Page 259 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

M-Kushner.qxd 29-10-02 2:10 PM Page 237

Mohammed, Khalid Shaikh (1965– )———237

The indictment also claims that in late 1996 or
early 1997 Mohammad began sending coded mes- MOHAMMED, KHALID SHAIKH
sages to coconspirators in the embassy bombings (1965– )
plot. He and el-Hage carried funds from bin Laden to
aka Ashraf Refaat Nabith Henin, Khalid Adbul
Kenya. He later rented the Nairobi villa at 43 New
Wadood, Salem Ali, Fahd bin Adballah bin Khalid
Runda Estates where the bomb was assembled and
where final preparations for bombing the embassy
were made. On August 7, 1998, Mohammad left the Born in Kuwait, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was
villa in a pickup truck, driving just ahead of the reportedly a key player in the September 11, 2001,
bomber to lead the way to the U.S. embassy. In a syn- attacks on the World Trade Center in New York
chronized attack 400 miles away, a bomb-laden car City and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C. Abu
also approached the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam, Zubaydah, a top Al Qaeda lieutenant in U.S. custody
Tanzania. The bombs exploded just minutes apart, at a secret location, and other Al Qaeda detainees at
killing a total of 224 people. Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, told investigators in June 2002
Shortly following the embassy bombings, the U.S. that Mohammed was the plan’s mastermind. Little
government declared that bin Laden and Al Qaeda evidence of his direct involvement has been released.
operatives were responsible. As retaliation, U.S. pres- According to a Los Angeles Times report, he made
ident Bill Clinton ordered air attacks on Al Qaeda several visits to Hamburg, Germany, in 1999, when the
training grounds in Afghanistan and a pharmaceutical September 11 hijackers were in the city.
plant in the center of Khartoum, Sudan. Mohammed is said to be a bomb expert who
Mohammad fled to the Cormoros Islands the received most of his training in Afghanistan. Little is
week following the attacks, then flew on to Dubai. known about his background and activities, but he first
He is a fugitive, along with many of the 26 indicted came to international attention for his participation in
in the United States for crimes related to the attacks. Ramzi Ahmed Yousef’s foiled 1995 conspiracy called
Three suspects indicted in the embassy bombings “Project Bojinka.” This deadly and wildly ambitious
case pleaded guilty and cooperated with the U.S. plot aimed to blow up nearly a dozen American air-
government as witnesses. This resulted in the planes with virtually undetectable bombs made of
conviction of el-Hage and three other men linked to inexpensive digital watches and liquid explosives hid-
bin Laden for conspiracy in the bombing at their den in contact lens solution bottles. Mohammed is on
October 2001 trial in U.S. District Court in New York the FBI’s list of 22 “most wanted terrorists” for his role
City. All of the defendants who pleaded not guilty in the plot. The conspirators were based in Manila, the
were sentenced to life in prison without parole. The Philippines, and targeted airliners flying to the United
U.S. State Department is offering up to $25 million States from Southeast Asia.
for information leading to Mohammad’s arrest or In 1996, the United States indicted him for his
conviction. involvement in Project Bojinka, accusing him of help-
ing to finance the conspiracy. Prosecutors referred
See also AL QAEDA; OSAMA BIN LADEN:EAST AFRICAN
to Project Bojinka as a conspiracy for “48 hours of
EMBASSY BOMBINGS
terror in the sky.” Mohammed and other conspirators
allegedly plotted to blow up 11 American commercial
Further Reading
jets and, according to a New York Times report, crash
Bergen, Peter L. Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of a plane into CIA headquarters and kill the president
Osama bin Laden. New York: Free Press, 2001. of the United States with a deadly gas released into
Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Most Wanted Terrorists.” the air.
http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/terrorists/fugitives.htm, Yousef, the convicted mastermind of Project
October 2001.
Reeve, Simon. The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama Bojinka, is now serving a life sentence for bombing
bin Laden, and the Future of Terrorism. Boston: North- New York City’s World Trade Center in 1993. Two
eastern University Press, 1999. fellow conspirators in Project Bojinka were also con-
United States District Court Southern District of New York. victed; Abdul Hakim Murad, a Pakistani national, and
United States v. Usama bin Laden et al. Indictment Wali Khan Amin Shah, an Afghan, are both serving
S(10) 98 Cr. 1023 (LBS). life sentences.