Jamal al-Fadl
Encyclopedia
Jamal Ahmed Mohamed al-Fadl (born 1963-) is a Sudanese militant
and former associate of Osama bin Laden
in the early 1990s. Al-Fadl was recruited for the Afghan war through the Farouq mosque in Brooklyn
. In 1988, he joined al Qaeda and took an oath of fealty to Bin Laden. After a dispute with Bin Laden, al-Fadl defected and became an informant to the United States government
on al Qaeda activities.
"through the Farouq mosque in Brooklyn" (presumably when he was in the U.S. in the mid 1980s), and he became a "senior employee" of al-Qaeda
.
He attended two meetings from August 11–20 in 1988, along with Osama bin Laden
, Ayman al-Zawahiri
, Mohammed Atef
, Mamdouh Mahmud Salim
, Wael Hamza Julaidan, and Mohammed Loay Bayazid
and eight others, to discuss the founding of "al-Qaeda". In Khartoum
, he travelled to Hilat Koko with Mamdouh Mahmud Salim
in late 1993 or early 1994, and met with Amin Abdel Marouf to discuss chemical weapons.
Fadl became a business agent for al Qaeda but resented receiving a salary of only $500 a month while some of the Egyptians in al Qaeda were given $1,200 a month. Osama bin Laden discovered that Fadl had skimmed about $110,000 and asked for restitution. Fadl then defected and became a star informant for the United States.
n embassy and, receiving encouragement from FBI special agents Jack Cloonan and Dan Coleman (who were "seconded" to the CIA's Bin Laden unit
), he returned (after staying in Germany for a while) to the United States, in spring 1996.
For the next three years Cloonan and his colleagues oversaw al-Fadl in a safehouse. From December 1996 Al-Fadl began to provide "a major breakthrough of intelligence on the creation, character, direction, and intentions of al Qaeda"; "bin Laden, the CIA now learned, had planned multiple terrorist operations and aspired to more" — including the acquisition of weapons-grade uranium. Al-Fadl, who had "passed the polygraph tests he was given", became a key witness in the US v. bin Laden trial that began in February 2001.
His upkeep during the first 12 years of his life in Witness Protection
were deemed "expensive", as he was an "incessant troublemaker" who suffered severe emotional mood swings, a taste for womanizing and financial scheming.
In January 2001, the trial began in New York
of four men accused of the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in east Africa . The U.S also wanted to prosecute Osama bin Laden
in his absence under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
(RICO). To be able to do this under American law, the prosecutors needed evidence
of a criminal organization, which would then allow them to prosecute the leader, even if he could not be linked directly to the crime.
Jamal al-Fadl was taken on as a key prosecution witness
, who along with a number of other sources claimed that Osama bin Laden was the leader of a large international terrorist
organization which was called "al-Qaeda
".
who investigated the Bush
Presidency's leak of the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame
, played a lead role in debriefing al Fadl.
The transcripts from his debriefing ran to 900 pages. According to the New York Times:
The New York Times profiled al Fadl on December 9, 2007. Their review of the transcripts described al Fadl's anxieties over testifying, the emotional difficulties enforced idleness caused, and the emotional difficulties his entire family faced due to isolation and culture shock. The article describes his wife, who didn't speak English, demanding he refuse to testify, and demanding to leave him and return to Sudan.
Copies of al-Fadl's testimony in USA v. Osama bin Ladin et al. at the Monterey Institute of International Studies
:
Militant
The word militant, which is both an adjective and a noun, usually is used to mean vigorously active, combative and aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in 'militant reformers'. It comes from the 15th century Latin "militare" meaning "to serve as a soldier"...
and former associate of Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
in the early 1990s. Al-Fadl was recruited for the Afghan war through the Farouq mosque in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. In 1988, he joined al Qaeda and took an oath of fealty to Bin Laden. After a dispute with Bin Laden, al-Fadl defected and became an informant to the United States government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
on al Qaeda activities.
Al Qaeda
Al-Fadl was recruited to the Afghan mujahideenMujahideen
Mujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
"through the Farouq mosque in Brooklyn" (presumably when he was in the U.S. in the mid 1980s), and he became a "senior employee" 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...
.
He attended two meetings from August 11–20 in 1988, along with Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
, Ayman al-Zawahiri
Ayman al-Zawahiri
Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri is an Egyptian physician, Islamic theologian and current leader of al-Qaeda. He was previously the second and last "emir" of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, having succeeded Abbud al-Zumar in the latter role when Egyptian authorities sentenced al-Zumar to life...
, Mohammed Atef
Mohammed Atef
Mohammed Atef was the alleged military chief of al-Qaida, although his role in the organization was not well known by intelligence agencies for years...
, Mamdouh Mahmud Salim
Mamdouh Mahmud Salim
Mamdouh Mahmud Salim is an alleged co-founder of the Islamist terrorist network al-Qaeda. He was arrested on 16 September 1998 near the German town Munich...
, Wael Hamza Julaidan, and Mohammed Loay Bayazid
Mohammed Loay Bayazid
Born in Syria, Mohammed Loay Bayazid is an American citizen alleged to have been a founding member of al-Qaeda, although he has cooperated with American authorities and claims his role in the group has been over-stated....
and eight others, to discuss the founding of "al-Qaeda". In Khartoum
Khartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
, he travelled to Hilat Koko with Mamdouh Mahmud Salim
Mamdouh Mahmud Salim
Mamdouh Mahmud Salim is an alleged co-founder of the Islamist terrorist network al-Qaeda. He was arrested on 16 September 1998 near the German town Munich...
in late 1993 or early 1994, and met with Amin Abdel Marouf to discuss chemical weapons.
Fadl became a business agent for al Qaeda but resented receiving a salary of only $500 a month while some of the Egyptians in al Qaeda were given $1,200 a month. Osama bin Laden discovered that Fadl had skimmed about $110,000 and asked for restitution. Fadl then defected and became a star informant for the United States.
Defection
After embezzling $110,000 from the organization, al-Fadl "defected". He contacted the CIA via the United States's EritreaEritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
n embassy and, receiving encouragement from FBI special agents Jack Cloonan and Dan Coleman (who were "seconded" to the CIA's Bin Laden unit
Bin Laden Issue Station
The Bin Laden Issue Station was a unit of the Central Intelligence Agency dedicated to tracking Osama bin Laden.Soon after its creation the Station developed a new, deadlier vision of bin Laden's activities. In 1999 the CIA inaugurated a grand "Plan" against al-Qaeda, but struggled to find the...
), he returned (after staying in Germany for a while) to the United States, in spring 1996.
For the next three years Cloonan and his colleagues oversaw al-Fadl in a safehouse. From December 1996 Al-Fadl began to provide "a major breakthrough of intelligence on the creation, character, direction, and intentions of al Qaeda"; "bin Laden, the CIA now learned, had planned multiple terrorist operations and aspired to more" — including the acquisition of weapons-grade uranium. Al-Fadl, who had "passed the polygraph tests he was given", became a key witness in the US v. bin Laden trial that began in February 2001.
His upkeep during the first 12 years of his life in Witness Protection
Witness protection
Witness protection is protection of a threatened witness or any person involved in the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during and after a trial, usually by police...
were deemed "expensive", as he was an "incessant troublemaker" who suffered severe emotional mood swings, a taste for womanizing and financial scheming.
al Fadl testifies in court
Al Fadl testified in a trial United States v. Osama bin Laden, No. S(7) 98 Cr. 1023 (S.D. N.Y.), Feb. 6, 2001 (transcript pp. 218–219, 233); Feb. 13, 2001 (transcript pp. 514–516); Feb. 20, 2001 (transcript p. 890).In January 2001, the trial began in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
of four men accused of the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in east Africa . The U.S also wanted to prosecute Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
in his absence under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as the RICO Act or simply RICO, is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization...
(RICO). To be able to do this under American law, the prosecutors needed evidence
Evidence
Evidence in its broadest sense includes everything that is used to determine or demonstrate the truth of an assertion. Giving or procuring evidence is the process of using those things that are either presumed to be true, or were themselves proven via evidence, to demonstrate an assertion's truth...
of a criminal organization, which would then allow them to prosecute the leader, even if he could not be linked directly to the crime.
Jamal al-Fadl was taken on as a key prosecution witness
Witness
A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about an event, or in the criminal justice systems usually a crime, through his or her senses and can help certify important considerations about the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event first hand is known as an eyewitness...
, who along with a number of other sources claimed that Osama bin Laden was the leader of a large international terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
organization which was called "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...
".
al Fadl's debriefing
Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who would later become well-known for serving as the Special ProsecutorSpecial prosecutor
A special prosecutor generally is a lawyer from outside the government appointed by an attorney general or, in the United States, by Congress to investigate a government official for misconduct while in office. A reasoning for such an appointment is that the governmental branch or agency may have...
who investigated the Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
Presidency's leak of the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame
Valerie Plame
Valerie Elise Plame Wilson , known as Valerie Plame, Valerie E. Wilson, and Valerie Plame Wilson, is a former United States CIA Operations Officer and the author of a memoir detailing her career and the events leading up to her resignation from the CIA.-Early life :Valerie Elise Plame was born on...
, played a lead role in debriefing al Fadl.
The transcripts from his debriefing ran to 900 pages. According to the New York Times:
The New York Times profiled al Fadl on December 9, 2007. Their review of the transcripts described al Fadl's anxieties over testifying, the emotional difficulties enforced idleness caused, and the emotional difficulties his entire family faced due to isolation and culture shock. The article describes his wife, who didn't speak English, demanding he refuse to testify, and demanding to leave him and return to Sudan.
See also
- Bin Laden Issue StationBin Laden Issue StationThe Bin Laden Issue Station was a unit of the Central Intelligence Agency dedicated to tracking Osama bin Laden.Soon after its creation the Station developed a new, deadlier vision of bin Laden's activities. In 1999 the CIA inaugurated a grand "Plan" against al-Qaeda, but struggled to find the...
- the CIA's bin Laden tracking unit, 1996–2005 - The Power of NightmaresThe Power of NightmaresThe Power of Nightmares, subtitled The Rise of the Politics of Fear, is a BBC documentary film series, written and produced by Adam Curtis. Its three one-hour parts consist mostly of a montage of archive footage with Curtis's narration...
; BBC Documentary - Fatāwā of Osama bin LadenFatawā of Osama bin LadenOsama bin Laden wrote what is referred to as a fatwā in August 1996, and was one of several signatories of another and shorter fatwa in February 1998. Both documents appeared initially in the Arabic-language London newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi...
External links
- "http://www.9-11commission.gov/"
- "The 9/11 Commission Report"
- "Interview: Jack Cloonan", PBS, Oct. 18, 2005 (detailed account of Al-Fadl by his "minder" in the US)
- In-depth profile by the New Yorker, September 2006
- The Making of the Terror Myth - The Guardian, October 15, 2004
Copies of al-Fadl's testimony in USA v. Osama bin Ladin et al. at the Monterey Institute of International Studies
Monterey Institute of International Studies
The Monterey Institute of International Studies is a graduate school of Middlebury College, located in Monterey, California, United States...
:
- 6 February 2001
- 7 February 2001, includes al-Fadl's testimony on why he defected
- 13 February 2001