Abdul Rahman Yasin | |
|---|---|
| Native name | عبد الرحمن يس |
| Nicknames |
|
| Born | (1960-04-10)April 10, 1960 (age 65) Bloomington, Indiana, U.S. |
Abdul Rahman Yasin (Arabic:عبد الرحمن يس; born April 10, 1960) is an Iraqi-American terrorist andfugitive who took part in the1993 World Trade Center bombing. Yasin is presumed to have helped assemble the bombs and explosives. He has been characterized in the American media as "the only participant in the first attempt to blow up theWorld Trade Center in 1993 who was never caught."[1] Yasin's whereabouts remain unknown.
Yasin was born inBloomington, Indiana on April 10, 1960,[2] where his father, originally fromIraq, went to study for aPhD. Shortly after his birth, Yasin's family moved back to Iraq.[3] Yasin'sFBI report states that he isepileptic.[4]
In 1992, Yasin was able to use his American birth citizenship to obtain aU.S. passport and enter the United States.[3]
Recruited byRamzi Yousef, he had acid burns on his legs from bomb chemicals.[3]
During investigation of February 26, 1993 attack, Yasin was picked up by the FBI on March 4, 1993, the same day as the arrest ofMohammed A. Salameh, in a sweep of sites associated with Salameh. Yasin was found in the apartment inJersey City, New Jersey, that he was sharing with his mother. Yasin was taken toNew Jersey FBI headquarters inNewark, where he was reportedly very cooperative. Agents had Yasin retrace where and how the WTC bomb had been built inNew York and New Jersey. Yasin said he was released after giving agents names and addresses, and went to Iraq.[1]
In March 1993, Yasin boardedRoyal Jordanian flight 262 toAmman, Jordan. From Amman, Yasin went on toBaghdad.[5] In 1994, the Iraqi authorities arrested and imprisoned Yasin, and sent an emissary to theState Department to inform them that they had crucial information about a perpetrator of the World Trade Center attack and were prepared to cooperate. The State Department did not respond to the offer.[3] In November 1997, two others were convicted in a court for their contributions to the bombing, but only "one other man believed to be directly involved in the attack, Iraqi Abdul Rahman Yasin, remained at large."[6]
On October 10, 2001, Yasin's name appeared at the top of the list of theFBI's 22Most Wanted Terrorists, which was released to the public by PresidentGeorge W. Bush with a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.[7]
In 2002, following theSeptember 11th attacks, Iraq attempted to hand Yasin over to the US government and began negotiating extradition protocols with the Americans viaEgypt. However, negotiations hit a snag when U.S. intelligence refused to provide Iraq with a receipt citing unfair demands, an official statement acknowledging Yasin had been handed over.[3]
On May 23, 2002, the Iraqis gaveLesley Stahl ofCBS News access to an Iraqi prison to interview Yasin for a segment on60 Minutes where Yasin appeared in prison pajamas and handcuffs. The Iraqis stated they had held Yasin prisoner on the outskirts of Baghdad since 1994.[3] Yasin has not been seen or heard from since the 2002 prison interview.
After the2003 invasion of Iraq, large numbers of Iraqi government documents were retrieved by U.S. intelligence. An anonymous U.S. intelligence official claimed toUSA Today that "some of the analysts concluded that the documents show that Saddam's government provided monthly payments and a home for Yasin." However, intelligence and law enforcement officials disagreed on its conclusiveness.[8]
Although a directal-Qaeda role in the 1993 WTC attack was never established, Abdul Rahman Yasin was listed on 17 October 2001 as being associated with the organization known as al-Qaeda, the individual namedOsama bin Laden and the organization known as theTaliban, for his participation:
"in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf, or in support of", "supplying, selling or transferring arms and related materiel to" or "otherwise supporting acts or activities of" al-Qaeda (QDe.004), Osama bin Laden, and the Taliban.[9]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
