Page 173 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

G-Kushner.qxd 28-10-02 11:09 AM Page 149

Ghailani, Ahmed Khalfan (1974– )———149

1998, the German RAF officially announced it was operative Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan are charged
disbanding. with buying the Nissan Atlas refrigeration truck used
to bomb the Dar es Salaam embassy. A few months
See also BAADER-MEINHOF GANG; GRENZSCHUTZGRUPPE 9;
before the attack, Ghailani also purchased the oxygen
POPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE; ILICH
RAMÍREZ SÁNCHEZ (CARLOS THE JACKAL) and acetylene tanks used in the bomb’s construction,
and helped load all of the bomb equipment (tanks,
Further Reading boxes of TNT, detonators, fertilizer, and sandbags)
onto the truck.
Cowell, Alan. “Red Army Faction Disbands, Saying Its Prosecutors in the embassy case say that Ghailani
Cause Is ‘Now History.’” New York Times, April 23, checked into the Hilltop Hilton in Nairobi, Kenya, on
1998, A9.
Harclerode, Peter. Secret Soldiers: Special Forces in the August 1, 1998. While there, he met with the fellow
War Against Terrorism. London: Cassell, 2000. Al Qaeda operatives. Ghailani is said to have fled
Horchem, Hans Josef. West Germany’s Red Army Anar- Africa for Pakistan on August 6, 1998. The very next
chists. Institute for the Study of Conflict, 1974. day, in synchronized attacks 400 miles apart, truck
Proll, Astrid. Baader Meinhof, Pictures on the Run 67-77. bombs exploded at the embassies in Kenya and
Berlin and New York: Scalo, 1998. Tanzania, one bomb detonating just minutes before
the other.
Ghailani is believed to be in Afghanistan along
GHAILANI, AHMED KHALFAN with many of the other 26 indicted in the embassy
bombings case. Three suspects in the case pleaded
(1974– ) guilty and cooperated with the U.S. government as

aka Ahmad Khalafan Ghilani, Ahmed Khalfan witnesses. In October 2001, four men linked to bin
Ahmed, Abubakar K. Ahmed, Abubakary K. Ahmed, Laden were convicted of conspiring in the bombings;
Abubakar Ahmed, Abu Bakr Ahmad, A. Ahmed, all the defendants, who had pleaded not guilty, were
Ahmed Khalfan, Ahmed Khalfan Ali, Abubakar sentenced to life in prison without parole The U.S.
Khalfan Ahmed, Ahmed Ghailani, Ahmad al Tanzani, State Department offers a reward of up to $25 million
Abu Khabar, Abu Bakr, Abubakary Khalfan Ahmed for information leading directly to Ghailani’s appre-
Ghailani, Mahafudh Abubakar Ahmed Abdallah hension or conviction.
Hussein, Shariff Omar Mohammed, “Foopie,”
“Fupi,” “Ahmed the Tanzanian” See also AL QAEDA; OSAMA BIN LADEN; EAST AFRICAN
EMBASSY BOMBINGS; SHEIKH AHMED SALIM SWEDAN
Born in Zanzibar, Tanzania, Ahmed Khalfan
Ghailani is alleged to be a member of the Al Qaeda Further Reading
network. He is said to have been directly involved in Bergen, Peter L. Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of
the 1998 attacks on the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Osama bin Laden. New York: Free Press, 2001.
Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He is accused of Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Most Wanted Terrorists.”
procuring the materials for and assembling the truck http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/terrorists/fugitives.htm,
bomb that devastated the embassy in Dar es Salaam. October 2001.
The FBI has placed him on its “most wanted terror- “A Nation Challenged: The Hunted; The 22 Most Wanted
Suspects, in a Five-Act Drama of Global Terror.”
ists” list.
New York Times, October 14, 2001, 1B.
During the late 1990s, Ghailani was allegedly a
Reeve, Simon. The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin
member of the Tanzanian cell of Osama bin Laden’s
Laden, and the Future of Terrorism. Boston: North-
Al Qaeda group. Al Qaeda serves as an umbrella
eastern University Press, 1999.
group for other militant organizations and establishes U.S. District Court Southern District of New York. United
cells in areas where attacks are carried out. Ghailani States v. Usama bin Laden et al. Indictment S(10) 98 Cr.
allegedly worked closely with Al Qaeda operatives 1023 (LBS).
from the Kenyan and Tanzanian cells.
According to the 1998 U.S. indictment charging
Ghailani with the murders of the 224 dead in the GIA. See ARMED ISLAMIC GROUP.
embassy bombings, Ghailani and fellow Al Qaeda