Khallad
Khallad is a Yemeni whose family has long been associated with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda; Khallad, whose full name is Tawfiq Muhammed Salah Bin Roshayd Bin Attash, started fighting in 1994, at age 15. He was a bodyguard for bin Laden and a infantryman until joining the staff in 1998.[1] Captured in Karachi on 29 April 2003, he is a High Value Detainee at Guantanamo Bay detention camp, [2] He is also known as Walid bin Attash, Walid Attash, Salah Said, Saeed Mohammed bin Yousaf, Silver, Khallad bin Attash, Salahsae and Tafiq bin Attash.
He is a defendant in U.S. v. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, et al., the trial of the principal planners and directors of the 9-11 Attack.
Operations
USS Cole attack
He was specifically implicated in the recruiting and training for bombing of the USS Cole,[3]
Aircraft hijackings
In early 1999, he was directed, by Osama bin Laden, to travel to the U.S. for pilot training for the "Planes Operation", which became the 9-11 Attack. His U.S. visa application was denied, and he was briefly imprisoned in Yemen. Subsequently, Khallad, in September 1999, gave hand-to-hand training, for potential hijackers, at a camp in Logar, Afghanistan, in order to help select trainees for the "Planes Operation." Two of the hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77 attended this course.
He then moved to Karachi, Pakistan, and stayed with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, planning a variety of aircraft hijackings.
According to the U.S. indictment, in December 1999, he left Pakistan on a planning trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, before which "Khalid Sheikh Mohammed gave him a razor knife to secrete on his person while traveling in order to assess airline security measures," which he "carried this razor knife on flights to Malaysia, Bangkok, and Hong Kong. In Kuala Lumpur, he planned travel for two of the hijackers. He briefed them, in January 2000, on his observations about security on U.S. aircraft.
al-Qaeda defense
He was involved in the Battle of Tora Bora in the Afghanistan War (2001-).
Planning attacks on Britain
In 2002, he worked with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in preparing an attack on Heathrow Airport.
References
- ↑ High Value Detainee Biographies, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
- ↑ ICRC Report on the Treatment of 14 "High Value Detainees" in CIA Custody, International Committee of the Red Cross, February 14, 2007
- ↑ David Johnston and James Risen (April 11, 2004), "Threats and Responses: The 2000 Attack;Inquiry Into Attack on the Cole In 2000 Missed Clues to 9/11", New York Times