FBI hot – then cold – on trail of 2nd-generation al-Qaida operative (Shukrijumah)

JournalGazette/LATimes ^ | 9-4-06 | Josh Meyer

[STARWISE]

CHARLIEVILLE, Trinidad and Tobago – Five years ago, as 19 al-Qaida operatives in the United States put the finishing touches on what would become the Sept. 11 attacks, a frail, asthmatic computer engineer from South Florida paid a visit to this tiny Muslim enclave where he’d lived as a boy.

Adnan Gulshair Muhammad el Shukrijumah, then 25, kept a low profile over the course of the week. He hung out with a small circle of devout older men who were leaders of the local Islamic community. They prayed in mosques, went fishing and enjoyed long walks and leisurely dinners, recalled one of the hosts, Imtiaz Mohammed.

Shukrijumah spoke fondly of his father, an influential Islamic scholar and Charlieville community leader two decades earlier. He also spoke of his family life in Miramar, Fla., his computer technician business and his travels to the Mideast and other exotic locales.

But Shukrijumah said nothing about why he was in Trinidad, nor what his plans were, acquaintances here say.

Two years later, the FBI put out an urgent all-points bulletin for Shukrijumah, depicting him as one of al-Qaida’s most well-trained, intelligent and deadly operatives. He was described as the ultimate “sleeper agent,” intent on attacking the United States, possibly with weapons of mass destruction.

[STARWISE]

Shukrijumah, said Sajjan Gohel, director for international security at the London-based Asia-Pacific Foundation, is believed to be “the guy who was reared to replace (Mohammed),” as an al-Qaida senior trainer, facilitator and propagandist, playing a central role in the development of hundreds of the network’s future soldiers. “He is part of al-Qaida Stage 2,” Gohel said. His foundation consults on terrorism assessment for governments.

Shukrijumah has not been charged with a crime, but federal grand juries in Virginia and South Florida are hearing evidence about his activities.

Agents working on the investigation were reluctant to provide many details because of those probes, but the FBI does say that Shukrijumah trained at an al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan before Sept. 11. There, he learned to handle AK-47s, M-16s, Uzis and other automatic weapons and studied topography, communications, camouflage, clandestine surveillance and explosives, including C-4 plastic charges, dynamite and mines, they say.

FBI-Seeking Information: Adman El Shukrijumah

"El Shukrijumah is 27 (now 30) years old and was born in Saudi Arabia. He is approximately 132 pounds (but may be heavier today), 5'3" to 5'5" tall, has a Mediterranean complexion, black hair, black eyes, and occasionally wears a beard. A photograph of this individual is available on the FBI's website, www.fbi.gov."

This guy truly gives me the willies ... he's laying low, plotting.

[STARWISE]

Ping

[STARWISE]

"When asked which operative was most likely to launch a U.S.-based attack, many captives mentioned one particular figure with an almost mythical reputation as a ruthless jihadist. His nom de guerre was Jaffar al Tayyar, a reference to an Islamic hero who had fought beside the prophet Muhammad.

But his identity, too, was a mystery.

Foreign-born, U.S.-educated

The pieces began to come together in early March when Mohammed was captured in Pakistan and his computers, phones and other electronic gear were seized.

The evidence confirmed that Mohammed had been sending “Westernized” al-Qaida soldiers on missions into the U.S. and other countries.

And when Mohammed was shown a photograph of Shukrijumah, he identified him as Tayyar, U.S. counterterrorism officials said.

By then, U.S. authorities were concluding that Shukrijumah was also the shadowy South American, an apparent reference to his time spent in Trinidad and nearby Guyana.

To their dismay, they realized that one of al-Qaida’s best-trained operatives had been lurking – and perhaps plotting – in the United States since long before the Sept. 11 attacks.

Adnan Gulshair Muhammad el Shukrijumah was born in June 1975 in either Saudi Arabia or Guyana. After his family moved from New York to Florida, he attended Broward Community College, where he excelled in chemistry, biology and computers, according to the FBI.

He also suffered from asthma, which required him to use an inhaler, his mother said in a recent interview. As a result, he often remained indoors, she said, tending to his studies, his computer business and his scholarly work.

Sometime in the late 1990s, Shukrijumah started leaning toward more radical Islamist views, authorities say. The FBI believes he was inspired by a group of Muslim men in South Florida who gave him books and videotapes about jihad in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kashmir and Afghanistan.

[Cindy]

Thanks for the ping STARWISE.

[lentulusgracchus]

[Article] .....depicting him as one of al-Qaida’s most well-trained, intelligent and deadly operatives.

Shouldn't that be, "one of al-Qaida's best-trained, most intelligent, and deadliest operatives"?

Comparison of adjectives has gone to hell in this country.

That, and strong verbs.

Thanks to The New York Times stylebook in large part, I think.

[lentulusgracchus]

The pieces began to come together in early March when Mohammed was captured in Pakistan and his computers, phones and other electronic gear were seized.

Would that be Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a.k.a. "KSM", the notorious Al Q'aeda operations director and plotmeister, or the aforementioned Imtiaz Mohammed, who was Shukrijumah's host on Trinidad?

[lentulusgracchus]

This guy truly gives me the willies ... he's laying low, plotting.

WND's writers about terrorism have said he's been down in Mexico, trying to put some kind of smuggling operation together with MS-13 and other criminal gangs.

The ultimate fear is that Shukrijumah has taken receipt of a nuclear weapon from Osama Bin Laden and is trying to get it across the border.

[jimbo123]

He's also known as Jafar the Pilot and was supposed to be involved in a plot to detonate a dirty nuke over a city via a Canadian cargo plane a couple years ago.

[STARWISE]

The Mystery Man Who Keeps the FBI up at Night

[Cindy]

Thanks for the ping STARWISE.

[tutstar]

Another terrorist from Florida , this is too creepy!

[Joe Brower]

"Another terrorist from Florida , this is too creepy!"

And check out the individual's ethnic and religious background. Who would have ever guessed he'd be a Muslim?

What a complete surprise.

[Grampa Dave]

Hopefully every medical office that treats adults, ER room and pharmacy in this country gets these pictures and a descriptiono of this potential serial killer on a monthly basis.