The Black Banners_ 9_11 and the War Against Al-Qaeda - Ali H. Soufan [262]
Joe Ennis: FBI special agent nicknamed “Alabama Joe” because of his pride in his roots; he joined us in Yemen during the USS Cole investigation. The material witness warrant for Jose Padilla was issued based on an affidavit sworn to by him.
Jamal al-Fadl (alias Abu Bakr Sudani): Nicknamed “Junior” within U.S. government circles, he was an early al-Qaeda member who served as bin Laden’s secretary before turning himself over to the United States in 1996 after getting caught stealing $110,000 from al-Qaeda. The information he gave us was central to our understanding of how the organization operated and evolved up till 1996, and he also became a key witness in subsequent trials against al-Qaeda members. He is in the U.S. Witness Protection Program.
Khalid al-Fawwaz: A trusted bin Laden lieutenant who first led al-Qaeda’s cell in Nairobi; once it was operational he went to London to run al-Qaeda’s operations there, focusing on logistics and public relations. In 1999 I helped the British build a case against Fawwaz and other members of the al-Qaeda–Egyptian Islamic Jihad cell in London. We won the case. Fawwaz is still awaiting extradition to the United States.
Harun Fazul (alias of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed; known mainly as Harun; another alias is Yaqoub al-Dusari): Al-Qaeda operative who served as Wadih el-Hage’s secretary in Nairobi and helped investigate the drowning of Abu Ubaidah. He also helped plan and execute the 1998 East African embassy bombings, and often wrote reports for al-Qaeda leaders. He ran al-Qaeda operations in the Horn of Africa until his death, on June 10, 2011.
Carlos Fernandez: FBI special agent whom I served alongside in many operations.
Patrick Fitzgerald: Worked closely with the FBI when he was an assistant U.S. attorney from the Southern District of New York. He played a central role in gaining the cooperation of several al-Qaeda members, including Mohamed al-Owhali and L’Houssaine Kherchtou, and I worked closely with him on operations in London, Italy, and Yemen. He also successfully prosecuted many terrorists, including Omar Abdul Rahman, and al-Qaeda members involved in the 1998 East African embassy bombings.
Fred (not his real name): CIA official who wrote faulty cables during the Millennium Operation in Jordan that had to be withdrawn, and who tried disrupting George Crouch’s successful interrogation of Ibn al-Shaykh al-Liby. Some of his other errors are discussed in the CIA inspector general’s report on the CIA’s coercive interrogation program.
Louis Freeh: Director of the FBI from September 1993 to June 2001. Aware of problems we were having during the Cole investigation, he flew to Yemen to speak to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, an effort that greatly helped us.
Stephen Gaudin: FBI special agent who was my partner in [4 words redacted]. [19 words redacted] During the 1998 East African embassy bombing investigation, he helped gain the confession of Mohamed al-Owhali, and after 9/11 he served as the FBI Legat in Yemen.
Ahmed al-Hada: Yemeni al-Qaeda member whose son Jaffar and sons-in-law Ahmed al-Darbi and Khalid al-Mihdhar (one of the 9/11 hijackers) also belonged to the organization. During the 1998 East African embassy bombing investigation, we discovered that his phone number in Yemen served as a virtual switchboard for al-Qaeda. The Yemenis only let us question him after 9/11; the interrogation was conducted by Bob McFadden, Andre Khoury, and me.
Wadih el-Hage: Lebanese al-Qaeda member who moved to the United States (and became a citizen) and was inspired by Abdullah Azzam to join the mujahideen. After the Soviet jihad he worked for bin Laden as his secretary, and in Nairobi he replaced Khalid al-Fawwaz (who had been sent by bin Laden to London). El-Hage was later arrested and sentenced to life in prison in the United States for his role in the 1998 East African embassy bombings.
Hambali: Commonly used name of Riduan Isamuddin, a commander of the Southeast Asian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah with