Khalid Abu al-Dahab & Ali Mohamed
Santa Clara, CA

Al Qaeda; Egyptian Islamic Jihad

Khalid Abu al-Dahab was an Islamic Jihad operative who lived the San Francisco Bay area (Santa Clara) for twelve years. Al-Dahab fought in both the Balkans and Afghanistan.[1] He was a close associate of Ali Mohamed, another Islamic Jihad operative who was also tied to al Qaeda. Mohamed trained Osama bin Laden's bodyguards and pleaded guilty in 2000 to conspiracy charges for helping Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri plot the 1998 U.S. Embassy Bombings.[2] Al-Dahab together with Ali Mohamed recruited American al Qaeda members, and helped bring al Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, to California in 1995 to raise approximately $500,000. Al-Dahab was arrested in Egypt in 1998 and sentenced to 15 years in prison.[3] In April 2017, al-Dahab's naturalized U.S. citizenship was revoked.

[1] David Kaplan, "Hundreds of Americans Have Followed the Path to Jihad," U.S. News and World Report , June 2, 2002, http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/020610/archive_021602_print.htm

[2] Lance Williams and Erin McCormick, "Al Qaeda Terrorist Worked with FBI: Ex-Silicon Valley Resident Plotted Embassy Atatcks," San Francisco Chronicle, November 4, 2001, http://articles.sfgate.com/2001-11-04/news/17626211_1_fbi-informant-bin-laden-s-bodyguards-ali-mohamed

[3] Lance Williams, "Bin Laden's Bay Area Recruiter: Khalid Abu-al-Dahab Signed Up American Muslims to be Terrorists," San Francisco Chronicle, http://articles.sfgate.com/2001-11-21/news/17628171_1_laden-bin-terrorism-charges