Page 374 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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354———Swedan, Sheikh Ahmed Salim (1969– )

American hostage, would be released. (Two German bought a 1987 Nissan Atlas truck in Tanzania and a
aid workers remained.) Upon release, Sutherland Toyota Dyna truck in Kenya several months before the
was flown to the Wiesbaden U.S. military base in bombings. An African poultry farmer who had lived
Germany to be treated for a peptic ulcer, before join- near Swedan in Kenya testified about the Toyota in the
ing his family in California for his first Thanksgiving bombings case, saying that he told Swedan in jest that
in six years. he would sell him his pickup truck for $10,000. As
In 1993, Sutherland traveled to Beirut with NBC this was twice what he had bought it for, the farmer
and the BBC to shoot a film about his captivity. He was surprised when Swedan agreed. The man never
was the first hostage to return. In June 2001, follow- saw his neighbor again.
ing Anderson’s $341 million lawsuit the year earlier, According to the indictment, Swedan then made
the Sutherlands—Thomas, Jean, and their three alterations to the back of the Toyota and arranged for
daughters—won a $353 million judgment against mechanical and welding work on the Nissan. Al Qaeda
Iran. members later filled the trucks with oxygen and acety-
lene tanks, fertilizer, sandbags, boxes of TNT, and
See also TERRY ANDERSON; WILLIAM BUCKLEY; HEZBOLLAH;
detonators—making them into moving bombs.
IMAD FAYEZ MUGHNIYAH; HOSTAGE TAKING
On August 2, 1998, Swedan fled Africa for
Pakistan. Five days later, in synchronized attacks 400
Further Reading
miles apart, the truck bombs exploded at the U.S.
Sutherland, Tom, and Jean Sutherland. At Your Own Risk: embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, one bomb detonat-
An American Chronicle of Crisis and Captivity in the ing just minutes before the other. The blasts killed
Middle East. Golden, CO: Fulcrum, 1996.
224 people.
The U.S. government declared that bin Laden and
Al Qaeda operatives were responsible. President Bill
SWEDAN, SHEIKH AHMED SALIM Clinton then ordered air attacks on Al Qaeda training

(1969– ) grounds in Afghanistan and on a pharmaceutical plant
in Khartoum, Sudan. Swedan allegedly fled to
aka Sheikh Ahmad Salem Suweidan, Sheikh Ahmed Afghanistan, as did many of the other 26 indicted in
Salem Swedan, Sheikh Swedan, Sheikh Bahamadi, the embassy bombings case. Three suspects indicted
Ahmed Ally, Bahamad, Sheik Bahamad, Ahmed in the embassy bombings case pleaded guilty and
the Tall
cooperated with the U.S. government as witnesses. In
October 2001, four men linked to bin Laden were con-
Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan is alleged to have victed of conspiracy in the case. All of the defendants,
bought both trucks used in the 1998 bombings of who pleaded not guilty, were sentenced to life in prison
the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. For his without parole. The U.S. State Department offers a
role in the bombings, which killed 224 people, he reward of up to $25 million for information leading
was placed on the FBI’s list of 22 “most wanted directly to Swedan’s apprehension or conviction.
terrorists.”
See also AL QAEDA; OSAMA BIN LADEN; EAST AFRICAN
Swedan, born in Mombasa, Kenya, is said to be a
EMBASSY BOMBINGS
member of the Al Qaeda network. Al Qaeda, an Ara-
bic word meaning “The Base,” is an international net- Further Reading
work that that advocates and employs violence to
drive the United States from Saudi Arabia and other Bergen, Peter L. Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of
Osama bin Laden. New York: Free Press, 2001.
Islamic countries. Headed by Saudi Osama bin Laden,
Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Most Wanted Terrorists.”
Al Qaeda serves as an umbrella group for other mili-
http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/terrorists/fugitives.htm,
tant organizations and establishes cells in areas where
October 2001.
attacks are planned.
Frontline. “Hunting bin Laden.” PBS. http://www.pbs.
According to the FBI, Swedan managed a trucking org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/.
business in Kenya before becoming involved in Al “A Nation Challenged: The Hunted; The 22 Most Wanted
Qaeda’s East African cells. A 1998 U.S. indictment Suspects, in a Five-Act Drama of Global Terror.”
charges that Swedan and fellow Al Qaeda members New York Times, October 14, 2001, 1B.