Ramzi bin al-Shibh summary by HRW
Ramzi bin al-Shibh (Yemen)
[From Human Rights Watch report: http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/usa/us1004/7.htm#_ftnref119]
Detention “confirmed? by the U.S. government. 118
Background
Alleged conspirator in Sept. 11 attacks. He failed four times to get a U.S. visa. 119 Bin al-Shibh is said to have become a key member of the al-Qaeda cell in Hamburg, Germany after he sought asylum there in the late 1990s. He reportedly met Muhammad Atta, the leader of the Hamburg cell, through a local mosque in 1997. Intelligence officials say bin al-Shibh may also have been involved in the attacks on the USS Cole and a Tunisian synagogue. 120
Arrest
Arrested in September 2002 in Karachi, Pakistan.
Detention
After his arrest, the Pakistani government handed him over to the United States, 121 which reportedly took him initially to a secret CIA installation in Thailand. 122 He has since been kept in custody in an undisclosed location under CIA control. 123 The United States district court trying Zacarias Moussaoui, charged with conspiracy in the 9/11 attacks, decided in April 2004 to allow Moussaoui to take testimony from bin al-Shibh and two other al-Qaeda members. The United States had refused, citing national security concerns. 124 In September 2004, a U.S. appeals court reportedly said that Moussaoui could submit written questions intended for the detainees. 125 In the trial of Munir al-Mutasaddiq in Hamburg, Germany, accused of complicity in the 9/11 attacks, the defense for months requested bin al-Shibh’s testimony. Finally, on August 11, 2004, the U.S. Justice Department provided excerpts from interrogations of bin al-Shibh, according to which Motassadeq was not involved in the plot. 126
Intelligence
According to the Commission on Terrorist Attacks, bin al-Shibh sent $14,000 to Moussaoui in August 2001 based on the understanding that Moussaoui was to be “part of the 9/11 plot.” 127 According to the New York Times,
Mr. bin al-Shibh has “. proven to be cooperative with interrogators, several senior officials said. But they said his cooperation also did not begin immediately. Several senior counterterrorism officials overseas said recently that they understood that both men [bin al-Shibh and Khalid Shaikh Muhammad] possibly had begun to cooperate either after being subjected to coercive interrogations or after being threatened with torture, an accusation adamantly denied by American officials”. Under harsh interrogation methods, both Mr. Muhammad and Mr. bin al-Shibh appear to have been willing to provide elaborate accounts of past events. But they appeared to have been less willing to describe operations that have not yet been carried out, leading some of the intelligence officials to raise questions about the truthfulness of some or all of their statements. 128
The 9/11 Commission report refers to the intelligence reports of 41 interrogation sessions with bin al-Shibh, dating from July 2002 to July 2004.
Notes
[118] As per 9/11 Commission. See National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, 9-11 Commission Report, Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc., 2004, p. 488, n. 2.
[119]”Sept. 11 Coordinator at Gitmo, Paper Says,” The Commercial Appeal, March 1, 2004.
[120]”Who’s Who in al Qaeda,” BBC News Online, July 15, 2004 [online], http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2780525.stm#ic.
[121] “U.S. Secrets Suspects out of Pakistan,” The Australian, September 18, 2002.
[122] Raymond Bonner, Don Van Natta, Jr., and Amy Waldman, “Questioning Terror Suspects in a Dark and Surreal World,” The New York Times, March 9, 2003.
[123]Dana Priest, “CIA Puts Harsh Tactics on Hold,” The Washington Post, June 27, 2004.
[124]Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, the head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, argued on June 3, 2004 that if defense counsel were allowed to interrupt the interrogation of bin al-Shibh, “the damage to the United Sates will be immediate and irreparable? (“Terrorist Attack Aftermath: U.S. Appeal in Moussaoui Case Dismissed,” Facts on File World News Digest, June 26, 2003). The prosecutors said that “allowing Moussaoui access to Ramzi Bin al-Shibh would permit two terrorists to exchange classified information? (Toni Locy, “Ashcroft Defies Moussaoui Case Order,” USA Today, July 15, 2003).
[125] See Jerry Markon, “Court Clears Way for Moussaoui Trial,” Washington Post, September 14, 2004.
[126]”Mr. Motassadeq “was not privy? to the plans of Mohamed Atta or the other hijackers? (Mark Landler, “German 9/11 Retrial Gets Exculpatory Evidence from U.S.,” New York Times, August 12, 2004).
[127] Eric Lichtblau, “Report Says Arrest Thwarted Use of Substitute 9/11 Pilot,” New York Times, June 17, 2004.
[128]David Johnston and Don Van Natta, Jr., “Account of Plot Sets off Debate over Credibility,” New York Times, June 17, 2004.