| Mohammed Jamal Khalifa | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 1, 1957 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| Died | January 31, 2007 (aged 49) Madagascar |
Mohammed Jamal Khalifa (Arabic: محمد جمال خليفه) (died 31 January 2007) was a Saudi Arabian businessman from Jeddah who married one of Osama bin Laden's sisters.[1]
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The first glimpse U.S. authorities had of Khalifa came in 1992, when his alias Barra[2] appeared on a bomb-making manual carried by Ahmed Ajaj who entered the United States on a false passport.
Khalifa started the Benevolence International Corporation in the Philippines in 1988, apparently to recruit people for the war against the Soviets[3] Benevolence International Corporation claimed to have been an import-export company.[4] In 1992, that group folded visible operations while another group known as the Islamic Benevolence Committee renamed itself to Benevolence International Foundation.
Khalifa ran the International Relations and Information Centre, where money was embezzled through the bank account of Omar Abu Omar,[5] an employee at the centre, to an account under the name of Adel Sabah, an alias of Ramzi Yousef[6] Khalifa started several other groups, including the Khalifa Trading Industries, which U.S. investigators stated were front organizations.[7]
Khalifa was arrested in Saudi Arabia shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, but was released without charges being filed. Later that year, he publicly condemned Osama Bin Laden and publicly distanced himself from Al-Qaeda.
On January 31, 2007 Jamal Khalifa was assassinated in Madagascar when a group of at least 20 armed men[8] attacked his house.
Khalifa is said to have trained with Osama Bin Laden in the mujahideen camps in Afghanistan during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. His business cards have been found in Yousef's Jersey City, New Jersey apartment. They also have been found in Ramzi Yousef's Manila apartment.
Khalifa was the regional director of the Philippines for the International Islamic Relief Organization.
On December 1, 1994, Khalifa met Mohamed Loay Bayazid, the president of Benevolence International Foundation, in the United States. Khalifa and Bayazid were arrested on December 14, 1994 in Mountain View, California on charges related to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Khalifa was planning to fly to the Philippines.
On 31 January 2007, Khalifa was assassinated by 25 to 30 armed men while visiting a gemstone mine he owned in Sakamilko, near the town of Sakaraha in southern Madagascar.[9]