Mohammed Loay Bayazid | |
|---|---|
| Other names | kunya: Abu Rida al-Suri[1] Nidal[2] |
Born in Syria, Mohammed Loay Bayazid is an American citizen[3] alleged to have been a founding member of al-Qaeda, although he has cooperated with American authorities and claims his role in the group has been over-stated.
He was alleged to have been sympathetic to Shias, and tried to foster better relationships between a variety of Sunni extremist groups with Imad Mughniyah of Hezbollah.[2]
I went to Afghanistan with a blank mind and a good heart...everything was totally strange. It was like I was born just now, like I was an infant, and I have to learn everything new. It was not so easy after that to leave and go back to your regular life.
— Bayazid, in 2003[4]
Bayazid moved to the United States with his parents, as a teenager, and began studying engineering at University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1982, but he later moved to Tucson, and studied at the University of Arizona.[5] He is believed to speak Persian, Chinese, Arabic and English fluently.[2]
In 1985, he decided to join the mujahideen repelling the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.[6][7]
Two years later, bin Laden wrote him a letter explaining that Abu Abdel Lateef may come spend the night with him prior to his flight to Yemen, and asked him to visit the Yemeni embassy to check whether a Saudi would need a visa to fly to Yemen; he also asked that Bayazid try to bring 500,000 Rupees when they next met.[8]
In 1988, he allegedly took notes during one of the formative meetings detailing the creation of al-Qaeda. Noted for his penchant for "always teasing bin Laden", Bayazid jokingly asked whether he had thought of the logistics of transporting mujahideen to the fight, asking "How...Air France?".[9]
He ran Al-Ikhlas International, an import/export company producing honey and other consumables believed to have been owned by bin Laden.[2]
Bin Laden sent a letter to Bayazid informing him that Mohammed Atef and Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri were to each be given 6,500 Saudi riyals monthly, the same as they would have been given for their work in Maktab al-Khidamat.[10] Bayazid is believed to have recruited his friend Mubarak al-Duri into working for bin Laden's companies.[2]
The FBI claims that Bayazid was part of a team sent to try to obtain weapons-grade uranium; Bayazid reportedly telling a colleague about how he and another man had "tried to purchase uranium and were hustled out of $100,000"[2]
He allegedly held a bank account with Bank Shaml, and supplied weapons to Defaa al Shabi. Other allegations suggest he travelled to China, Japan or Hong Kong with Abu Hajer al-Iraqi in 1990 to facilitate the purchase of communications equipment for the Sudanese government.[2]
By 1994, Bayazid had returned to the United States, obtaining his Illinois driver’s license and joining Benevolence International Foundation.[6] On December 16, 1994, Mohammed Jamal Khalifa travelled to the United States to meet with Bayazid, who was then helping to lead BIF - both were arrested, although Bayazid was released almost immediately.[6]
Bayazid consented to be interviewed by the FBI in 1998, and again with agent Jack Cloonan following 9/11. He consistently denied that he had been present at the founding meeting of al-Qaeda, and insisted he had broken with the group.[6]
In 2002, the CIA sent Rolf Mowatt-Larssen to again interview al-Duri and Bayazid, to see if they could be made to defect and aid the United States in its War on Terror, but both refused to collaborate.[11]
In 2003, he met with author Lawrence Wright to provide information for his book The Looming Tower.[6] That year, American courts ruled that the government had been remiss in not providing exculpatory evidence casting doubt on their claims of Bayazid's importance within al-Qaeda.[12]