Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso (12 November 1974 – 6 May 2012), also known as Abu Huthaifah, Abu Huthaifah Al-Yemeni, Abu Al-Bara', Abu Hathayfah Al-Adani, Abu Huthaifah Al-Adani, Fahd Mohammed Ahmed Al-Awlaqi, Huthaifah Al-Yemeni, or Abu Huthaifah Al-Abu Al-Bara,"Most Wanted Terrorist: Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso"
(2011). Federal Bureau of Investigation, Retrieved 25 February 2011. was alleged to be a terrorist by American and Yemeni officials, and on the

FBI Most Wanted Terrorists The FBI Most Wanted Terrorists is a list created and first released on October 10, 2001, with the authority of United States President George W. Bush, following the September 11 attacks on the United States. Initially, the list contained 22 of t ...

list. He was wanted by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

, and the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

, which had offered 5 million dollars (approximately 1 billion Yemeni Rials) to anyone with information about him. He was killed by a US drone strike in

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

on 6 May 2012.

Militant activity

During the 1990s, al-Quso trained in Al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan. In January 2000 al-Quso planned to meet co-conspirators of the USS ''Cole'' bombing in Singapore but he failed to get the proper travel visa and went to Bangkok, Thailand, to meet instead."The 9/11 Commission Report" (2004

The national Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon The United States, Retrieved 7 March 2011. In Bangkok he met with Walid bin Attash, Tawfiq bin Attash (a.k.a. Kallad Bin Attash), and he also met with 11 September hijackers of

American Airlines Flight 77 American Airlines Flight 77 was a scheduled American Airlines domestic transcontinental passenger flight from Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California. The Boe ...

, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khaled al-Mihdhar in Malaysia.Josclyn, Thomas and Roggio, Bill. "Al Qaeda leader Linked to Iran may have been killed in recent predator strike" 9 October, (2010) The Long War Journal

Retrieved 7 March 2011. Tawfiq bin Attash was known as Osama bin Laden's "run boy" although he had a peg leg, he acted as an intermediary for bin Laden. Al-Quso confessed to acting as a bag-man and reported giving Attash $36,000 for a "new prosthetic leg" although it was probably used instead to pay al-Mihdhar's and al-Hazmi's travel expenses to the US.Wright, Lawrence. "The Agent," 10 July, (2006) ''The New Yorker'

Retrieved 7 March 2011. However, according to the "run boy" Attash, that amount was much less, about $10,000 - $12,000. Osama bin Laden funded the USS ''Cole'' attack and Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri was the mastermind and "field commander." Jamal al-Badawi and Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso acted as "local al Qa'ida coordinators" who purchased equipment, including the boat to be used in the attack, obtaining funding and "operational direction" from Attash. The bombing of the USS ''Cole'' was in fact al-Nashiri's second attempt at launching a terrorist attack on a US vessel and he did so without approval from Osama bin Laden. The first attempt, in the port of Aden, Yemen, failed after the boat purchased by al-Badawi and al-Quso sunk before it could be detonated. The attack boat was driving towards the USS ''Sullivans'' in January 2000 but it sank before it could reach its target, so the attackers salvaged the boat and the explosives, and repaired it for a second try. Following the botched attack, Osama bin Laden summoned al-Nashiri to a meeting in Afghanistan to discuss the failed operation, prompting al-Nashiri to order suicide bombers Hassan al-Khamri and Ibrahim al Thawar (a.k.a. Nibras) to attack the next "US warship" in the port before he left to meet bin Laden. The second attack did reach its target the USS ''Cole'', on 12 October 2000, killing 17 people and wounding 40 others. However, the terrorist attack on the USS ''Cole'' failed to produce valuable propaganda footage for al Qa'ida since there was no one there to film it happening. Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso was ordered to film the attack from a nearby apartment for this very purpose but he over slept and did not wake up to film the attack. Al-Quso was wanted for his participation in the terrorist bombing of the USS ''Cole'' and other terror related activities, including partially funding the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center buildings in New York City. Al-Quso was indicted by the Southern District Court of New York on 15 May 2003, for his role in the terrorist bombing of the USS ''Cole'' in Aden, Yemen, that resulted in the deaths of 17 people and wounded 40 others. Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso has been indicted by a federal grand jury and subsequently charged with 50 counts of terrorism offenses, including: "the murder of U.S. nationals and military personnel; murdering and conspiracy to kill United States nationals; conspiracy to murder United States Military personnel; murder and attempted murder of United States military personnel aboard the USS ''Cole''; conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against nationals of the United States; use and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction against nationals of the United States aboard the USS ''Cole''; conspiracy to destroy buildings and property of the United States; damaging and destroying the USS ''Cole''; conspiracy to attack National Defense Utilities; using and carrying an explosive as well as a dangerous device during the attack on the USS Cole; conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization; and providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization." The Yemeni government arrested al-Quso within the first weeks of the attack on the USS ''Cole'', but refused to allow the FBI to interrogate him. When FBI interrogators asked to speak with al-Quso about the Cole attack, Yemeni authorities stated that al-Quso had "sworn on the Koran that he was innocent of any crime" which apparently proved to Yemeni officials that he was innocent. It took FBI officials months of persistent requests before they were allowed to interrogate al-Quso, at which point he identified 11 September hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khaled al-Mihdhar in photographs taken in Malaysia. Then in April 2003 al-Quso along with 10 other suspects in the USS ''Cole'' bombing mysteriously escaped prison and was later recaptured in 2004. A Yemeni judge finally sentenced al-Quso to ten years in prison in 2004 for his participation in the USS Cole attack. However he was secretly released by government officials in 2007. Al-Quso is reported to have appeared in a video released by AQAP "threatening to strike the U.S. homeland embassies and warships." A picture of al-Quso surfaced with a Yemeni journalist Arafat Mudabish, who interviewed him for a story. Mudabish reports that "he lives in an isolated mountain area where there is no Yemeni government presence." He was also linked with the Northwest Airlines Flight 253, 2009 Christmas bombing over Detroit, as suspected bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab visited him to discuss the plot and the workings of the bomb. Al-Quso was from the same tribe as radical U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who had an operational role in the attack. On 7 December 2010 the United States Department of State designated al-Quso as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224 which "blocks all al-Quso's property interests subject to U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in transactions for the benefit of al-Quso." "He was also placed on the United Nations (UN) 1267 list of persons associated with al Qa'ida and the Taliban requiring all UN member states to implement an assets freeze, a travel ban, and an arms embargo against this individual."

Death

Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso was killed by a

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

drone's missile in Yemen on 6 May 2012, as he exited a vehicle alongside another operative. U.S. officials confirmed his death, along with confirmation from an official statement by AQAP.

References

External links

Probe of USS ''Cole'' Bombing Unravels
''The Washington Post'' 4 May 2008

FBI Most Wanted Terrorists {{DEFAULTSORT:Quso, Fahd 1974 births 2012 deaths People from Aden Yemeni al-Qaeda members Yemeni escapees FBI Most Wanted Terrorists Anwar al-Awlaki Escapees from Yemeni detention People imprisoned on charges of terrorism Individuals designated as terrorists by the United States government Assassinated al-Qaeda leaders Deaths by drone strikes of the Central Intelligence Agency in Yemen Millennium attack plots

Militant activity

Death

See also

References

External links