Page 45 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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18———Al-Nasser, Abdelkarim Hussein Mohamed (?– )

Say Militants.” The Independent (London), November 4, The indictment asserts that al-Nasser, who was
2001, 5. born in Al Ihsa, Saudi Arabia, was the head of Saudi
Dodd, Vikram. “Attack on Afghanistan: Volunteers— Hezbollah in the 1990s. That group is largely made up
Muslim Leaders Attack Extremists’ Claims: Doubts of young Shiite Muslim men who are loyal to Iran, not
Cast on Story of Britons Killed Fighting for Taliban.” the Saudi government. Saudi Hezbollah, also called
The Guardian (London), October 31, 2001, 5. Hezbollah al-Hijaz, is outlawed in Saudi Arabia, thus
McGrory, Daniel, and Dominic Kennedy. “Radical Sheikh Al-Nasser often met other organization leaders in
Revels in Notoriety.” The Times (London), October 10,
2001. Lebanon, Syria, or Iran.
Saudi Hezbollah operatives frequently gathered
at the Sayyeda Zeinab shrine in Damascus, Syria, an
AL-NASSER, ABDELKARIM important religious site for Shiite Muslims. The site
was also a prime recruiting place for Saudi Hezbollah;
HUSSEIN MOHAMED (?– )
its operatives often approached men on religious
pilgrimages.
On June 21, 2001, Abdelkarim al-Nasser was According to the indictment, al-Nasser’s military
indicted in the United States for his role in coordinat- operations chief, Ahmad Ibrahim al-Mughassil,
ing the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers, a high- planned and carried out much of the attack on the
rise U.S. military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Khobar Towers in an attempt to force the U.S. mili-
The FBI lists al-Nasser as one of its “most wanted tary from Saudi Arabia. Weeks before the attack,
terrorists.” al-Nasser led a meeting at the Sayyeda Zeinab shrine

Khobar Towers after the June 25, 1996, bombing of the U.S. high-rise barracks that killed 19 soldiers. Abdelkarim
al-Nasser was indicted in June 2001 for his role in coordinating the bombing.
Source: Defense Visual Information Center.