Abu Nasr al-Tunisi
Encyclopedia
Abu Nasr al-Tunisi possibly a Tunisia
n, became wanted in 2002, by the United States Department of Justice
's FBI, which was then seeking information about his identity and whereabouts. In early 2002, he had been named in a suspected Yemen
plot, for which he became listed on the FBI's third major "wanted" list, now known as the FBI Seeking Information - War on Terrorism list
. No FBI photo was available. He was identified as a known associate of the Yemen cell leader, Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei. By March 21, 2002 he was removed from the FBI "wanted" list. Very little else is known about him.
, when the 2000 USS Cole bombing
killed 17 American sailors and wounded 40 off the port coast of Aden, Yemen. In the aftermath, the government of Yemen rounded up numerous suspected terrorists, many of whom were identified as members of al-Qaeda
.
and of on-going interviews of detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, information became available on February 11, 2002 regarding threats to US interests which indicated that a planned attack may have been about to occur in the United States or against US interests in the country of Yemen on or around the next day, February 12, 2002.
In response, on February 11, 2002, Abu Nasr al-Tunisi became one of 17 suspected terrorists added by the FBI to the "Seeking Information" list. The early version of that list was then known as the "Most Wanted Terrorists Seeking Information" list. Years later, the FBI removed his profile from the main page of that list.
On February 14, 2002, several days after the FBI alert, six of the names were removed, and the FBI re-published the list as only eleven names and photos, because it was discovered that confusion over transliteration had failed to reveal initially that the removed six wanted terrorists were already in prison in Yemen.
The six names identified in the Yemen plot on February 11, 2002, but who were removed from the list on February 14, 2002 as already in Yemen custody were: Issam Ahmad Dibwan al-Makhlafi
, Ahmad al-Akhader Nasser Albidani
, Bashir Ali Nasser al-Sharari
, Abdulaziz Muhammad Saleh bin Otash
, Shuhour Abdullah Mukbil al-Sabri
and Riyadh Shikawi.
Abu Nasr al-Tunisi remained listed among the eleven names still being sought on February 14, 2002. The others who also remained were: Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei, Omar Ahmad Omar al-Hubishi
, Ammar Abadah Nasser al-Wa'eli
, Alyan Muhammad Ali al-Wa'eli
, Bassam Abdullah bin Bushar al-Nahdi
, Mustafa Abdulkader Aabed al-Ansari
, Samir Abduh Sa'id al-Maktawi
, Abdulrab Muhammad Muhammad Ali al-Sayfi
, Abu Mu'az al-Jeddawi
and Amin Saad Muhammad al-Zumari
.
By March 21, 2002 three of those remaining eleven suspects (Tunisi, Jeddawi, and Zumari) had also been removed from the FBI list, leaving only eight wanted suspects from the Yemen plot still at large.
In April 2002, there was the detonation of explosives at a civil aviation authority building in Yemen.
There was also an unsuccessful plot that year to kill the United States Ambassador in Yemen.
In October 2002, two suicide bombers
rammed an explosive-laden boat into the Limburg, a French oil tanker, killing a Bulgarian crew member and spilling 90000 barrels (14,308.9 m³) of oil into the Gulf of Aden
. This operation was very similar to the attack on the American destroyer USS Cole two years earlier. Saudi born Abdulraheem al-Nashiri, prime suspect of the USS Cole bombing (currently in the US custody), paid $40,000 to fund the Limburg attack. With that money, the former Al Qaida leader Abu Ali al-Harithi bought the explosives and transported them from his house in Shabwa to Mukalla in Hadramut. Later in 2002, Al-Harithi was killed by the CIA with a missile fired from a Predator drone.
And then after the Limburg attack, there was an attack on a helicopter carrying Hunt Oil Co. employees in Yemen in November 2002.
Seven were sentenced to 10 years in prison, including Fawzi Halabi and Abdulkareem Kaifan.
Five of the militants—Ibraheem Mohammed al-Huwaidi, Aref Saleh Ali Mujali, Mohammed Abdullah al-Dailami, Abdulghani Ali Hussein Kaifan and Kasem Yahia al-Raimee—were sentenced to five years in prison. They were found guilty of plotting attacks against the US, French, UK, Cuban and German embassies, and plotting to assassinate the former U.S. Ambassador to Yemen. One of the 15 accused was sentenced to death for killing a Yemeni police officer.
It is not publicly known if any of the original six Yemen prisoners, who were first named and then removed from the "Seeking Information" list, were also connected to the 2006 mass al-Qaeda-related escape. The FBI added several new names to the "wanted" lists, in response to the Yemen escape of 2006. However, none of the 17 Yemen plot suspects from the 2002 terror alert appeared again among the new FBI names.
The current status of Abu Nasr al-Tunisi remains unknown to the public. Prior to 2006, he was completely removed from the FBI "wanted" list.
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
n, became wanted in 2002, by the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
's FBI, which was then seeking information about his identity and whereabouts. In early 2002, he had been named in a suspected Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
plot, for which he became listed on the FBI's third major "wanted" list, now known as the FBI Seeking Information - War on Terrorism list
FBI Seeking Information - War on Terrorism list
The FBI Seeking Information – War on Terrorism list is the third major "wanted" list to have been created by the United States Department of Justice's Federal Bureau of Investigation to be used as a primary tool for publicly identifying and tracking down suspected terrorists operating against...
. No FBI photo was available. He was identified as a known associate of the Yemen cell leader, Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei. By March 21, 2002 he was removed from the FBI "wanted" list. Very little else is known about him.
USS Cole bombing
On October 12, 2000, one year prior to 9/11, Yemen became an early theater in the War on TerrorismWar on Terrorism
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
, when the 2000 USS Cole bombing
USS Cole bombing
The USS Cole Bombing, or the USS Cole Incident, was a suicide attack against the United States Navy destroyer on October 12, 2000 while it was harbored and refueled in the Yemeni port of Aden. Seventeen American sailors were killed, and 39 were injured...
killed 17 American sailors and wounded 40 off the port coast of Aden, Yemen. In the aftermath, the government of Yemen rounded up numerous suspected terrorists, many of whom were identified as members of al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
.
February 12, 2002 terror alert
In early 2002, according to an FBI report, as a result of US military operations in AfghanistanAfghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and of on-going interviews of detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, information became available on February 11, 2002 regarding threats to US interests which indicated that a planned attack may have been about to occur in the United States or against US interests in the country of Yemen on or around the next day, February 12, 2002.
In response, on February 11, 2002, Abu Nasr al-Tunisi became one of 17 suspected terrorists added by the FBI to the "Seeking Information" list. The early version of that list was then known as the "Most Wanted Terrorists Seeking Information" list. Years later, the FBI removed his profile from the main page of that list.
On February 14, 2002, several days after the FBI alert, six of the names were removed, and the FBI re-published the list as only eleven names and photos, because it was discovered that confusion over transliteration had failed to reveal initially that the removed six wanted terrorists were already in prison in Yemen.
The six names identified in the Yemen plot on February 11, 2002, but who were removed from the list on February 14, 2002 as already in Yemen custody were: Issam Ahmad Dibwan al-Makhlafi
Issam Ahmad Dibwan al-Makhlafi
Issam Ahmad Dibwan al-Makhlafi , aka Akrama, became briefly wanted in 2002, by the United States Department of Justice's FBI, which was then seeking information about his identity and whereabouts...
, Ahmad al-Akhader Nasser Albidani
Ahmad al-Akhader Nasser Albidani
Ahmad al-Akhader Nasser Albidani , , became briefly wanted in 2002, by the United States Department of Justice's FBI, which was then seeking information about his identity and whereabouts...
, Bashir Ali Nasser al-Sharari
Bashir Ali Nasser al-Sharari
Bashir Ali Nasser al-Sharari , , became briefly wanted in 2002, by the United States Department of Justice's FBI, which was then seeking information about his identity and whereabouts...
, Abdulaziz Muhammad Saleh bin Otash
Abdulaziz Muhammad Saleh bin Otash
Abdulaziz Muhammad Saleh bin Otash , , became briefly wanted in 2002, by the United States Department of Justice's FBI, which was then seeking information about his identity and whereabouts...
, Shuhour Abdullah Mukbil al-Sabri
Shuhour Abdullah Mukbil al-Sabri
Shuhour Abdullah Mukbil al-Sabri , , became briefly wanted in 2002, by the United States Department of Justice's FBI, which was then seeking information about his identity and whereabouts...
and Riyadh Shikawi.
Abu Nasr al-Tunisi remained listed among the eleven names still being sought on February 14, 2002. The others who also remained were: Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei, Omar Ahmad Omar al-Hubishi
Omar Ahmad Omar al-Hubishi
Omar Ahmad Omar al-Hubishi became wanted in 2002, by the United States Department of Justice's FBI, which was then seeking information about his identity and whereabouts. He was identified as a known associate of the Yemen cell leader, Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei...
, Ammar Abadah Nasser al-Wa'eli
Ammar Abadah Nasser al-Wa'eli
Ammar Abadah Nasser al-Wa'eli became wanted in 2002, by the United States Department of Justice's FBI, which was then seeking information about his identity and whereabouts. He was identified as a known associate of the Yemen cell leader, Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei...
, Alyan Muhammad Ali al-Wa'eli
Alyan Muhammad Ali al-Wa'eli
Alyan Muhammad Ali al-Wa'eli became wanted in 2002, by the United States Department of Justice's FBI, which was then seeking information about his identity and whereabouts. He was identified as a known associate of the Yemen cell leader, Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei...
, Bassam Abdullah bin Bushar al-Nahdi
Bassam Abdullah bin Bushar al-Nahdi
Bassam Abdullah bin Bushar al-Nahdi became wanted in 2002, by the United States Department of Justice's FBI, which was then seeking information about his identity and whereabouts. He was identified as a known associate of the Yemen cell leader, Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei...
, Mustafa Abdulkader Aabed al-Ansari
Mustafa Abdulkader Aabed al-Ansari
Mustafa Abdulkader Aabed al-Ansari became wanted in 2002, by the United States Department of Justice's FBI, which was then seeking information about his identity and whereabouts. He was identified as a known associate of the Yemen cell leader, Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei...
, Samir Abduh Sa'id al-Maktawi
Samir Abduh Sa'id al-Maktawi
Samir Abduh Sa'id al-Maktawi became wanted in 2002, by the United States Department of Justice's FBI, which was then seeking information about his identity and whereabouts. He was identified as a known associate of the Yemen cell leader, Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei...
, Abdulrab Muhammad Muhammad Ali al-Sayfi
Abdulrab Muhammad Muhammad Ali al-Sayfi
Abdulrab Muhammad Muhammad Ali al-Sayfi a Yemeni, became wanted in 2002, by the United States Department of Justice's FBI, which was then seeking information about his identity and whereabouts...
, Abu Mu'az al-Jeddawi
Abu Mu'az al-Jeddawi
Abu Mu'az al-Jeddawi , a Saudi who reportedly lived in Yemen, is believed to have been rendered by the CIA to Jordan in early 2002. His real name is believed to be Ahmad Ibrahim Abu al-Hasana....
and Amin Saad Muhammad al-Zumari
Amin Saad Muhammad al-Zumari
Amin Saad Muhammad al-Zumari , , became wanted in 2002, by the United States Department of Justice's FBI, which was then seeking information about his identity and whereabouts...
.
By March 21, 2002 three of those remaining eleven suspects (Tunisi, Jeddawi, and Zumari) had also been removed from the FBI list, leaving only eight wanted suspects from the Yemen plot still at large.
2002 Yemen attacks and plots
Whether foiled, aborted, or merely incorrect specific intelligence, the February 12, 2002 attack never occurred. However, other attacks and plots in Yemen soon followed.In April 2002, there was the detonation of explosives at a civil aviation authority building in Yemen.
There was also an unsuccessful plot that year to kill the United States Ambassador in Yemen.
In October 2002, two suicide bombers
Suicide Bombers
Suicide Bombers is the name of a 2005 EP by Leæther Strip. For the Australian hardcore band see Suicide Bombers -Track listing:# Suicide Bombers# Suicide Bombers # The Shame Of A Nation # This Is Where I Wanna Be...
rammed an explosive-laden boat into the Limburg, a French oil tanker, killing a Bulgarian crew member and spilling 90000 barrels (14,308.9 m³) of oil into the Gulf of Aden
Gulf of Aden
The Gulf of Aden is located in the Arabian Sea between Yemen, on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and Somalia in the Horn of Africa. In the northwest, it connects with the Red Sea through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, which is about 20 miles wide....
. This operation was very similar to the attack on the American destroyer USS Cole two years earlier. Saudi born Abdulraheem al-Nashiri, prime suspect of the USS Cole bombing (currently in the US custody), paid $40,000 to fund the Limburg attack. With that money, the former Al Qaida leader Abu Ali al-Harithi bought the explosives and transported them from his house in Shabwa to Mukalla in Hadramut. Later in 2002, Al-Harithi was killed by the CIA with a missile fired from a Predator drone.
And then after the Limburg attack, there was an attack on a helicopter carrying Hunt Oil Co. employees in Yemen in November 2002.
Captures and trials
After many of the suspects in those plots and attacks were caught, trials began May 29, 2004 and centered on the October 2002 bombing of the Limburg.Seven were sentenced to 10 years in prison, including Fawzi Halabi and Abdulkareem Kaifan.
Five of the militants—Ibraheem Mohammed al-Huwaidi, Aref Saleh Ali Mujali, Mohammed Abdullah al-Dailami, Abdulghani Ali Hussein Kaifan and Kasem Yahia al-Raimee—were sentenced to five years in prison. They were found guilty of plotting attacks against the US, French, UK, Cuban and German embassies, and plotting to assassinate the former U.S. Ambassador to Yemen. One of the 15 accused was sentenced to death for killing a Yemeni police officer.
Mass escape from Yemen
On February 3, 2006, 23 people, 12 of them al-Qaeda members, escaped from a Yemeni jail, according to a BBC report. They reportedly escaped by digging a tunnel.It is not publicly known if any of the original six Yemen prisoners, who were first named and then removed from the "Seeking Information" list, were also connected to the 2006 mass al-Qaeda-related escape. The FBI added several new names to the "wanted" lists, in response to the Yemen escape of 2006. However, none of the 17 Yemen plot suspects from the 2002 terror alert appeared again among the new FBI names.
The current status of Abu Nasr al-Tunisi remains unknown to the public. Prior to 2006, he was completely removed from the FBI "wanted" list.