Abu Zubaydah
Best known as Abu Zubaydah and the first of the High Value Detainees captured by the United States, he was taken into custody in Faisalabad, Pakistan on 28 March 2002.[1]
Of Palestinian nationality but raised in Saudi Arabia, his true name is believed to be Zayn al-'Abidin Abu Zubadayah. He is also known as Hani and Tariq. The U.S. described him as a travel facilitator for al-Qaeda.[2]
Operations
According to his Director of National Intelligenc (DNI) biography, he began at a low level with al-Qaida, as a recruiter for Arabs in Pakistan, and sending them to training in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Chechniya. Subsequently, he became a smuggler, explosives instructor, and forger, eventually becoming director of the Khaldan, Afghanistan facility by 2000. He also channeled funds from donors in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates to al-Qaeda.
Abu Zubaydah assisted in supporting the U.S. and Jordanian Millenium Plots. In 2001, he arranged the travel of Abu Musab al-Zarqawai, leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, into Iran. He was captured while arranging an attack in Israel.
Captivity
He was the subject of the first detailed Office of Legal Counsel opinion authorizing enhanced interrogation techniques. [3]
References
- ↑ ICRC Report on the Treatment of 14 "High Value Detainees" in CIA Custody, International Committee of the Red Cross, February 14, 2007
- ↑ High Value Detainee Biographies, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
- ↑ Steven Bradbury, Office of the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice (May 10, 2005), Memorandum for John A. Rizzo, Senior Deputy General Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency, Re: Application of 18 USC 2340-2340A to Certain Techniques That May Be Used in the Interrogation of a a High Value al Qaeda Detainee