Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali

Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali
Detained at ADX Florence
Alternate name Khalid Salim Saleh Bin Rashed,[1]
Moath,[2]
Abdul Jabbar Ali Abdel-Latif,[2]
Khalid Salim Saleh bin Rashid,[1]
Mohammed Akbar,[1]
Abdul Jabba Ali,[1]
Latif,[1]
Abdel Jabbar al-Baloushi,[1]
M'aad,[1]
Mohammed al-Qatari[1]

Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali is one of the four former al-Qaeda members sentenced in 2001 to life without parole for their parts in the 1998 United States embassy bombings.[3][4] The others are Mohammed Saddiq Odeh, Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, and Wadih el Hage. At the time of this writing, all four are in the supermax prison known as ADX Florence. A number of other suspects are still wanted or awaiting trial for this bombing.

Contents

Militant activity

A Saudi from a wealthy family,[5] Al-Owhali attended al-Qaeda's Khalden training camp in 1996.[6][7] He traveled to Kenya on a false passport under the name of Khalid Salim Saleh Bin Rashid, which he later claimed was provided by "Bilal", whom American military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay have suggested was Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.[8]

During the Nairobi bombing, he had initially sat in the passenger seat of the Mitsubishi Canter, and threw a stun grenade at embassy guards before exiting the vehicle which the driver detonated.[9] Osama bin Laden later offered the explanation that it had been his intention to leap out and shoot the guards to clear a path for the truck, but that he had left his pistol in the truck and subsequently ran off.[10]

Arrest and imprisonment

Kenyan doctors attending to al-Owhali were suspicious of his role in the event, and noted that his injuries showed he had his back to the explosion and suggested he may have been running from the scene.[5]

He was arrested August 12, 1998 and confessed to his role in the bombing.[10][11] He cooperated with the FBI willingly, and gave them the telephone number he had called before and following the bombing; 967-1-200578, a Yemeni phone number belonging to the father-in-law of Khalid Mihdhar (who was a 9/11 hijacker and is thought to have helped organized the USS Cole bombing) which turned out to be the key communications hub in Yemen for al-Qaeda militants. He eventually tipped off the Americans about the upcoming Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit where the plans for 9/11 and USS Cole bombing were finalized.[12]

In a successful bid to escape the death penalty, al-Owhali's lawyers played video clips from two cabinet members, attesting to the negative impact of sanctions which encouraged him to join Al-Qaeda.[13]

Provided evidence against other captives in the war on terror

The Summary of Evidence memos prepared for the Combatant Status Review Tribunals of the fourteen "high-value detainees" mentioned Al-Owhali.[8][14] Fourteen "high-value detaninees" who had been held for years, in secret CIA interrogation camps transferred from CIA custory to military custody in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.

name notes
Walid Bin Attash
  • One of the allegations against Walid Bin Attash was:[14]
"Mohammad Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali (Al-Owhali) stated that in approximately June or July 1998, the detainee told him that his (Al-Owhali's) mission was a martyrdom mission, where he would be driving a vehicle filled with explosives into a target which would result in his death. The detainee told Al-Owhali the target was a United States embassy in East Africa, but he was not told the exact country."
Abd Al Rahim Hussein Mohammed Al Nashiri‎
  • One of the allegations against Al Nashiri was:[8]
"Mohammad Rashid Daoud Al-Owhali (Al-Owhali), confessed and was later convicted in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, for his role in the al Qaida bombings of the United States embassies in East Africa, which occurred on 7 August 1998. Al-Owhali obtained a Yemeni passport in the name of Khalid Salim Saleh Bin Rashid. Al-Owhali identified the individual who facilitated Al-Owhali's obtaining a Yemeni passport as Bilal, Bilal is known to Federal Bureau of Investigation investigators as Abdul Rahim al Nashiri, the detainee. Al-Owhali used this same Yemeni passport to travel to Nairobi, Kenya, arriving on 2 August 1998."

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h FBI Executive Summary, Status of embassy bombings investigation, Nov. 18, 1998. Posted online by PBS' 'Frontline' program.
  2. ^ a b United States vs. bin Laden et al indictment, Nov. 4, 1998
  3. ^ Copy of indictment USA v. Usama bin Laden et al., Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies
  4. ^ Four embassy bombers get life, CNN.com, By Phil Hirschkorn, October 21, 2001
  5. ^ a b Benjamin, Daniel & Steven Simon. "The Age of Sacred Terror", 2002
  6. ^ Hijacking suspect 'was bin Laden bodyguard', The Guardian, September 30, 2001
  7. ^ The Khaldan Alumni, Toronto Star, December 9, 2005
  8. ^ a b c OARDEC (February 8, 2007). "Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal - Al Nashiri, Abd Al Rahim Hussein Mohammed". Department of Defense. http://www.defenselink.mil/news/ISN10015.pdf#1. Retrieved April 13, 2007. 
  9. ^ Katz, Samuel M. "Relentless Pursuit: The DSS and the manhunt for the al-Qaeda terrorists", 2002
  10. ^ a b Ressa, Maria. "Seeds of Terror", 2003.
  11. ^ Public enemy No 1 and his lethal machine, The Guardian, September 16, 2001
  12. ^ Mayer, Jane, "The Dark Side", 2008.
  13. ^ CNN story about the defense's videotape
  14. ^ a b OARDEC (February 8, 2007). "Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal - Walid Bin Attash". Department of Defense. http://www.defenselink.mil/news/ISN10014.pdf#1. Retrieved April 13, 2007.