Zakariya Essabar

Zakariya Essabar
زكريا الصبار
Born (1977-04-03) 3 April 1977 (age 47)
Essaouira, Morocco
Died
Afghanistan
Alma materHamburg University of Technology
Years active1997–2001
OrganizationAl-Qaeda

Zakariya Essabar (Arabic: زكريا الصبار, romanized: Zakariyā aṣ-Ṣabār; 3 April 1977)[1] was a Moroccan college student of al-Qaeda and an associate of the organizers of the September 11 attacks.

He was born in Morocco on 3 April 1977 and immigrated to Germany in 1997. In 1998, he studied medical technology at Hamburg University of Technology. Through the Muslim religious community there he met Ramzi bin al-Shibh and other members of the Hamburg cell. Essabar quickly became more religious while in Germany. He lived for some time at the Hamburg cell apartment.

After being radicalized in 1999, Essabar trained in Afghanistan where he learned combat skills and passport alteration. Ramzi bin al-Shibh later said that Essabar delivered the cryptic message from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, indicating the date that the September 11 attacks would be carried out, although bin al-Shibh's claim is in doubt.[2] Essabar may not have known the significance of the date,[2] but he did relay the message. The truth of bin al-Shibh's claims is in doubt, due to "inconsistent statements".[2] Despite a German arrest warrant issued a month after the attacks, Essabar was not captured and, according to al-Qaeda, was later killed in Afghanistan.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ "View Red Notices". Interpol.
  2. ^ a b c "Al Qaeda sent secret message to Afghanistan before 9/11". Daily Times. Pakistan. 21 May 2005. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  3. ^ "Making Sense of Jihad: "Martyrs in a Time of Alienation" - Complete Blogger's Cut". Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2013.