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60———Atwah, Muhsin Musa Matwalli (1964– )

in Sudan had any relation to bin Laden or to chemical
ATWAH, MUHSIN MUSA weapons.
MATWALLI (1964– ) Of 26 men with suspected ties to bin Laden
indicted in the embassy bombings, three pleaded
aka Abdul Rahman, Abdul Rahman al-Muhajir, guilty and cooperated with the U.S. government as
Abdel Rahman, Mohammed K. A. al-Namer
witnesses, while four were convicted of conspiring in
the bombings and sentenced to life in prison without
Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah is an alleged mem- parole. The U.S. State Department offers a reward of
ber of Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network. Atwah up to $25 million for information leading directly to
has been accused of involvement in the 1998 conspir- Atwah’s apprehension or conviction.
acy to bomb the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and
See also AL QAEDA; OSAMA BIN LADEN; EAST AFRICAN
Kenya. The FBI included him in its list of the 22
EMBASSY BOMBINGS
“most wanted terrorists” following the September 11,
2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York Further Reading
City and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C.
Bergen, Peter L. Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of
The United States indicted Atwah, an Egyptian, in
Osama bin Laden. New York: Free Press, 2001.
1998 on charges relating to the bombings of U.S.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Most Wanted Terrorists.”
embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in which 224
http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/terrorists/fugitives.htm,
people died. The indictment also claimed that he pro-
October 2001.
vided military and intelligence training for members Frontline. “Hunting bin Laden.” PBS. http://www.pbs.
of the Al Qaeda network in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/, May 1, 2002.
Sudan. “A Nation Challenged: The Hunted; The 22 Most Wanted
Al Qaeda, an Arabic word meaning “The Base,” is Suspects, in a Five-Act Drama of Global Terror.”
an international terrorist network whose goal is to drive New York Times, October 14, 2001, 1B.
the United States from Saudi Arabia and other Islamic Reeve, Simon. The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin
countries by force. Headed by the Saudi Osama bin Laden, and the Future of Terrorism. Boston: North-
Laden, Al Qaeda also serves as an umbrella group for eastern University Press, 1999.
U.S. District Court Southern District of New York. United
other militant organizations.
States v. Usama bin Laden et al. Indictment S(10) 98 Cr.
The Atwah indictment included a number of other
1023 (LBS).
charges. He was accused of providing military
training to Somali tribes during the early 1990s, thus
enabling them to fight more effectively against U.N.
and U.S. forces during Somalia’s civil unrest. Somalis AUC. See UNITED SELF-DEFENSE FORCES
attacked peacekeepers in Mogadishu in 1993, killing OF COLOMBIA.
18 U.S. soldiers.
According to the indictment, Atwah did not
directly take part in the plan to bomb U.S. embassies
–
in East Africa, but was a member of the overall con- AUM SHINRIKYO
spiracy. On August 7, 1998, in synchronized attacks
400 miles apart, two truck bombs exploded at the
-
embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Aum Shinrikyo, a cult founded in 1985 by Shoko
Tanzania. Asahara, perpetrated the 1995 sarin gas attack on the
In the wake of the bombings, the U.S. government Tokyo subway that killed 12 people.
-
declared that bin Laden and Al Qaeda operatives to be Aum Shinrikyo translates roughly as “Supreme
responsible. In retaliation, President Clinton ordered Truth.” The cult’s major tenets are drawn from a
air attacks on Al Qaeda training grounds in Afghanistan wide spectrum of religions. Adherents believe that by
and a pharmaceutical plant in the center of Khartoum, withdrawing from worldly pleasures and dedicating
Sudan. The air raids were met with much international their thoughts to the contemplation of the “Supreme
criticism, and many debated whether or not the factory Truths” as revealed by their guru, Shoko Asahara,