Nasser al-Bahri

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Nasser al-Bahri
Born1972
Al Mukalla, Yemen
NationalityYemeni
Children4
Military career
Allegiance Bosnian mujahideen (1993–1996)

Islamic Courts Union (1996)
Al-Qaeda (1996–2000)

RankBodyguard of Bin Laden
Battles/warsBosnian War

Somali Civil War

Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)

Nasser al-Bahri (1972 – 26 December 2015), also known by his

Bayʿah to its leader, Mullah Omar,[8][non-primary source needed
] but also because he had married and become a father.

After his return to Yemen in 2000, he was taken into custody by the authorities and held for two years without trial. He agreed to abide by the parole conditions of a Yemeni jihadist rehabilitation program directed by judge Hamoud al-Hitar. In them he had to accept more education about Islam, as well as discuss his new and old ideas about jihad with the judge and younger students.[5]

During a September 2009 interview with reporter Michelle Shephard of the Toronto Star, al-Bahri said that he was no longer a member of al-Qaeda, but that he supported the organization for some of its beliefs.[2]

He claimed to have recruited

US Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006) to challenge their constitutionality. Al-Bahri and Hamdan were the subjects of the documentary, The Oath (2010), by American director Laura Poitras
, which explored their time in al-Qaeda and afterward.

Early life

Al-Bahri was born in 1972 in

Soviet occupation during the 1980s.[2]

In 1993, he joined the mujahideen in the Bosnian War (1992–95), then spent a short time in Somalia[2] where he hoped to join the armed wing of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in their fight to take power. He was unhappy with "their amateurism" and "love of money"[10][non-primary source needed] and left for Afghanistan where he hoped to join al-Qaeda.

He went to Afghanistan in 1996 and entered the "Star of Jihad" complex near

9-11 hijackers while in Afghanistan.[5] He had taken the kunya Abu Jandal (Abu literally translates to "father", and "Jandal" roughly to "killing, stabbing to the ground" thus the kunya roughly translates to "father of killing").[13][14]

After a falling out with other members, largely due to ideological reasons – al-Bahri opposed bin Laden's decision to form a close alliance with the Taliban

Sanaa, Yemen, he was arrested by security forces in February 2001 at the request of the United States.[2][5] Al-Bahri has said he was held without trial for nearly two years, 13 months of which in solitary confinement.[9] He learned about 9/11 in his prison cell in Sanaa.[17][non-primary source needed] Under the direction of a Yemeni judge, Hamoud al-Hitar, al-Bahri agreed to participate in the Yemeni jihadist rehabilitation program, through which captured jihadists took education and challenged their philosophy, while working with students. Al-Bahri was finally released in 2002 after a few months in the program.[5] He said it was not very effective.[9]

Post-release

Following his release, al-Bahri studied business administration[2] and subsequently worked as a taxi driver.[18][non-primary source needed] He then worked as a business consultant.[9]

Marriage and family

Al-Bahri married his Yemeni bride, Tayssir, in 1999 and they have four children. On bin Laden's instruction, al-Bahri and Salim Ahmed Hamdan married sisters.

United States Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006). After appealing his conviction, Hamdan was acquitted in October 2012 by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.[citation needed
]

Other activities

Al-Bahri wrote a memoir with the help of Georges Malbrunot about his experiences, which they published in French as Dans l'ombre de Ben Laden: révélations de son garde du corps repenti ("In the Shadow of Bin Laden: Revelations of His Repentant Bodyguard") (2010). In 2013, an English translation of the book, by Susan de Muth, was published in London under the title Guarding bin Laden: My Life in Al-Qaeda.

Al-Bahri has said he opposes attacks that injure or kill civilians. While talking to the Toronto Star in 2009, he said he had supported al Qaeda's

9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, as a means to make Americans aware of their nation's activities abroad.[2] In April 2010, al-Bahri said that he regretted not having killed bin Laden when he had a chance, as so many civilians died because of the al-Qaeda leader.[20]

He is described as "disengaged" from the war with the West, although he stated admiration for some of al-Qaeda's ideals.[9]

Death

Al-Bahri died of an undisclosed illness in the Yemeni city of Mukalla on 26 December 2015.[21]

In popular culture

Abu Jandal is played by Zaki Youssef [da] in The Looming Tower miniseries.

References

  1. ^ "Читать онлайн "The Black Banners" автора Soufan Ali H. - RuLIT.Net - Страница 134". Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Michelle Shephard (19 September 2009). "Where extremists come to play". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 23 September 2009.
  3. ISBN 9780956247360
  4. ISBN 9780956247360
  5. ^ a b c d e Kevin Peraino (5 June 2009). "The Reeducation of Abu Jandal: Can jihadists really be reformed? Closing Guantanamo may depend on it". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 2 June 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
  6. ISBN 9780956247360
  7. ISBN 9780956247360
  8. ISBN 9780956247360
  9. ^
    Washington Post
    , 6 January 2010, Retrieved 22 January 2013
  10. ISBN 9780956247360
  11. ISBN 9780956247360
  12. ISBN 9780956247360
  13. ^ Al Mutadaber [dead link]
  14. ^ "Excerpt: 'Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al-Qaeda'". MSNBC.
  15. ISBN 9780956247360
  16. ISBN 9780956247360
  17. ISBN 9780956247360
  18. ISBN 9780956247360
  19. ISBN 9780956247360
  20. ^ Campbell, Matthew (18 April 2010). "Bin Laden a secret fan of footie and Monty". The Times. London.
  21. ^ "Bin Laden's former bodyguard Nasser al-Bahri dies". BBC News. 28 December 2015.

Books

External links

  • Washington Post
    , 6 January 2010
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