Walid bin 'Attash
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| Walid Muhammad Salih bin Roshayed bin 'Attash | |
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| Detained at: | Guantanamo |
| Alias(s): | Tawfiq bin Attash[1][2][3] Khalled[4] |
| ID number: | 10014 |
| Conviction(s): | Charged before a military commission |
Walid Muhammad Salih bin Roshayed bin 'Attash is a prisoner of the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camps who faces the death penalty for his association with al-Qaeda.[5]
American prosecutors at the Guantanamo military commissions allege that he helped in the preparation of the 1998 East Africa Embassy bombings and the USS Cole bombing[5] and acted as a bodyguard to Osama bin Laden,[6] gaining himself the reputation of an "errand boy".[7] He is formally charged with selecting and helping to train several of the hijackers of the September 11th attacks.[8]
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[edit] Life
Hailing from a prominent Saudi family on friendly terms with Osama bin Laden,[9] 'Attash had several brothers fighting during the tumultous 1990s in Afghanistan.[10] He studied at the University of Islamic Studies in Karachi, Pakistan.[6]
'Attash lost his right leg in 1997 while fighting against the Northern Alliance and wore a metal prothesis in its place,[7][10] leading to the nickname "Father of the Leg".[5]
In late 1999 while using the nom de guerre Khallad, 'Attash phoned Khalid al-Mihdhar, informing him up the upcoming Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit. In January 2000,'Attash flew to Malaysia, ostensibly to receive a new prosthetic leg, and attended the summit. On January 8, Malaysian Special Branch informed the CIA that 'Attash had flown to Bangkok together with al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi. While there, the FBI received a transcript of a phone call from Fahd al-Quso and one of the U.S.S. Cole bombers, which mentioned giving 'Attash $5000 to purchase a new prosthesis. During later interrogation, al-Quso confessed that he was handing over $36,000, and that it wasn't actually meant to purchase a prosthesis.[7]
In October 2000 'Attash was identified as the mastermind behind the USS Cole bombing which took place in Aden, Yemen.
On September 11 2002, his 17-year old brother Hassan bin 'Attash was taken prisoner by Pakistani forces raiding the Tariq Road House, handed over to the Americans and sent to The Dark Prison.[11]
[edit] Capture, tribunal
'Attash was captured together with Ali Abdul Aziz Ali in Karachi, on April 29, 2003.[12][4][13] He was also sent to The Dark Prison, and his brother was moved to Guantanamo Bay detention camps in 2003 or 2004.
He was transferred to Guantanamo on September 6, 2006, together with 13 other "high-level detainees" the CIA had been holding in secret detention.
[edit] Combatant Status Review Tribunal
Having been brought to Guantanamo from black sites, the new prisoners were accorded a new series of Combatant Status Review Tribunals, to determine whether the captives met the new definition of an "enemy combatant". They had been instituted in 2004 to mitigate the Supreme Court's findings that the holding of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay was unconstitutional.
A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for the tribunal, listing the alleged facts that led to his detainment. These included that Mohammad Rashed Daoud al-Owhali had stated that 'Attash had told him to prepare for a suicide carbombing against East African embassies of the United States a month or two before the attacks occurred. The memo alleged that 'Attash had trained in close-combat in the Lowgar training camp and seen Osama bin Laden give a speech to graduates of the camp. The memo also alleged that 'Attash used a Yemeni merchant's registration card that had been forged by "a suspect of the USS Cole bombing". An unnamed participant in the Cole bombing also confessed to being given a letter written by 'Attash which asked for his assistance with the bombing, and was the only reason he aided the bombers.
It also said that authorities knew of an an al-Qaeda cell dubbed "Father of the Leg" that revolved around a senior member, and believed this was a reference to 'Attash due to his missing limb.
It also stated that a contact stored in the phone belonging to 'Attash was also listed as a contact in a notebook belonging to "a senior al Qaida operative", and that his University ID card had been found "at an alleged al Qaida residence" in Karachi. He was also "implicated" by a notebook found during a raid, which listed payments made to various al-Qaeda members. An unnamed source also claimed to have seen him at al Farouq training camp.
A week after the March 12 2007 tribunal, 'Attash was reported to have confessed to his role in preparing both the Cole and Embassy attacks.[14] He confessed purchasing the explosives and small boat used in the Cole bombing, as well as recruiting the perpetrators, and planning the operation 18 months before the actual attack; he stated that he was in Kandahar, Afghanistan with bin Laden at the time of the Cole attack, and in Karachi at the time of the simultaneous embassy bombings meeting with the mastermind of the attack.
I was the link between Usama bin Laden and his deputy Sheikh Abu Hafs al-Masri and the cell chief in Nairobi. I was the link that was available in Pakistan. I used to supply the cell with whatever documents they need from fake stamps to visas, whatever.
His Personal Representative met with him on February 13, and told the tribunal that 'Attash confirmed that many of the allegations were basically correct, but that he had never owned a telephone and and that he had forged the Yemeni registration card himself.
[edit] Determined to be an "enemy combatant"
The Department of Defense announced, on August 9, 2007 that all fourteen of the "high-value detainees" who had been transferred to military custody in Guantanamo from custody in the CIA's black sites, had been officially classified as "enemy combatants".[15]
According to the Department of Defense this determination means the fourteen men can now face charges before Guantanamo military commissions.
[edit] References
- ^ Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz (Tuesday, August 10, 2004). Prepared Statement for the House Armed Services Committee: As Prepared for Delivery by Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Washington, DC. Department of Defense. Retrieved on April 15, 2007.
- ^ Robert S. Mueller, III (February 24, 2004). Testimony of Robert S. Mueller, III, Director, FBI: Before the Select Committee on Intelligence of the United States Senate. Department of Defense. Retrieved on April 15, 2007.
- ^ National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. 911 Commission. Retrieved on April 15, 2007.
- ^ a b B Raman. "Bomb jitters in Pakistan, too", Asia Times, May 21, 2003. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
- ^ a b c OARDEC (February 8, 2007). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal - Bin 'Attash, Walid Muhammad Salih. Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-04-15.
- ^ a b CSRT Summary of Evidence memo for Walid Bin Attash, February 8, 2007
- ^ a b c Wright, Lawrence, The Looming Tower, 2006
- ^ MSNBC, Pentagon charges 6 in 9-11 attacks
- ^ CNN, Arrests amid Karachi terror plot, May 3, 2003
- ^ a b Burger, Timothy J. TIME, Profiling the Terrorists, September 6, 2006
- ^ OARDEC (9 November 2004). Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Bin Attash, Hassan Mohammed Ali (released September 2007) pages 64-65. United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
- ^ Shannon, Elaine. Time, Al-Qaeda Moneyman Caught, May 1 2003
- ^ Meyer, Josh. Detainee confesses in Cole bombing. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ Liptak, Adam. New York Times, Detainee Said to Confess Role in Cole Bombing, March 19 2007
- ^ Lolita C. Baldur. "Pentagon: 14 Guantanamo Suspects Are Now Combatants", Time magazine, Thursday, August 9, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-08-09.
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