Click to play videoIn the first story on Osama's spy in the US, CNN-IBN and National Geographic showed how Ali Mohamed infiltrated three sensitive US agencies on the instructions of Ayman-al-Zawahari, al-Qaeda's second-in-command.
The second part of the special report is an exclusive insight on how Ali Mohamed played a key role in setting up al-Qaeda's international network.
New Jersey, 1989: Ali Mohamed was Osama's spy in the US Army penetrating even the CIA and the FBI by the late 80's. Guided by al-Qaeda's No 2 Ayman-al-Zawahiri, Ali's task was to recruit and train radical Muslims and set up terror cells in the US. Radical Islam was targeting the Soviets in Afghanistan at the time, so Ali's extremist ideas were ignored.
"When people hear about fundamentalists, they think about an armed struggle or they think about radicals. Actually, when you look at our religion, we do not have any moderation. There is just one line. You accept that one line or not. I have the obligation to establish Islamic law as a Muslim. It's an obligation, not a choice," says Ali.
One of Ali's first trainees was Sayyid Nosair. At his house, Ali translated US army training manuals, which were distributed to al-Qaeda terrorists worldwide.
And in a basement of the al-Salaam mosque in New Jersey, Ali gave lessons on bomb-making as early as 1990.
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Says terrorism analyst, Rohan Gunaratna, "Ali Mohamed created the body of knowledge that would help al-Qaeda's transformation from a guerrilla force into an urban terrorist organisation."
Afghanistan, 1992: In 1992, Ali Mohamed was in Afghanistan again, now as an instructor at an al-Qaeda camp. Osama bin Laden himself attended Ali's classes. Ali in fact gave the al-Qaeda leader a "Grade C". Almost a decade before 9/11, Ali Mohamed was teaching al-Qaeda how to hijack a plane.
FBI Special Agent Jack Cloonan says, "Show me another person who trained Osama bin Laden, slept in Osama bin Laden's office and performed a surveillance operation not only in the United States, but also French, British, Israeli targets?"
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Khartoum, Sudan 1993-94: Osama bin Laden also got Ali Mohamed to train his personal bodyguards. By 1994, Ali was a trusted advisor and master spy for Osama. Inspite of all the evidence against Ali, US intelligence agencies failed to recognise his intentions and the threat he posed.
"This is the most dangerous man I have ever met. When you started to look back historically at what the FBI had amassed on Ali Mohamed, the sentences start to add up, you start hearing that old theory, connect the dots. Something starts to add up and you say 'Why haven't we looked at this guy sooner?'" says Jack Cloonan.
Ali Mohamed was finally identified as the brain behind the 1995 bombing of the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad. He was arrested in 1998, but by then a worldwide network of al-Qaeda had already been established.
To get more insights into terrorism tune in to Nat Geo Investigates Terrorism from Sept 11 to 22 on weeknights @ 10 pm. You can also log on to www.nationalgeographic.co.in/explore/terrorism for the full schedule of Nat Geo Investigates Terrorism.
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