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Then the world came crashing down around him. While El Hage was in Afghanistan meeting with bin Laden in 1997, FBI agents came knocking on the door of his family’s home in Nairobi. With the cooperation of Kenyan authorities, they were there to search the house.

El Hage’s American wife, April; her mother; and the couple’s six children watched as the FBI combed through the house, taking the Macintosh computer, papers, business cards, address books, and anything else that might provide clues. Some of the FBI agents suggested that it might not be safe to stay in Nairobi.35

An FBI agent left his notebook at the house during the search. El Hage politely returned it after he got home a day or two later. Within a month, the family sold all their possessions and returned to the United States—just as the FBI had intended.

The raid was meant to disrupt the al Qaeda cell in Nairobi, which is not to say that the FBI agents weren’t interested in what they found during the search: phone numbers for bin Laden, Ali Mohamed, Ihab Ali, and more. Soon after the family returned to the United States, settling in Arlington, Texas, El Hage was summoned to New York to appear before a grand jury investigating bin Laden.36

El Hage may not have been prepared for what was awaiting him. The FBI was finally up to speed on his long history. They had questions about the murder of Rashad Khalifa, the murder of Mustafa Shalabi, that time he sold a gun to World Trade Center bomber Mahmoud Abouhalima, his relationships with Ihab Ali and Ali Mohamed … and, of course, Osama bin Laden.

El Hage did his duty—he lied and evaded. But it was too late. Al Qaeda put him on the shelf, like Ali Mohamed before him.37

It was Mohamed’s turn next. The FBI called him in for another chat. As before, Mohamed appeared disarmingly frank, although in reality he was keeping plenty of secrets in reserve. He admitted he had trained bin Laden’s bodyguards. He admitted he had been in Somalia while the United States was there, and he acknowledged that al Qaeda was responsible for the deaths of U.S. soldiers.

Mohamed talked about his assistance in moving bin Laden from Afghanistan to Sudan back in 1991. According to an FBI report on the interrogation, “he did this because he loved bin Laden and believed in him.” He explained that a fatwa to attack the United States was unnecessary because it was “obvious” that America was the enemy of Islam. He admitted he had trained people in “war zones” and ominously added that “war zones can be anywhere.”38

After the interview he walked out a free man. Yet again.

In early 1998 Ihab Ali wrote a letter to Ali Mohamed. The letter indicated that although the American cell might have been pushed to the side, its operatives were still in touch with al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Ali wrote,

At any rate please give my best regards to your friend O’Sam and his copartner and tell him—Sam—that I apologize that I couldn’t finish what he requested of me, due to some personal problems. As far as Mr. Wadeeh [Wadih El Hage], he’s presently staying in Texas. I had (illegible) him prior to traveling and he filled me in on his social/business life. He told me that after having met with and finishing a business deal with Mr. Sam and while returning home he was contacted by one of the opposition company called Food and Beverage Industry based in the U.S. He was given an extensive interview.39

Federal prosecutors later said “O’Sam” was likely a coded reference to “Osama,” and Food and Beverage Industry meant FBI. The letter showed that all three American al Qaeda members were still in play, even if they had been placed in strategic retreat.40

Less than two months later, “O’Sam” upped the stakes, issuing a fatwa that expanded his earlier declaration of war against the United States. Bin Laden wrote,

The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies—civilians and military—is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it. [ … ] This is in accordance with the words of Almighty