The Black Banners_ 9_11 and the War Against Al-Qaeda - Ali H. Soufan [249]
Over the period of my undercover work, Shah continued working toward helping al-Qaeda and found possible training centers for al-Qaeda terrorists in the United States, including a warehouse in Long Island, New York. He also traveled to Phoenix, Arizona, to scout for possible recruits there, and came up with a list of people he had met across the country who were sympathetic to the cause.
On March 20, 2005, I called Shah on a cell phone using a Yemeni country code. He answered thinking it was Sabir—now in the Middle East—and was surprised to hear my voice. He didn’t know that I, too, was in the Middle East. I told him I was traveling, and in our agreed-upon code we spoke about the syllabus and the video. The handbook was almost complete, he said, and he was still working on the video. He assured me that he was still interested in our “business” proposal—code for his joining al-Qaeda.
On May 1, 2005, Sabir returned to the United States and stayed at a new apartment Shah had in the Bronx. I told Shah that I would return to the United States and would meet them both, which I did, on May 20, at Shah’s mother’s apartment, also in the Bronx.
With both of them present, Shah again attested to Sabir’s value, and told me that the two of them had been kicked out of a mosque in the Bronx, where Sabir was an assistant imam, after Sabir brought in Shah to teach urban warfare. I said I was “impressed” with what he had told me about Sabir and trusted his recommendation. “Sheikh Osama considers doctors our number-one resource,” I told Sabir. I said that we were ready for him and Shah to join the terrorist group.
I instructed them to continue their preparations. Shah still had not finished making his martial arts video for al-Qaeda to use. I warned him to wear a ski mask while on camera, in case the video “God forbid, falls into somebody’s hands.” I told them that before they were accepted as al-Qaeda members, they needed to pledge bayat to bin Laden. They readily agreed, Shah telling me, “We have been waiting for this for a long time.”
They fell to their knees, took my hands, and repeated after me: “God’s pledge is upon me and so is his covenant to commit myself to the orders of the guardians of the agreement, for the misfortune and for the prosperity. And to be a loyalist to the path of jihad, and to my brothers, until God’s word is exalted. And to be protective of the secrecy of the oath and to the directives of Al-Qaeda.” They embraced me, completing the al-Qaeda initiation process. They had taken the same oath as Mohammed Atta and the other 9/11 hijackers. I was now looking at two members of al-Qaeda.
Leaving the Bronx, I returned to the office, took off the wire I was wearing, and handed in my badge. That was my last day at work. I was leaving the FBI and heading into the private sector. At a farewell party that night, friends and colleagues wished me good luck.
“It’s a big loss for us that you’re leaving,” my close friend and confidant Carlos Fernandez said.
“Well, the oath I took to defend the United States from enemies foreign and domestic doesn’t end with a paycheck,” I told him. “I’ll still be doing my part, just from a different angle.”
That was a Friday. The next day, Shah was arrested. In the interrogation booth, the agent questioning him asked, “Do you know someone called Ali?”
“No, I don’t.”
“You haven’t met someone called Ali a number of times?”
“No.”
“He looks like—” The agent went on to describe me.
“No, I don’t know him,” Shah said.
The agent realized that Shah truly believed I was a member of al-Qaeda and was trying to protect my identity. “Maybe you’ll recognize him if I show you a picture,” the agent said, and showed Shah an official