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Mohammed Jamal Khalifa: Life and Death Secrets

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

The life of Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law, was wrapped in a cloak of mystery, and his death only adds fuel to the fire.

Born in Medina, Saudi Arabia, in 1957, Khalifa served alongside Osama bin Laden as a volunteer in the jihad against the Soviet Union. Khalifa said the two were best friends and roommates during that time.

After that, however, his story branches off into two conflicting accounts.

According to Khalifa, his association with bin Laden ended there, in the late 1980s, after which he worked as an international businessman and philanthropist. In his version of the tale, he never had anything to do with any sort of terrorist ever again.

According to just about everyone else, Khalifa became a top financier for al Qaeda, with ties to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a plot to take down nearly a dozen U.S.-bound airliners with undetectable bombs created by the world's most dangerous terrorist, Ramzi Yousef.

On Tuesday, both stories came to an end when Khalifa was assassinated by a group of 25 to 30 gunmen, who burst into the Madagascar house where he was sleeping and killed him, according to family members.

UPDATE: U.S., Interpol Tracked Khalifa Days Before Killing

INTELWIRE BLOG: Brother Says Killing Was Intelligence Hit

During the late 1980s, Khalifa traveled to the Philippines and provided funding and training to the Abu Sayyaf Group, an terrorist-criminal enterprise in the southern part of the country. He also supported Muslim separatist and evangelical movements all over the region, using a network of charity organizations and legitimate businesses to hide his activities, according to U.S. and Philippines authorities.

In 1993, FBI agents investigating the World Trade Center bombing discovered several documents bearing Khalifa's name or alias, including a bomb-making manual. As the case slowly moved toward trial, other links emerged, and Khalifa was named as an unindicted co-conspirator supporting the terrorist cell that staged the bombing.

On Dec. 1, 1994, Khalifa traveled to Morgan Hill, Calif., a 20-minute drive away from an Egyptian Islamic Jihad cell based in Santa Clara. He claimed he was visiting a relative. A member of that cell, Ali Mohamed, was an FBI informant under investigation for his own role in the World Trade Center conspiracy.

Court records show Mohamed spoke with an FBI agent and a U.S. attorney investigating the Trade Center case in New York on Dec. 9. On Dec. 16, the State Department revoked the Saudi's visa.

Khalifa was arrested at the San Francisco airport as he prepared to leave the country. His traveling companion was a senior al Qaeda operative named Mohamed Loay Bayazid, who had tried to purchase uranium on behalf of al Qaeda just one year earlier, according to court testimony.

The FBI searched Khalifa's luggage and found a treasure chest of intelligence -- terror training manuals written by Khalifa himself, and more importantly, address and phone books with listings for al Qaeda's terrorist elite, including bin Laden himself.

Agents also found clues to the location of the world's most dangerous terrorists -- Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of World Trade Center bombing, and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, future architect of the September 11 attack.

Khalifa's notes contained the pager number for Wali Khan Amin Shah, a close associate of bin Laden who was conspiring with Yousef and KSM to bomb a dozen U.S. bound airliners over the Pacific Ocean during a two-day spree scheduled for January 1995.

Phone records showed that Khalifa had called Khan's apartment several times in November. Yousef was building bombs for the attack in a different apartment at the same address, a few floors up. A source close to the investigation said an address for the location was also found on Khalifa's luggage.

Three weeks after Khalifa was arrested, the Philippines police raided Yousef's apartment. At the time, authorities said they discovered the bomb factory as the result of a chance fire set by Yousef while mixing chemicals. But the FBI had forwarded its Khalifa intelligence to the Philippines police two days before the raid.

After searching Yousef's apartment, police set a trap and captured Wali Khan Amin Shah using the pager number taken from Khalifa's luggage. The source of the number was not disclosed during Yousef's trial.

Yousef and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed fled the country, but Yousef was arrested within weeks in Pakistan. Yousef later told a cellmate that Shah been betrayed by an informant and vowed the informant would be killed, according to FBI documents obtained by the late Stephen Dresch, an independent investigator.

Could Khalifa have been the informant?

At minimum, the information in Khalifa's luggage was responsible for the arrest of Shah, and likely the exposure of Yousef's entire cell. But subsequent events raise serious questions about whether things might have gone further.

At the time of his arrest, Khalifa was wanted by the government of Jordan for allegedly training a terrorist cell responsible for a series of cinema bombings there. Secretary of State Warren Christopher personally demanded Khalifa be deported to Jordan, a request that was expedited by the Justice Department.

As a result, Khalifa was blocked from asking the INS to deport him back to his native Saudi Arabia. The paperwork came down within hours of the raid on Yousef's bomb factory.

In March, after Yousef had been captured and returned to the United States, the U.S. Attorney's office in San Francisco agreed to return the contents of Khalifa's luggage. Although FBI agents carefully photocopied all the material, the most direct evidence tying Khalifa to Yousef's plot was simply handed back to the alleged terrorist.

In April, after the Oklahoma City bombing, Khalifa abruptly dropped his opposition to the deportation proceedings and cut a deal with the INS to be returned to Jordan. In exchange for his cooperation, the INS agreed to strike all terrorism charges from his record. Khalifa's full name was never disclosed during Yousef's trial, even though his phone calls to Shah were carefully logged into the record.

Khalifa was deported on May 3, but he wasn't removed from U.S. custody. Instead, according to Bureau of Prisons records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Khalifa was transferred to the custody of an unidentified U.S. government agency which maintained jurisdiction over him until August. BOP officials refused to disclose the identity of the agency.

In July, Khalifa was cleared by a Jordanian court after a witness against him recanted. He was then sent back to Saudi Arabia, where he was greeted at the airport by Saudi officials, according to Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA's bin Laden unit, in his book "Through Our Enemies' Eyes."

Although rumors of his continued involvement in terrorism were plentiful, Khalifa maintained a low profile for several years after his arrest. He was detained by Saudi authorities after September 11, according to the New York Times, but was released without charge six months later.

He opened a seafood restaurant in Jeddah and eventually started talking to journalists, serving as a major source for prominent authors including Peter Bergen and Lawrence Wright.

During these interviews, Khalifa focused on his early years with bin Laden and steadfastly denied any involvement with terrorism. Because he was a rare source who had been close to bin Laden, the media focus shifted to his tales of the old days. The extensive and specific evidence implicating him as an accessory to Ramzi Yousef faded from memory as he achieved a certain celebrity in the role of "reformed terrorist."

But on Tuesday, Mohammed Jamal Khalifa's past caught up with him.

During a business trip to Madagascar, Khalifa was killed in a large-scale attack by gunmen who ambushed him in the house where he was staying. The team of 20 to 30 gunmen stole his computer and a briefcase, according to published reports citing Khalifa's brother as the source.

Khalifa was in Madagascar dealing with issues at a precious stones mine he owned there, according to published reports.

Obvious questions remain. Who killed Khalifa, and why?

It's possible that Ramzi Yousef's threat of revenge against an informer has finally been realized. It would have been difficult (but by no means impossible) to strike against Khalifa in Saudi Arabia, especially if he was under the protection of authorities there.

Perhaps by emerging from his nest, Khalifa opened himself to retribution. But a small battalion of gunmen would not be especially consistent with al Qaeda's modus operandi, and other possibilities remain.

CNN analyst Nic Robertson on Wednesday suggested the other obvious scenario -- that the attack may have originated with a state-sponsored intelligence service. The size of the team, and the fact that the attackers stole Khalifa's computer and papers, might point to a botched snatch-and-grab operation.

The question then: Which service, and why?

There are other possibilities. It may have been a simple robbery, as his family claims. Or it may have been a hit taken out by a rival sect or terrorist group. If the latter (which I think unlikely), the attack would speak volumes about Osama bin Laden's weakness.

Answers will come slowly, if at all. It's unclear what sort of investigation is planned, and whether the results will ever become public.

In death as in life, Khalifa's secrets remain untold.

Many of the primary documents described in this story can be found linked below. INTELWIRE plans to publish exclusive new Khalifa-related documents, including some described in this story, starting next week.

Labels: INTELWIRE-Exclusive, Jamal-Khalifa

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

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Ayman Al-Zawahiri's 1995 Hit List; EIJ Statement On Oklahoma City Bombing

I've added a new document to the INTELFILES Archive, a May 1995 State Department cable reviewing developments in Egypt. Starting on page 7, there are a few interesting references to Ayman Al-Zawahiri and Egyptian Islamic Jihad. The first is a news item about Zawahiri issuing a hit list and call for assassinations. The second is a letter released by EIJ "castigating (the US government) and the American people for wrongly assuming that Arabs were responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing."

A State Department source quoted in the cable claimed EIJ had gone from being an active terrorist force to a "composer of intemperate letters to the editor."

Of course, during this period, EIJ's top operatives were already far along in planning the 1998 East African embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam. Obviously, the source, "a long-time observer of the Egyptian internal scene," was premature in his pronouncement.

After the issuance of his hit list, Zawahiri's EIJ was linked to the assassination of an Egyptian diplomat (believed to be an intelligence officer) in Geneva, Switzerland, in November 1995 (Jane's Intelligence Review, Oct. 3, 2001), and a June assassination attempt against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during a visit to Ethiopia.

Read the document

Labels: Weblog

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

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New Document Raises Khobar Issue

Gitmo Detainee Abuse Release Contains Record of Interrogation For Suspect In Khobar Towers Bombing; Detainee Was In U.S. On 9/11, Left Country Three Weeks Later

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

Buried within the 244 pages of Gitmo detainee abuse investigation reports released by the FBI yesterday was a clue to one of the longstanding mysteries in the War on Terror -- did al Qaeda have a role in the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing?

According to an FBI FD-302 interrogation record dated May 22, 2002, two FBI agents questioned a Gitmo detainee who had been identified by Saudi and Kuwaiti officials as a suspect in the Khobar bombing.

The detainee had been identified as a Khobar suspect by both Saudi and Kuwaiti intelligence as early as 1996. He was allowed to emigrate to the United States and was living in Buffalo, New York, at the time of the September 11 attacks.

Despite the fact the detainee was known to two U.S. allies as a suspected terrorist, the detainee was able to leave the United States three weeks after 9/11 -- a period when thousands of Muslim men living here had been rounded up and were being held without charge by U.S. officials.

The detainee was eventually apprehended in Afghanistan, the report said.

Click here to view the full document (PDF).

In June 1996, a truck bomb detonated at Khobar Towers, a U.S. military dormitory in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Nineteen Americans were killed in the attack, which is believed to have been the work of Saudi Hezbollah.

For years, rumors have persisted that al Qaeda played a role in the attack as well. The 9/11 Commission reported that Osama bin Laden received congratulatory phone calls on the day of the attack and suggested a link. During the 1990s, al Qaeda and Hezbollah collaborated in terrorist training and other matters. The relationship between Hezbollah and al Qaeda was brokered by Ali Mohamed, an Egyptian-American who worked as a trainer for al Qaeda.

The detainee, apparently a Saudi national, recounted a long history of close encounters with known al Qaeda networks, although he denied any involvement in terrorism. In 1989, the detainee -- then 16 years old -- stayed at the Bait Al-Ansar guesthouse in Peshawar, Pakistan. The house was owned and operated by Osama bin Laden. Al Qaeda was founded in or around this location at the same time.

The detainee received training at the nascent al Qaeda's Al-Sideek camp near Khost, Afghanistan. He claimed he was physically unable to complete the training due to obesity and asked to be sent home.

But in 1995, he traveled to Bosnia, where he served alongside al Qaeda-linked Muslim fighters. The detainee claimed he was merely the unit's cook, but he displayed knowledge of al Qaeda-linked charities and fighting units in Bosnia during the interview with FBI agents. The detainee subsequently traveled to Chechnya, another al Qaeda-linked hot-spot.

Over the years, the detainee frequently returned to Saudi Arabia, where he worked as a liaison between the Saudi government and foreign contractors based in the kingdom. But in 1996, he decided to travel to Tajikistan to fight with Muslim jihadists there.

While he was awaiting a flight to Tajikistan out of Kuwait, the Khobar bombing occurred, according to the detainee. The detainee said he was held by Kuwaiti intelligence for 10 days and released without charge. A few weeks later, the detainee returned to Saudi Arabia where he was again arrested on suspicion of involvement in the Khobar attack, according to the detainee.

Saudi officials have released little information concering their investigation of the Khobar attack. Then-FBI director Louis Freeh and others have complained that the Saudi government obstructed their own efforts to investigate the bombing.

The detainee said he was arrested, interrogated and released repeatedly after his return to Saudi Arabia, and his passport was revoked for several years. Finally, the detainee mamanged to leave the country through a special passport program for Saudis of Bahraini descent. Despite his history with Saudi and Kuwait authorities, he was able to obtain a visa from the U.S. embassy and moved to the United States.

He lived in Indiana for several months, making visits to Michigan and Buffalo, New York, during this time. Eventually, he moved to Buffalo where he lived until three weeks after September 11, 2001.

After the attacks, he left the country -- apparently without incident -- and traveled to Afghanistan through Iran.

The detainee is Juma Al Dosari, an al Qaeda recruiter, according to Jean-Charles Brisard, author of "Al Zarqawi: The New Face of al Qaeda."

The FD-302 document linked with this story appears to have been obtained by Frontline and the New York Times in 2003, but has not been publicly released until now.

According to Frontline, Dosari was known as "the closer" for his prodigious recruiting skills. Dosari was profiled at some length in 2003.

The FBI believes he recruited the "Lackawanna Six" terror cell, whose members were convicted of providing material support to al Qaeda.

Another FD-302 included in the Gitmo release details the interrogation of an Egyptian prisoner who admitted that he was suspected in a 1995 attempt to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during a trip to Ethiopia (though he did not admit actually having a role in the attack).

Other detainees have also been alleged to be involved in this incident, which is believed to have been an Egyptian Islamic Jihad operation sponsored by Ayman al Zawahiri. Click to view PDF.

Labels: Bosnia, INTELWIRE-Exclusive

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

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• on several occasions, witness ("W") saw detainees ("ds") in interrogation rooms chained hand and foot in fetal position to floor w/no chair/ food/water; most urinated or defecated on selves, and were left there 18, 24 hrs or more. Once, the air conditioning was so low that the barefoot d was shaking with cold. Another time, it was off so the unventilated room was over 100 degrees, d was almost unconscious on floor with a pile of hair next to him (he had apparently been pulling it out throughout the night). Another time, it was sweltering hot and loud rap music played - d's hand and foot was chanined and he was in a fetal position on the floor. Upon inquiry, W was told that interrogators [military contractors] ordered this treatment. Took place in Delta Camp
• d was kept in darkened cell in Naval Brig at GTMO, then transferred to Camp Delta where he gave no info. Then taken to Camp X-Ray and put in plywood hut. Interrogators yelled and screamed at him. One interrogator squatted over the Koran. Another day a German Shepherd was commended to growl, bark and show his teeth to the prisoner. Subsequently someone laughingly told the W "you have to see this" and took him to an interrogation room where W saw a d with a full beard whose head was wrapped in duct tape
• civilian contractor asked W (an FBI SA) to come see something. There was an unknown bearded longhaired d gagged w/duct tape that covered much of his head. SA asked if he had spit at interrogators, and the contractor laughingly replied that d had been chanting the Koran nonstop. No answer to how they planned to remove the duct tape.
• W saw canine used aggressively to intimidate a d
• d in darkened cell in Naval Brig where they planned to interrogate him for 24 hours straight, W was told the Secretary [Rumsfeld] approved this technique. Saw interrogator straddle the Koran while d was handcuffed to chair, d held in chain link cage w/cover over top
• W observed sleep deprivation interviews w/strobe lights and loud music. Interrogator said it would take 4 days to break someone doing an interrogation 16 hrs w/lights and music on and 4 hrs off. Handwritten note next to typed synopsis says "ok under DoD policy"
• Rumors that interrogator bragged about doing lap dance on d, another about making d listen to satanic black metal music for hours then dressing as a Priest and baptizing d to save him - handwritten note says "yes"
• W heard rumor that male d was dressed in female clothing, made up and given a lap dance by female prison guard. Was told this was a tactic to break the d and get cooperation
• W observed d in a stress position - w/in regs of military techniques but outside MIOG
• W walked into Camp Delta observation room and saw d rubbing his leg due to possibly being in stress position. D was wearing leg irons and handcuffed w/cuffs chained to waist. W was advised the chains were adjusted to force D to stand in "baseball catcher" position. D was being questioned by 2 military officers. D was previously held in brig and questioned for 2 months w/no results. Permission had been granted to use "special interrogation techniques"
• Nurse informed that a d was admitted to hospital for hypothermia, had low blood pressure and low body core temp; Lt Col subsequently said at daily staff mtg that d did not have hypothermia
• After hearing what sounded like "thunder," W saw 2 individuals dressed in BDUs standing and an inmate kneeling on a bloody floor with his forehead on the ground, holding his nose and crying. They said d become upset and threw himself on floor. W heard previously that a female military personnel would wet her hands and touch the ds face as part of their psych-ops to make them feel unclean and upset them. W heard that in an effort to disrupt ds who were praying during interrogation, female intelligence personnel would do this
• A detainee brought into interview shack at Camp x-ray appeared to have broken fingers and facial injuries. W was told that d exhibited noncompliance w/prison guard and rapid reaction team was brought in to bring d into compliance. He was in a plywood shack adjacent to "dog cages". D had black eye, facial cuts around nose, and taped fingers. He motioned to guards and said "they"
  handwritten note "yes - Do interview so we will have a formal record. I think I know what all he saw."
• W saw d in interview room sitting on floor w/Israeli flag draped around him, loud music and strobe lights. W suspects this practice is used by DOD DHS based on who he saw in the hallway
• d pointed to marks on wrists from shackles, upset at wearing hood, alleged guards beat him. Claims he is innocent of any crime and was arrested while dining w/guests at his house. Two weapons found at his house; he said he got them 8-10 yrs ago. Insisted he was a simple farmer and allegations were false. Yet his hands were smooth.
• D says he was beaten unconscious at Camp x-ray. Guards entered cell unprovoked and spat and cursed at him, called him SOB, bastard and crazy. D rolled on stomach to protect self due to recent stomach surgery. Soldier jumped on his back, beat him in the face, then choked him till he passed out. Said he was beating him because he was a Muslim. Female guard also beat him and grabbed his head and beat it into the cell floor. D taken to hospital after.
• D put in isolation after a dispute over arguing with a guard over his food.
• D's story re his arrest/innocence. D claims he was arrested by the Saudis under suspicion stemming from Khobar Towers bombing, sent to prison in Dammam where beaten for 2 weeks prior to interrogation. Detained 3 mos then released. Later detained again and released. Traveled to Bahrain and got 5 yr tourism visa from US embassy. After 2 months went back to Saudi Arabia to visit sick father. 8 mos later returned to US. Back and forth until 9/11. His travels were funded by Saudis, including his father.
• W situated in observation booth in between two interview rooms, booth crowded. D seated in chair and secured w/shackles at feet. Lights off except for strobe, loud rock music. Continued for 30-60 minutes. W was told such tactics were common there.
  Handwritten notes "No - This would be consistent w/DoD guidelines"
• W saw d w/bloodshot eyes and blood congealed to eyelashes, attaches photos
  hw notes - "No. No other bruising to suggest he as hit. Looks like conjunctivitis or other eye infection rather than result of bruise."
• interviewers sat D down on floor in center of room while rap music played loudly and interviewers laughed, smoked cigars and blew smoke at d's face
  hw notes - "No. Seems consistent w/DoD policy"
• W heard of technique (not allowed by FBI agents) where a difficult d who would not cooperate would be left in shackles for extended time (12 hrs or more) and the AC turned way low or off.
  hw notes "environment down - doesn't seem excessive given DoD policy"
• d on floor w/Israeli flag draped around him, loud music playing, strobe light flashing
  hw notes "No - consistent w/DoD policy. Israeli flag is over the top - but not abusive."
  email from Valerie Caproni: "No further interview necessary. Loud music and strobe light would be within the notion of ‘environment down' that is an approved technique for DoD. The Israeli flag, though obnoxious, doesn't seem to change the basic technique into one that would be unlawfully abusive."
• observed short shackling to the floor, cold temperatures, loud music, strobe lights and left in interrogation room for long periods - consistent with Dod policy - not FBI policy
• lights were off in interview room except for a strobe light and loud music played while a clothed d sat on the floor alone
  handwritten note: "No. Psych-ops appron [?] w/in DoD guidelines"
• W saw interrogation thru one-way glass - d seated in middle of floor while loud rap or heavy metal music played. Two interrogators stood above d laughing and blowing cigar smoke in d's face. W thinks they were with Defense Humint Services or contracted by Army
  handwritten note "No - consistent w/DoD policy"
• occasionally ds complained of inappropriate behavior i.e., incident in which d alleged female guard removed her blouse and, while pressing her body against a shackled and restrained d rom behind, handled his genatalia and wiped menstrual blood on his head and face as punishment for lack of cooperation
• W observed d shackled to the bolt on the floor in a kneeling position in dark room w/flashing strobe light and loud music
  handwriting "no - consistent with DoD policy"
• practice in which d wd be placed in interview room approx 6-8 hrs prior to interview w/AC turned down as low as 55 degrees. D would be restrained from adjusting AC
  hw note - "no - consistent w/DoD policy"
• when d said he only wanted to speak to someone introduced by his regular interrogators he was yelled at for 25 minutes. D was short shackled, room temp lowered, strobe lights used and maybe loud music 2 males interrogators yelled at him and said he was never leaving here They left d along in this condition for 12 hours. D could not eat, pray or use the bathroom.
• D being debriefed by NAE for 15 hours periodically threw up in trash can. W was told D had ulcer and stress was irritating it. Later told he had stomach virus.
  hw note - "no - consistent w/DoD policy – not nice but not abusive – consistent w/ [?]oD policy"
• W observed women crying near the river, their homes had been destroyed by planes. Trucks full of people trying to surrender were blown up by planes. On 2d day after capture, d was put in a ditch by Northern Alliance people. Next day, he was allowed to jump into a truck and taken to Mazar-e-Sharif where he was forced into a metal "shipping"-type container w/about 100 men. The container was then closed and d blacked out due to lack of air. When he awoke, there were new holes in the container., The man next to him was dead. He thinks he was in the container 24 hours - only 20 men survived. When it opened he was at Sabergaan jail. The dead were put into a hole and buried, he heard that those too weak to get out of the container were as well. US soldiers arrived about a month later
• loud music and strobe lights

• fluctuations in room temperature
• W is Uighur translator Uighurs are moderate muslims who occupied E Turkestan - which ultimately became the Kinjiang province of China. They were offered land in Afghanistan and considered themselves US allies. D was a broadcaster for Radio Free Asia. When their camp was bombed they fled to Pakistan, were captured and half turned over to US. [the other half were immediately executed by the Chinese]. Those at GTMO fear immediate execution if sent to China.
• W heard that every time the FBI established rapport with a d, the military would step in and d would stop being cooperative. Rumor that military would present themselves as FBI agents.
• loud music, ds said they were shown pornographic photos to upset them
• the only complaints this W saw were about lack/delay of mail, lack of dental appts, not allowed to grow beards long enough
• hooded d was led into room by hooded MPs
  

Labels: INTELWIRE-Exclusive

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