 2001.

  10. Judith Miller, “A Witness against Al Qaeda Says the U.S. Let Him Down,” New York Times, June 3, 2002.

  11. Chuck Murphy, “Pilot Led a Quiet Life in Orlando,” St. Petersburg Times, October 28, 2001.

  12. 9/11 Commission Report, 224; Phil Hirschkorn, “Roommate: Moussaoui Saw Jihad as Way to Paradise,” CNN.com, March 21, 2006, retrieved August 1, 2010, http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/03/21/moussaoui.trial/index.html.

  13. Lance Williams, “Bin Laden’s Bay Area Recruiter,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 21, 2001.

  14. Estanislao Oziewicz and Tu Thanh Ha, “Canada Freed Top Al Qaeda Operative: Mounties Released Him after Call to FBI,” Globe and Mail, November 22, 2001; USA v Ali Abdelseoud Mohamed, S(7) 98 Cr. 1023 (LBS), Sealed Complaint, Affidavit of Daniel Coleman, September 1998; and USA v Ali Mohamed, S(7) 98 Cr. 1023 (LBS), court transcript, Plea Hearing, October 20, 2000, via http://cryptome.org/usa-v-mohamed.htm.

  15. USA v. bin Laden et al., S(7) 98 Cr. 1023, court transcript, February 6, 2001, and subsequent days, Testimony of Jamal Al Fadl.

  16. USA v Ali Mohamed, S(7) 98 Cr. 1023 (LBS), Plea Hearing; Statement of Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney, Northern District of Illinois, National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (9/11 Commission), June 16, 2004; and USA v. bin Laden, S(7) 98 Cr. 1023, court transcript, February 21, 2001, Testimony of L’Houssaine Kherchtou.

  17. Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (New York: Knopf, 2006), 411n.