Terrorist with Bin Laden Connections Arrested in Colombia
Mohamed Abed Abdel Aal, a leader of the largest Egyptian militant
group, which is part of an umbrella group of Islamic militant
organizations founded by Osama Bin Laden, was arrested in Bogota
on Monday, October 19, two days after arriving in the city on a
bus from Quito. On Wednesday, Colombia deported Abdel Aal to
Ecuador after Colombian authorities claimed that Egyptian
authorities had failed to file the proper paperwork to allow
extradition back to Egypt. However, when Abdel Aal arrived in
Quito he was met by neither Ecuadorian nor Egyptian authorities,
but was driven away from the Mariscal Airport in an unidentified
car. The Ecuadorean police would not confirm Abdel Aal's
presence in the country when questioned by Agence France Presse.
Abdel Aal, is a senior member of Egypt's largest Islamic militant
group, Jamaa Islamiyya, and is wanted by Egyptian authorities for
his involvement in the terrorist attack in Luxor, Egypt in 1997.
He was arrested on October 19 at a hotel in Bogota. The head of
Colombia's intelligence police, Colonel German Jaramillo
Piedrahita, labeled Abdel Aal a "very dangerous terrorist"
holding an "important post" in an Islamic militant group. In a
radio report with Colombia's "Radio Caracol" on October 21,
Jaramillo explained the exact circumstances surrounding the
militant's arrest and subsequent deportation. Jaramillo said
that Abdel Aal had been in Italy under "surveillance" prior to
his arrest in Colombia. Abdel Aal then boarded a plane in
Amsterdam bound for Ecuador because the Colombian consulate in
Italy denied him a visa to travel directly to Bogota. Abdel Aal
then took a Bolivarian Express bus to Bogota, arriving at his
hotel on October 17.
However, despite an apparently detailed background on the
Egyptian militant, he was not arrested for two days. Then,
rather than being extradited to Egypt, he was deported to Ecuador
in accordance with a Colombian law that states that in lieu of
the proper extradition papers being filed, the individual must be
returned to the country of origin. Jaramillo said that Colombia
could not Abdel Aal because he had not broken any Colombian laws
and Egypt had not filed the proper papers for his extradition
within the required 48 hours.
If this were not already a strange turn of events, Agence France
Presse reported that when Abdel Aal arrived in Quito, he was
escorted to an unmarked car by three unidentified men and was
driven to an unknown location. No Egyptian embassy police nor
Ecuadorian police were in sight at the airport and Ecuadorian
police reportedly would not confirm Abdel Aal's presence in the
country.
Jamma Islamiyya is an Islamic militant group that is opposed to
Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's secular government. The group
has been responsible for numerous attacks against foreign
tourists in Egypt since 1992 and an attempt on Mubarak's life in
1995. The most recent of these tourist attacks occurred in
November 1997 when 58 foreign, mostly German tourists and four
Egyptians were killed. Jamma Islamiyya and Abdel Aal himself are
not only of interest to Egypt but to the U.S. as well.
Jamma Isamiyya is connected to dissident Saudi millionaire Osama
Bin Laden,who is believed to be responsible for the attacks on
U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Bin Laden is thought to
have coordinated these attacks through the umbrella group that he
created in February of this year in Peshawar, Pakistan, known as
the International Islamic Front to Fight Crusaders and Jews
(IIFFCJ). Among the groups belonging to IIFFCJ organization are
Jamma Islamiyya, another Egyptian Islamic group known as Jihad,
and other groups from Bangladesh, the Philippines, Kashmir and
Pakistan.
Additionally, following U.S. retaliatory attacks on Bin Laden's
training camps in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical weapons
plant in Sudan, Jamma Islamiyya threatened to carry out reprisals
of its own against U.S. targets. On August 22, Jamma Islamiyya
called on Moslems around the world "to stand alongside the
peoples of Sudan and Afghanistan, to besiege American embassies
in Moslem countries and to force their leaders to close them and
expel American diplomats who are spying on us." This refutes
statements made by the group's lawyer Mutasser al-Zayat in
September that Jamma Islamiyya had cut ties with Bin Laden in
July, after deciding to examine a truce in its war against the
Egyptian government.
Abdel Aal's presence in Colombia is interesting for two reasons.
What was he doing there? And why, after capturing him, did
Colombia let him go?
One possible explanation for his presence in Colombia could be
that, in his capacity as a member of Bin Laden's terrorist
network, he was reconnoitering possible U.S. targets in Colombia,
or even preparing for action against such targets. However, this
is unlikely, as the U.S. embassy in Colombia is not the same as
those in Tanzania or Kenya. Unlike those two embassies, the U.S.
has ensured for years that there is a massive security blanket on
U.S. targets in Colombia due to already existing threats from
Colombia's indigenous terrorist groups, such as the FARC and the
ELN. Even other targets in Latin America would be easier, yet
Abdel Aal made a focused effort to get to Colombia. Furthermore,
Bin Laden lacks the kind of network in Colombia that he enjoyed
in East Africa. Finally, despite the fact that he spoke Spanish,
Abdel Aal was a very high profile, easily recognizable person to
send on a covert mission.
Another possible explanation for Abdel Aal's presence in Colombia
was that he was simply trying to hide out. However, again, not
only was it difficult for Abdel Aal to blend into Bogota's
populace, but his failed attempt to acquire a visa should have
sent him elsewhere, if all he sought was quiet anonymity. No,
Abdel Aal was a specific man on a specific mission.
The most likely mission that would bring him to Colombia would be
to conduct transactions with Colombia's rebels involving some
mixture of arms, drugs, and cash. Colombia has well-established
networks for these items and already hosts a burgeoning narcotics
economy that supports the activities of at least 15,000
guerrillas in the Colombia jungles. Abdel Aal was raising money,
suggesting that perhaps Bin Laden's coffers are running a little
dry.
That would seem to explain Abdel Aal's presence in Colombia, but
the real oddity is the manner in which Colombia chose to deal
with his arrest, detention, and deportation. Why would Colombia
publicize the fact that they had arrested such a wanted terrorist
and then just let him go? Such an action would undoubtedly serve
to dampen Colombian relations with both Egypt and the U.S. One
possible explanation is that Colombia felt it simply has enough
problems to deal with regarding its own rebels, and did not wish
to become involved in a Middle Eastern mess. Bogota could simply
have not wanted to deal with possible reprisals that they would
face if they handed over Abdel Aal to Egyptian or U.S.
authorities. This is a thin explanation. They could have
arranged his capture by Egypt or the U.S. so as not to expose
themselves, and the threat of reprisals was slight.
First, Colombia did not arrest Abdel Aal immediately. This means
that he was probably under observation, most likely to attempt to
uncover his Colombian contacts. Second, Colombia had good
intelligence on Abdel Aal's movements in Italy, Amsterdam, and
Ecuador, though when they obtained that information is unclear.
Certainly Colombian security forces did not follow the Egyptian
militant across Europe. This means that Bogota had contact with
Interpol. Judging by the handling of the arrest, detention, and
deportation, one strong possibility is that, in arresting Abdel
Aal, the Colombians accidentally upset either an Interpol or a
U.S. intelligence operation. Colombian security services weren't
the only ones to identify and track the militant, they just acted
too soon.
There is still the question of where Abdel Aal disappeared to.
The car he left Quito's airport in may as easily have taken him
to detention as to freedom. He could still be under observation,
as well. The U.S. embassies in Quito and Bogota were unable to
provide additional information, and the State Department in
Washington was unavailable for comment. There remain more
questions than answers in this case. We are watching to see if
Abdel Aal turns up in a Cairo prison in a few days or weeks. If
not, it looks like one of Bin Laden's boys got away.
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