Jihad Joe

by J. M. Berger

  47. USA v. El Atriss, no case number, bail hearing (sealed), November 19, 2002, Testimony of Det. Sgt. Fred Ernst. Transcript provided by attorney Louis Pashman, representing New Jersey media plaintiffs. Nexis address search for 2828 Kennedy Ave., Jersey City, N.J.

  48. Miller and Stone, The Cell, 51.

  49. Scattered reports have indicated that the United States may have brought some of these mujahideen to the United States and covertly sponsored or facilitated their training. I have not been able to authenticate these reports; however, Jamal Al Fadl claimed to have traveled to the United States in 1985 for “Islamic military training.” This fact was stipulated to by prosecutors in US v. Usama bin Laden, presumably to keep the details from coming out in open court. US v. Usama bin Laden, et al., S(7) 98 Cr. 1023, April 30, 2001, Stipulation.

  50. Author interview with retired FBI agent Robert Stauffer, June 10, 2010.

  51. Confidential interview with retired FBI agent, June 21, 2010.

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

  53. Ibid.; interview with former FBI agent Christopher Voss, June 20, 2008; and USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcript, February 7, 1995, and others.

  Chapter 3. The Death Dealers

  1. See http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Sam_Khalifa, retrieved August 23, 2010.

  2. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, The Quran’s Numerical Miracle, 19 Hoax and Heresy (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: Abul Qasin Publications, 1987); Zahir Uddin Siddiqui, “Ye Who Believe!” Muslim World League Journal (November 1977).

  3. Philips, The Quran’s Numerical Miracle, 19 Hoax and Heresy.

  4. Abdullah Bin Baz et al., In Defence of the Quran and Sunnah (Canada: Maglis of Al Haq Publication Society, 1985).

  5. FBI FD-302 Record of Interrogation, Wadih El Hage, September 23, 1997.

  6. Jamie Komarnicki, “Accused Not Reliably Linked to Crime Scene of Imam, Court Hears,” Edmonton (Alberta) Journal, September 5, 2009.

  7. Daryl Slade, “Alleged Murderer Ordered Deported; Charged with Killing Imam in 1990,” Calgary (Alberta) Herald, October 17, 2009.

  8. Grand Jury Testimony, Wadih El Hage, New York City, September 24, 1997, read into court record during USA v. bin Laden, S(7) 98 Cr. 1023, February 15, 2001.

  9. Colorado Attorney General, “Information Regarding Colorado’s Investigation and Prosecution of Members of Jamaat Ul Fuqra,” retrieved July 22, 2010, http://web.archive.org/web/20080718193618/http://www.ago.state.co.us/pr/121001_link.cfm.html, Eric Sagara, “Man Arrested in ’90 Slaying of Religious Leader at Local Mosque,” Tucson Citizen, April 29, 2009.

  10. John Kane and April Wall, “Identifying the Links between White-Collar Crime and Terrorism,” study written with a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, September 2004, 29.

  11. Kevin Martin and Nadia Moharib, “DNA Links Suspect to Calgary; Community Residents Shocked to Hear They Lived Near Accused Killer of Arizona Scholar,” Calgary (Alberta) Sun, July 22, 2010.

  12. Colorado Attorney General, “Information Regarding Colorado’s Investigation and Prosecution of Members of Jamaat Ul Fuqra.”

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

  14. Patterns of Global Terrorism 1999, Department of State, Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism (Washington, DC: Department of State Publications, April 2000); David Kohn, “Sheik Gilani: CBS’ Man in Pakistan Tracks Him Down,” 60 Minutes website, March 13, 2002, retrieved September 6, 2010, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/03/13/60II/main503644.shtml.

  15. Lee Berthiaume, “The Untold Story of Hasanville’s Shadowy Past,” Ottawa (Ontario) Citizen, May 4, 2002.

  16. Christopher Heffelfinger, “Evaluating the Terrorist Threat Posed by African-American Muslim Groups,” CTC Sentinel, May 2008.

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

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

  19. Colorado Attorney General, “Information Regarding Colorado’s Investigation and Prosecution of Members of Jamaat Ul Fuqra.”

  20. Kane and Wall, “Identifying the Links between White-Collar Crime and Terrorism.”

  21. Interviews with former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer, October 27, 2008, and August 18, 2009; author interviews with Tom Corrigan, June 24, 2008, through June 23, 2010, inclusive.

  22. T5 B7 Analysis of Immigration Status of Pre-9-11 Terrorists Fdr- Entire Contents 196, retrieved July 18, 2010, http://www.scribd.com/doc/16729114/T5-B7-Analysis-of-Immigration-Status-of-Pre911-Terrorists-Fdr-Entire-Contents-196.

  23. USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcript, Testimony of Ali Shinawy, July 11, 1995.

  24. USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcript, April 3, 1995; see also John Miller and Michael Stone with Chris Mitchell, The Cell: Inside the 9/11 Plot and Why the FBI and CIA Failed to Stop It (New York: Hyperion, 2003).

  25. Neil MacFarquhar, “In Jail or Out, Sheik Preaches Views of Islam,” New York Times, October 2, 1995.

  26. Montasser Al Zayat, The Road to Al Qaeda: The Story of Bin Laden’s Right-Hand Man (Sterling, Virgnia: Pluto Press, 2003), 27 et al.

  27. Richard Bernstein, Out of the Blue: The Story of September 11, 2001, from Jihad to Ground Zero (New York: Macmillan, 2002), 438.

  28. Omar Abdel Rahman, The Present Rulers and Islam: Are They Muslims or Not? (Kuwait: 1988).

  29. State Department Cable, “Summary of Conversations with a Member of ‘The Islamic Group’ AKAAl Jihad,” CAIRO 09476, dated April 25, 1989, obtained by the author through the Freedom of Information Act.

  30. Interview with Frank Wisner, former U.S. ambassador to Cairo, July 1, 2010.

  31. Douglas Jehl, “‘C.I.A. Officer Signed Visa for Sheik,’ U.S. Says,” New York Times, July 14, 1993.

  32. Andrew C. McCarthy, Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad (New York: Encounter Books, 2008), 15–16.

  33. Author interviews with Tom Corrigan, June 24, 2008, through June 23, 2010, inclusive; McCarthy, Willful Blindness, 125; and Miller and Stone, The Cell, 64

  34. Abullah Azzam, Join the Caravan (Boston: CARE International, 2nd ed., 1989), introduction.

  35. U.S. v. Muhamed Mubayyid, Emadeddin Muntasser, and Samir Al Monla, Criminal Action No. 05-40026-FDS (2007), Exhibit 266.

  36. Maktab al Khidmat (Abdullah Azzam’s organization), arbitration records dated November 25, 1988, and December 29, 1988, Tareekh Osama files.

  37. Author interviews with Tom Corrigan, June 24, 2008, through June 23, 2010, inclusive ; profile of Abdullah Azzam, retrieved June 17, 2010; http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?5062-Profiles-of-Ash-Shuhadaa, and Steve Coll, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 (New York: Penguin Press, 2004), 204.

  38. Coll, Ghost Wars; Aryn Baker, “Who Killed Abdullah Azzam?” Time Magazine, June 18, 2009, retrieved August 24, 2010, http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/printout/z0,29239,1902809_1902810_1905173,00.html.

  39. Al Jihad Magazine, November/December 1990.

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

  41. USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcript, May 3, 1995, Testimony of Abdo Haggag. The quote was related by Haggag, whose English was imperfect and has been paraphrased slightly for grammatical purposes.

  42. Terrorists Among Us—Jihad in America (DVD, SAE Productions, Nov. 11, 2001).

  43. Zak Ebrahim speech at the 2010 Student Peace Alliance National Conference, February 26, 2010, Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas, retrieved August 20, 2010, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnDHorm0DjM.

  44. Meir Kahane FBI investigative files, obtained by the author through the Freedom of Information Act; Joel Brinkley, “Israel Bans Kahane Party from Election,” New York Ti
mes, October 6, 1988.

  45. FBI FD-302 Record of Interrogation, name redacted, October 27, 1992; FBI FD 302 Record of Interrogation, Name Redacted (2), October 27, 1992; and FBI Letterhead Memorandum, September 18, 1992, “El Sayyed A. Nosair.”

  46. FBI FD-302, Record of Interrogation, name redacted, October 28, 1992.

  47. Ronald Sullivan, “Trade Center Blast Prompts Kahane Case Review,” New York Times, March 13, 1993.

  48. Greg B. Smith, “Bin Laden Bankrolled Kahane Killer Defense,” New York Daily News, October 9, 2002; Chitra Ragavan, Nancy L. Bentrup, Ann M. Wakefield, Sheila Thalhimer, and Monica M. Ekman, “Tracing Terror’s Roots,” U.S. News & World Report, February 24, 2003,

  49. Peter Bergen, Holy War Inc. (New York: Free Press, 2001), 134; author interviews with Tom Corrigan, June 24, 2008, through June 23, 2010, inclusive; and McCarthy, Willful Blindness, 192–193.

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

  51. Ibid.; Gerald Posner, Why America Slept (New York: Random House, 2003), 6; Jailan Halawi, “Jihad Implicated in US Embassy Bombings,” Al Ahram Weekly, May 27, 1999; and McCarthy, Willful Blindness, 193.

  52. Mary B. W. Tabor, “Slaying in Brooklyn Linked to Militants,” New York Times, April 11, 1993.

  53. Ibid.

  54. Triple Cross (video).

  55. Grand Jury Testimony, Wadih El Hage, New York City, September 24, 1997, read into court record during USA v. bin Laden, S(7) 98 Cr. 1023, February 15, 2001.

  56. FBI FD-302, Interrogation of Nidal Ayyad, December 27, 2005, http://www.peterlance.com/FBI_302_12_28_05_Nidal_Ayyad_pages_1-2.pdf, retrieved August 6, 2010; Peter Lance, “The Spy Who Came in for the Heat,” Playboy, August 2010.

  57. Author interviews with Tom Corrigan, June 24, 2008, through June 23, 2010, inclusive; confidential interview with retired FBI agent, June 2010.

  58. FBI FD-302, Nidal Ayyad; Lance, “The Spy Who Came in for the Heat.”

  59. Grand Jury Testimony, Wadih El Hage, New York City, September 24, 1997.

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

  61. Ibid.; Miller and Stone, The Cell, 76.

  62. USA v. Ramzi Ahmed Yousef and Eyad Ismoil, S12 93 CR 180 (KTD), court transcript, August 11, 1997.

  63. The 9-11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, Official Government Edition (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2004), 71–73 (hereafter 9/11 Commission Report); USA v. Abdel Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcripts, various dates; US v. Mohammad A. Salameh et al., S593CR.180(KTD), various dates; and Simon Reeve, The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden and the Future of Terrorism (Boston, Massachussets: Northeastern, 2002), 120.

  64. USA v. Abdel Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcript, February 7, 1995; USA v. Abdel Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcript, July 17, 1995.

  65. USA v Ali Abdelseoud Mohamed, Affidavit of Daniel Coleman, September 1998; USA v. Abdel Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcript, July 17, 1995; US v. Usama bin Laden, S(7) 98 Cr. 1023, court transcript, February 23, 2002, Testimony of L’Houssaine Kherchtou; USA v Ali Mohamed, S(7) 98 Cr. 1023 (LBS), plea hearing, October 20, 2000; US v Salameh, S593CR.180(KTD), November 10, 1993, Government Exhibits 2781 through 2786; USA v. Abdel Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, September 11, 1995; and USA v. Abdel Rahman, July 13, 1995.

  66. Author interviews with Tom Corrigan, June 24, 2008, through June 23, 2010, inclusive; McCarthy, Willful Blindness, 109

  67. James C. McKinley Jr., “Fingerprints Link Suspect to Bombing, Officials Say,” New York Times, August 5, 1995; “Bloomington Native Linked to ’93 Bombing,” Indianapolis Star, October 11, 2001, http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/crime/national/2001/sept11/yasin.html, retrieved August 24, 2010.

  68. Miller and Stone, The Cell, 90–96; “FBI 100th Anniversary, First Strike: Global Terror in America,” Federal Bureau of Investigation website, February 26, 2008, retrieved August 25, 2010; http://www.fbi.gov/page2/feb08/tradebom_022608.html, and Reeve, The New Jackals, 8–12.

  69. Richard Bernstein, “Trade Center Witness Tells of Manuals on Bombs,” New York Times, November 10, 1993; “FBI 100th Anniversary, First Strike: Global Terror in America,” FBI website; Joseph P. Fried, “U.S. Says Man Helped Brother Flee in Trade Center Bombing,” New York Times, September 19, 1996; and Michael Isikoff, “Saddam’s Files; They Show Terror Plots, but Raise New Questions about Some U.S. Claims,” Newsweek, March 31, 2008.

  Chapter 4. Project Bosnia

  1. Audio: Bilal Philips, “My Way to Islam,” circa 2007; Emmanuel Sivan, Radical Islam: Medieval Theology and Modern Politics (Binghamton, NY: Yale University, 1985).

  2. See http://www.famousmuslims.com/bilal%20Philips.htm, retrieved August 28, 2010; also see http://www.way-to-allah.com/en/journey/philips.html, retrieved August 28, 2010; Philips audio, “My Way to Islam.”

  3. Author interview with Bilal Philips, August 25, 2010; Philips audio, “My Way to Islam.”

  4. John Mintz and Gregory L. Vistica, “Muslim Troops Loyalty a Delicate Question,” Washington Post, November 2, 2003.

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

  6. Mahmud Khalil, “Jamaican-Born Canadian Interviewed on Islamic Missionary Work among US Troops,” Al Majallah via Global News Wire, August 3, 2003.

  7. Ibid.

  8. Author interview with Bilal Philips, August 25, 2010.; Philips audio, “My Way to Islam”; and James Yee, For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism under Fire (New York: PublicAffairs, 2005), 24–25.

  9. FBI FD-302, Interrogation of Jamal Al Fadl (Gamal Ahmed Mohamed Al Fedel), November 10, 1991, http://www.scribd.com/doc/16981234/T1-B24-Various-Interrogation-Reports-Fdr-11898-FBI-Investigation-Gamal; Peter Lance, “First Blood: Was Meir Kahane’s Murder al-Qaida’s Earliest Attack on U.S. Soil?” Tablet, September 1, 2010.

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

  11. Karen Branch-Brioso, “Muslims in U.S. Military Reassert Their Patriotism,” Port St. Lucie/Fort Pierce (Florida Tribune), April 3, 2003.

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

  13. Interview with Peter Galbraith, May 2009; interview with Tony Lake, May 2009; and interview with Fotini Christia, assistant professor of political science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, May 2009.

  14. Interviews with Esad Hecimovic, a Bosnian journalist, June 2008 through August 2010, inclusive; video: Sarajevo Ricochet (Fenris Film, 2010), review of documents obtained for documentary, including Bosnian intelligence records of mujahideen.

  15. The Martyrs of Bosnia, Bosnian mujahideen propaganda video; interview with Evan Kohlmann, June 2009; interviews with Esad Hecimovic, a Bosnian journalist, June 2008 through August 2010, inclusive.

  16. The Martyrs of Bosnia, Bosnian mujahideen propaganda video.

  17. E-mail interview through an intermediary with Yamin Ramzi, a former jihadist cleric, October 2009; Bosnian intelligence document, Report on Afro-Asian Citizens and Institutions in Bosnia, November 19, 1995.

  18. Abdullahi Sheikh Muhammed, “Force against Serbia: Will OIC Go It Alone?” Muslim World League Journal (January 1993).

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

  20. Abdurahman Alamoudi, “Bosnia—from the Muslim Perspective,” Washington Times, August 7, 1995.

  21. Interview with George Rivera, former ABC News reporter in Bosnia, October 23, 2008; Susan Gonzalez, “Unbiased Reporting Is Not Always Noble, CNN Journalist Say,” Yale Bulletin, April 22, 2005, http://www.yale.edu/opa/arc-ybc/v33.n27/story8.html.

  22. Interview with Tony Lake, May 2009; interview with Peter Galbraith, May 2009.

  23. Transcript, “News Conference with the American Task Force for Bosnia (ATFB),” Federal News Service, August 6, 1993.

  24. David Binder, “Alija Izetbegovic, Muslim Who Led Bosni
a, Dies at 78,” New York Times, October 20, 2003.

  25. Al Hussam newsletter, October 30, 1992.

  26. USA v. Omar Abdel Rahman et al., S5 93 Cr. 181, Exhibit 450/451, transcript of speech.

  27. Evan Kohlmann, Al-Qaida’s Jihad in Europe: The Afghan-Bosnian Network (Berg Publishers, 2004), 38–39

  28. “Muslims In Yugoslavia: Victims of Political And Economic Discrimination,” Muslim World League Journal (July 1983); Kerim Reis, “Islamic Education Spreads in Yugoslavia,” Muslim World League Journal (April 1984).

  29. Interrogation of Jamal Al Fadl (Gamal Ahmed Mohamed Al Fedel), November 10, 1991.

  30. Interview with Javid Ali, former TWRA employee, December 5, 2008; Expert Report Concerning the Area Financial Investigations, Third World Relief Agency, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY); and records of German police investigation of the Third World Relief Agency, provided to the author.

  31. Surveillance tape transcript, Omar Abdel Rahman, February 25, 1993, Reel 7, Call 26; Expert Report Concerning the Area Financial Investigations, ICTY report; author interviews with Tom Corrigan, June 24, 2008, through June 23, 2010, inclusive.

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

  33. Ibid.; USA v. Rahman, S5 93 Cr. 181, court transcript, May 17, 1995.

  34. American Forces Press Service, “Muslim Troops Highlight Nation’s Diversity,” American Forces Information Service (Defense Department), January 1999; Laurie Goodstein, “For Muslims in the Military, a Chaplain of Their Own,” Washington Post, December 4, 1993.

  35. Branch-Brioso, “Muslims in U.S. Military Reassert Their Patriotism”; Philips audio, “My Way to Islam”; 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).

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

  37. Bryan Brumley, “Bosnian Mujahedeen Will Welcome, Not Threaten, U.S. Soldiers,” Associated Press, December 4, 1995; “Tuzla Air Base,” retrieved August 31, 2010, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/tuzla.htm.