Mohammed Jamal Khalifa

Mohammed Jamal Khalifa
Born	(1957-02-01)February 1, 1957 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Died	January 31, 2007(2007-01-31) (aged 49) Madagascar

Mohammed Jamal Khalifa (Arabic: محمد جمال خليفه‎) (1 February 1957 – 31 January 2007) was a Saudi Arabian businessman from Jeddah who married one of Osama bin Laden's sisters.^[1]

Overview

The first glimpse U.S. authorities had of Khalifa came in 1992, when his alias Barra appeared on a bomb-making manual carried by Ahmed Ajaj who entered the United States on a false passport.^[2][3]

Khalifa started the Benevolence International Corporation in the Philippines in 1988, apparently to recruit people for the war against the Soviets. The Benevolence International Corporation claimed to be an import-export company. In 1992, that group folded visible operations while another group known as the Islamic Benevolence Committee renamed itself to Benevolence International Foundation.^[4]

What was left of the Benevolence International Corporation allegedly gave logistical support to terrorists.^[5] The remains of the Benevolence International Corporation have been accused of assisting the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the Bojinka plot that was foiled in 1995. The U.S. government claims he came to the Philippines to support Abu Sayyaf. Khalifa had married a local woman, Alice "Jameelah" Yabo,^[6] and frequently exited and entered the country for "business" reasons. Yabo was the sister of Ahmad al-Hamwi, better known as Abu Omar.^[7]

Khalifa ran the International Relations and Information Center, where money was embezzled through the bank account of Omar Abu Omar,^[8] an employee at the center, to an account under the name of Adel Sabah, an alias of Ramzi Yousef.^[9] Khalifa started several other groups, including the Khalifa Trading Industries, which U.S. investigators stated were front organizations.^{[10] [11]}

U.S. and Filipino investigators accused Khalifa of once being an important lieutenant of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda organization, which was based in Sudan at the time he allegedly was involved in terrorist plots.

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.^[12]

Other details

Khalifa is said to have trained with Osama Bin Laden in the mujahideen camps in Afghanistan during the Soviet war in Afghanistan.^[12] 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.^[2]

Khalifa was the regional director of the Philippines for the International Islamic Relief Organization.^[13]

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.^[14]

When the FBI looked inside Khalifa's luggage, they found manuals in Arabic on training terrorists, which covered subjects such as bomb-making and other violent activities. Khalifa claims that his possession of the materials was innocent. They also found a personal organizer with several contacts. One phone number was for Wali Khan Amin Shah, a member of the Manila cell, which was plotting Operation Bojinka at the time. There was also a listing for an unknown man, who might have been Khalid Sheik Mohammed. Khalifa was placed in solitary confinement and the contents of his luggage were logged and edited.^[15]

On January 6 and January 7, 1995, Operation Bojinka was discovered after a fire at Yousef's Manila apartment. Investigators found evidence related to the plot.^[15] Abdul Hakim Murad, who was arrested at the apartment, had five phone numbers pointing to Khalifa. They also found logs of phone calls to and from Khalifa before his arrest and contact information on Ramzi Yousef's computer.

In Jordan, a court there convicted Khalifa in absentia for a string of theatre bombings. Khalifa faced a possible death sentence as a result. Khalifa first fought his deportation by suing the government.

In March 1995, evidence forwarded to the United States from the Philippines suggested Khalifa was funding the foiled Operation Bojinka plot. On April 18, the conviction in Jordan was overturned as a key witness recanted his testimony. On April 20, an associate of Yousef and Khalifa stated that Yousef was responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. On April 26, Khalifa requested to be deported to Jordan at his hearing. On May 5, Khalifa was deported to Jordan by the INS, and the INS returned Khalifa's belongings. A Jordanian court acquitted Khalifa. Bayazid was also let go. He disappeared shortly after.

Death

On 31 January 2007, Khalifa was killed while visiting a gemstone mine he owned in Sakamilko, near the town of Sakaraha in southern Madagascar. Reports state that around 25 to 30 armed men raided Khalifa's residence in the middle of the night, attacked him with various weapons, and removed his computer and other intelligence materials. Khalifa's family came to believe that he was assassinated by operators from the Joint Special Operations Command.^[12][16]

Notes

External links

• A Blueprint for 9/11: Western intelligence interested in Osama's brother-in-law
• Taking from the poor Newsweek article exploring Khalifa's links to Abu Sayyaf and Al Qaeda.
• Bojinka jetliners bomb plot navigator New York Times summary of its articles about Bojinka.