Wadih El Hage
Arlington, TX
Al Qaeda
In May 2001, Wadih El Hage was convicted of conspiracy to bomb U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998.[1] A naturalized U.S. citizen born in Lebanon, El Hage came to the U.S. in 1978 to study urban planning at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (USL).[2] He has been associated with Sheikh Abdullah Azzam and his Alkhifa Center (Offices of Services for the Mujahideen) that helped raise funds for the Afghan mujahideen fighting the Soviets.
Azzam established the Alkhifa Center in the early 1980s in Peshawar, Pakistan. Subsequently, Azzam opened branches of the Alkhifa Center around the world including in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Brooklyn, Jersey City, Pittsburgh, and Tucson.[3] El Hage moved to Tucson in 1987, where he became an active member of the Alkhifa office at the Islamic Center[4].
El Hage has also been associated with the murder of Dr. Rashad Khalifa, an imam in Tucson, Arizona, who preached an unorthodox version of the Islamic doctrine. Several members of a radical Muslim fundamentalist group, the Al-Fuqra organization, were convicted for conspiring to commit the murder. Prosecutors have alleged that El Hage knew who committed the murder and was probably also involved in the murder.[5] El Hage moved to Arlington, Texas from Tucson in 1991, where he stayed very active with the Alkhifa Center. Phone records show a series of phone calls between Alkhifa and El Hage's residence in Arlington, Texas.[6]
[1] Oriana Zill, "A Portrait of Wadih El Hage, Accused Terrorist," PBS Frontline, September 12, 2001, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/upclose/elhage.html
[2] Ibid.
[3] Steve Emerson, American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us (2002 Simon & Schuster), pp. 130-131.
[4] Ibid., p. 135.
[5] Oriana Zill, "A Portrait of Wadih El Hage, Accused Terrorist," PBS Frontline, September 12, 2001, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/upclose/elhage.html
[6]Steve Emerson, American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us (2002 Simon & Schuster, pp. 136-137.
