Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi
Encyclopedia
Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi (December 25, 1977 – December 30, 2009) according to Western intelligence officials, was a Jordan
ian doctor and a double agent suicide bomber loyal to Islamist extremists who carried out Camp Chapman attack
, a suicide attack
against a CIA base near Khost
city in Afghanistan
on December 30, 2009.
Abu Dujana al-Khurasani, or Dujjanah al Kharassani. Hajj Yacoub, a self-proclaimed spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, identified him as Hamman Khalil Mohammed.
on December 25, 1977.Al-Balawi came from a nomad
ic Bedouin
clan from Tabuk, in western Saudi Arabia
. He grew up in a middle-class family of nine other children, including an identical twin brother, and lived in Kuwait until Iraq's 1990 invasion
of the country, when the family moved to Jordan
. He graduated with honors from an Amman
high school.
Al-Balawi studied medicine for six years in Turkey at Istanbul University
and graduated in 2002. He also received medical training at the University of Jordan
Hospital and at the Islamic hospital, run by Jordan’s Islamic Brotherhood, in Amman. He was married to Dafinah Bairak (Defne Bayrak), a Turkish journalist and translator, with whom he had 2 children. They lived in the lower-income Amman suburb of Jabal Nuzhah.
Al-Balawi had a history of supporting violent islamist
causes. He was tagged by National Intelligence Organization of Turkey (Millî İstihbarat Teşkilâtı) as having a relation with IBDA-C It is not said whether Millî İstihbarat Teşkilâtı shared this information with other intelligence organizations. According to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist websites, he was a well-known contributor to al-Hesbah
, an online forum run by Islamist extremists. He also ran his own islamist blog.
Al-Balawi was arrested by the Jordanian security service more than a year before the Camp Chapman attack and was believed to have been transformed into a double agent
loyal to the U.S. and to Jordan.According to Western government officials, al-Balawi had been recruited by Jordan's General Intelligence Directorate
and taken to Afghanistan. The Jordanian intelligence service is one of the CIA's closest allies in the Middle East.
According to intelligence officials, al-Balawi has been invited to FOB Chapman after claiming to have information related to senior al-Qaeda
leader Ayman al-Zawahiri
. He was not closely searched because of his perceived value as someone who could infiltrate the ranks of senior al-Qaeda leaders. The CIA had come to trust the informant, and the Jordanian spy agency vouched for him, according to officials.
According to a Jordanian report, Al-Balawi was an "informant, who offered dangerous and important information which the authorities said they had to take seriously", but not recruited by the CIA or Jordanian intelligence. He was "only a trusted source who went onto the base without inspection" the official said.
.
In his last statement issued by the Al Qaeda's media wing As-Sahab
he revealed that Jordanian intelligence was co-operating to kill or capture senior Al-Qaeda and other militant group leaders with the CIA. He further revealed that Jordanian Intelligence Directorate helped CIA to kill Imad Mughniyah, a senior Hizbullah militant killed in Lebanon
, Abdullah Azzam, senior Afghan jihad leader, and also helped CIA to kill most sought after Abu Musab Zarqawi who was the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq.
Her main point during interviews was that al-Balawi never really worked for CIA or Jordanian intelligence, wasn't their agent, and only used them by pretending to work for them. In the interviews al-Balawi comes out as someone who was obsessed about Jihad and felt guilty for not doing anything despite constantly writing on the subject. He was very affected by the occupation of "Islamic lands" by United States. She said that he had wanted to go to the conflict areas before but was unable because Jordanian intelligence strictly controls access of suspicious people to these areas. According to her he wasn't tortured during the 3 day arrest and was given a Quran to read but was prohibited from reading it out loud. She says it is probable that it was during interrogation that he convinced the intelligence agencies and gained easy exit to Pakistan. She denies knowing anything about his connection to intelligence services but admits concealing from his parents that he was in Pakistan and not in Turkey. She also expressed great pride in her husband's martyrdom.
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
ian doctor and a double agent suicide bomber loyal to Islamist extremists who carried out Camp Chapman attack
Camp Chapman attack
The Camp Chapman attack was a suicide attack against Forward Operating Base Chapman, a key facility of the Central Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan, on December 30, 2009. The base is located near the eastern Afghan city of Khost, in a stronghold of the Taliban movement...
, a suicide attack
Suicide attack
A suicide attack is a type of attack in which the attacker expects or intends to die in the process.- Historical :...
against a CIA base near Khost
Khost
Khost or Khowst is a city in eastern Afghanistan. It is the capital of Khost province, which is a mountainous region near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan...
city in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
on December 30, 2009.
Aliases
An Afghan security official gave Al-Balawi name as Hamman Khalil Abu Mallal al-Balawi. The Arab newspaper The National referred to him as Homam Khaleel Mohammad Abu Mallal. He also used the aliasPseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Abu Dujana al-Khurasani, or Dujjanah al Kharassani. Hajj Yacoub, a self-proclaimed spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, identified him as Hamman Khalil Mohammed.
Biography
According to information received by the Arab newspaper The National, Al-Balawi was born in KuwaitKuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
on December 25, 1977.Al-Balawi came from a nomad
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
ic Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
clan from Tabuk, in western Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
. He grew up in a middle-class family of nine other children, including an identical twin brother, and lived in Kuwait until Iraq's 1990 invasion
Invasion of Kuwait
The Invasion of Kuwait, also known as the Iraq-Kuwait War, was a major conflict between the Republic of Iraq and the State of Kuwait, which resulted in the seven-month long Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, which subsequently led to direct military intervention by United States-led forces in the Gulf...
of the country, when the family moved to Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
. He graduated with honors from an Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
high school.
Al-Balawi studied medicine for six years in Turkey at Istanbul University
Istanbul University
Istanbul University is a Turkish university located in Istanbul. The main campus is adjacent to Beyazıt Square.- Synopsis :A madrasa, a religious school, was established sometime in the 15th century after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople. An institution of higher education named the...
and graduated in 2002. He also received medical training at the University of Jordan
University of Jordan
The University of Jordan , is a government-supported University located in Amman, Jordan...
Hospital and at the Islamic hospital, run by Jordan’s Islamic Brotherhood, in Amman. He was married to Dafinah Bairak (Defne Bayrak), a Turkish journalist and translator, with whom he had 2 children. They lived in the lower-income Amman suburb of Jabal Nuzhah.
Al-Balawi had a history of supporting violent islamist
Islamic extremism
Islamic extremism refers to two related and partially overlapping but also distinct aspects of extremist interpretations and pursuits of Islamic ideology:...
causes. He was tagged by National Intelligence Organization of Turkey (Millî İstihbarat Teşkilâtı) as having a relation with IBDA-C It is not said whether Millî İstihbarat Teşkilâtı shared this information with other intelligence organizations. According to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist websites, he was a well-known contributor to al-Hesbah
Al-Hesbah
Al-Hesbah is an Arabic message board and has been called "one of the most widely used jihadist Internet forums". On October 17, 2008, it was reported that four of Al Qaeda's five main websites were dismantled, and that Al Hesbah had become the only major Al Qaeda-linked website still in existence...
, an online forum run by Islamist extremists. He also ran his own islamist blog.
Al-Balawi was arrested by the Jordanian security service more than a year before the Camp Chapman attack and was believed to have been transformed into a double agent
Double agent
A double agent, commonly abbreviated referral of double secret agent, is a counterintelligence term used to designate an employee of a secret service or organization, whose primary aim is to spy on the target organization, but who in fact is a member of that same target organization oneself. They...
loyal to the U.S. and to Jordan.According to Western government officials, al-Balawi had been recruited by Jordan's General Intelligence Directorate
Dairat al-Mukhabarat al-Ammah
Dairat al-Mukhabarat al-Ammah is the intelligence agency of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and a branch of the Jordanian Armed Forces...
and taken to Afghanistan. The Jordanian intelligence service is one of the CIA's closest allies in the Middle East.
According to intelligence officials, al-Balawi has been invited to FOB Chapman after claiming to have information related to senior al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
leader Ayman al-Zawahiri
Ayman al-Zawahiri
Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri is an Egyptian physician, Islamic theologian and current leader of al-Qaeda. He was previously the second and last "emir" of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, having succeeded Abbud al-Zumar in the latter role when Egyptian authorities sentenced al-Zumar to life...
. He was not closely searched because of his perceived value as someone who could infiltrate the ranks of senior al-Qaeda leaders. The CIA had come to trust the informant, and the Jordanian spy agency vouched for him, according to officials.
According to a Jordanian report, Al-Balawi was an "informant, who offered dangerous and important information which the authorities said they had to take seriously", but not recruited by the CIA or Jordanian intelligence. He was "only a trusted source who went onto the base without inspection" the official said.
Last Statement
Al-Balawi appeared in a video after his death and was shown saying that the attack was carried out in revenge for the 2009 killing of the Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah MehsudBaitullah Mehsud
Baitullah Mehsud was a leading militant in Waziristan, Pakistan, and the leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan . He formed the TTP from an alliance of about five militant groups in December 2007. He is thought by U.S...
.
In his last statement issued by the Al Qaeda's media wing As-Sahab
As-Sahab
The As-Sahab Foundation for Islamic Media Publication , is the media production house of al-Qaeda, used to relay the organization's views to the world...
he revealed that Jordanian intelligence was co-operating to kill or capture senior Al-Qaeda and other militant group leaders with the CIA. He further revealed that Jordanian Intelligence Directorate helped CIA to kill Imad Mughniyah, a senior Hizbullah militant killed in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, Abdullah Azzam, senior Afghan jihad leader, and also helped CIA to kill most sought after Abu Musab Zarqawi who was the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq.
Interrogation of Al-Balawi's wife
After Al-Balawi's death his wife Defne Bayrak was interrogated for almost 5 hours by Istanbul Security Directorate (Turkish police). According to the leaked information the first question asked during the interrogation was how they met each other to which she replied that they met in a chat room on a website that she accessed to learn Arabic. It is also said that CIA officials brought a file, containing information on al-Balawi and questions to ask during interrogation, and gave it to Istanbul Anti-Terror Branch Directorate. Istanbul Security Directorate denies any CIA involvement Later she gave extensive interviews to Newsweek Turkey and CNN She also complained to The Association of Human Rights and Solidarity of Oppressed People in Turkey about being constantly bothered by reporters.Her main point during interviews was that al-Balawi never really worked for CIA or Jordanian intelligence, wasn't their agent, and only used them by pretending to work for them. In the interviews al-Balawi comes out as someone who was obsessed about Jihad and felt guilty for not doing anything despite constantly writing on the subject. He was very affected by the occupation of "Islamic lands" by United States. She said that he had wanted to go to the conflict areas before but was unable because Jordanian intelligence strictly controls access of suspicious people to these areas. According to her he wasn't tortured during the 3 day arrest and was given a Quran to read but was prohibited from reading it out loud. She says it is probable that it was during interrogation that he convinced the intelligence agencies and gained easy exit to Pakistan. She denies knowing anything about his connection to intelligence services but admits concealing from his parents that he was in Pakistan and not in Turkey. She also expressed great pride in her husband's martyrdom.
External links
- Video Statement – Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi's posthumous video statement