Wadih el-Hage
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Wadih el-Hage | |
---|---|
Born | restitution. | July 25, 1960
Occupation | Secretary for Osama bin Laden |
Spouse | April el-Hage |
Children | 7 |
Wadih Elias el-Hage (
Struggling financially, he decided to move his family to
El-Hage was indicted
Early life
El-Hage was born in a
During the Soviet–Afghan War el-Hage traveled to Pakistan to work for a Saudi charity, returning to the US in 1985. He married 18 year old April Ray, an American citizen who had recently converted to Islam, gaining American citizenship in 1989.[9]
El-Hage interrupted his schooling to travel to
Over the next few years, the el-Hage family traveled repeatedly to Pakistan, initially taking along his mother-in-law and her husband. In an interview with
Background
At an Islamic conference in Oklahoma in December 1989, el-Hage met Mahmud Abouhalima, who was later convicted for his part in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. El-Hage's prosecutors say that Abouhalima told el-Hage to buy a .38 caliber revolver. El Sayyid Nosair used that revolver to kill Rabbi Meir Kahane.[11]
At some later point, el-Hage moved with his family to
In January 1992, el-Hage was arrested for writing false checks. In the car with him was Marwan Salama, whose phone records show his contact with the conspirators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.[citation needed]
Shortly thereafter, el-Hage moved his family to Sudan and worked as a secretary for Osama bin Laden, who operated a network of businesses and charities, some of them fronts, in East Africa at the time. El-Hage often travelled to Europe in this capacity. Prosecutors believe that el-Hage became a key aide to Bin Laden.
In 1994, his wife April convinced el-Hage to leave Sudan and stop working for Bin Laden's organization there. As his mother in law said, "April would have none of that. She is Muslim, but she is also American, and she wouldn't stand for it." However, prosecutors believe that el-Hage continued to work for bin Laden's organisation in Nairobi, Kenya. In Kenya, he became the director of Help Africa People, a Muslim charity organization, which Kenyan documents say helped control malaria. El-Hage also made money in the jewelry business. Prosecutors say that el-Hage was in contact in Kenya with Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri, who was al-Qaeda's #2 member until his death in 1996. The badly wanted al-Qaeda suspect Fazul Abdullah Mohammed moved in and worked at the house as a secretary. A letter,[12] Mohammed Saddiq Odeh, admitted knowing el-Hage in Nairobi and said that el-Hage attended his wedding.[citation needed]
On August 21, 1997, el-Hage's home in Nairobi was raided by Nairobi Police and FBI agents who had a search warrant. Wadih was away in Afghanistan during the raid and documents and a computer were taken from the home. His wife and mother said that they were told by the authorities that they should go back to the United States. Two days later, el-Hage was questioned upon his return from Afghanistan and told to leave Kenya. In September 1997, he returned to Arlington with his family; several accounts say that he sold all of his possessions to fund the trip.[13][14]
Arrest & trial
A year after el-Hage returned to America with his family, the U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya were attacked with truck bombs on August 7, 1998. Two weeks after the attacks, the FBI interviewed el-Hage and questioned him about his connection to Osama bin Laden. During this interview, el-Hage denied knowing Mohammed Odeh and claimed he didnt recognize a picture of him. He also testified before a grand jury investigating the embassy attacks where he claimed to have never known al-Banshiri, Odeh or other associates of bin-Laden. Soon after, he was arrested on charges of perjury and conspiracy to kill American nationals. After a six month trial, el-Hage was convicted of conspiracies to kill U.S. nationals; to murder U.S. government employees and internationally protected persons; and to destroy buildings and property of the United States as well as multiple counts of perjury. On October 18, 2001 he was sentenced to life in prison.[13][15]
In 2008, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed his sentence, citing a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down the mandatory application of federal sentencing guidelines used in his case. His resentencing was scheduled for 2009, but his defense asked that the date be pushed back. In April 2013, he was sentenced to life in prison and additionally ordered to pay $33.8 million in restitution.
References
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-04-14. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Atkins, Stephen E. (2008). 9/11 Encyclopedia. p. 148.
- Monterey Institute of International Studies
- ^ Four embassy bombers get life Archived 2006-08-14 at the Wayback Machine, CNN.com, By Phil Hirschkorn, October 21, 2001 Posted: 10:58 AM EDT (1458 GMT)
- ^ "Convictions upheld in U.S. embassy bombings in Africa". Reuters. 2008-11-24. Archived from the original on 2019-01-10. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
- ^ Buettner, Russ (24 April 2013). "Resentenced to Life in Prison, Terrorist Plans to Appeal". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2017-02-15. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
- ^ Wadih El Hage Archived 2007-03-08 at the Wayback Machine at GlobalSecurity.org
- ^ "Interviews - Mother-In-Law Of Wadih El Hage - Hunting for bin Laden". FRONTLINE.
- ^ "A Portrait of Wadih el-Hage, Accused Terrorist". Frontline.
- ^ O. Zill, ‘A Portrait of Wadih El Hage, Accused Terrorist’, PBS, 12 September 2001.[1] Archived 2017-09-15 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Cases > El Hage et al. [2] Archived 2016-04-27 at the Wayback Machine
- PBS, 2001
- ^ a b "Two Terrorists - A Portrait Of Wadih El Hage, Accused Terrorist - Hunting for bin Laden". FRONTLINE. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
- ^ Benjamin, Daniel & Steven Simon. The Age of Sacred Terror, 2002
- ^ "Southern District of New York | Wadih El Hage Resentenced To Life In Prison For His Role In The 1998 Bombings Of The American Embassies In Kenya And Tanzania | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. 2015-05-13. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
- ^ "Ex-bin Laden secretary gets life for 1998 embassy bombings role". Reuters. 2013-04-24. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
- ^ "Wadih el-Hage Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on January 5, 2010.