Karim el-Mejjati
Encyclopedia
A French citizen born in Morocco
, Karim Thami el-Mejjati (October 30, 1967 – April 2005) was a Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group
militant claimed to have aided the Riyadh compound bombings
, the 2003 Casablanca bombings
, the 2004 Madrid train bombings and the 2005 London bombings
.
He was killed, along with his 11-year-old son, by Saudi authorities in a series of raids in April 2005. His wife maintains that he was not connected to all the attacks, but insinuates that he had arranged attacks against Saudi Arabia, provoking their anger.
, el-Mejjati was born to a wealthy Moroccan father who worked in commerce and French mother who worked in cosmetics
. They enrolled him in a French-speaking school from which he graduated in 1986. He also spoke English and sub-par Arabic. He kept a poster of Clint Eastwood
taped to his bedroom wall, and dreamed of traveling to the United States. A secular Muslim, he reportedly ate pork and drank alcohol in violation of Islamic law, and enjoyed partying at Les Sablettes beach resort, as well as visiting Ceuta
and Melilla
.
On September 25, 1991, he married a Tunisian-American named Fatiha, who was seven years older than he was and had been dismissed from her job at the Casablanca medical school
where he was studying because she started wearing the niqab
face-covering. A 1985 law graduate, she later remarked that the student unrest over the management's attempts to fire her were likely what brought both her and el-Mejjati back to being observant Muslims. He dropped out of medical school, and they traveled to an Islamic conference in Paris for a month. They had two sons, named Ilyass and Adam.
By 1992, he'd returned to France and begun selling Moroccan handicraft
s to support his desire to travel and volunteer as a Bosnian mujahideen
. After one tour
in Bosnia, he returned to bring his wife back to the Balkans
with him, but was stymied by Germany's refusal to grant a visa. Returning alone, he was arrested for a month by Croatian
forces, before being released at the request of the French government, although he was forbidden to return to Bosnia for five years.
Upon returning to Morocco, he rented a two-room apartment and began wearing Afghan clothing and a long beard. When women visited, he and his male friends would sleep in their cars parked on the street, while the women slept inside. Neighbours later recalled that he once loudly berated a couple for their public display of affection
.
In early 1994, he traveled to Mecca
on the hajj
pilgrimage, and then continued on to Afghanistan
, where he enrolled at the Khalden training camp
where he contracted malaria
and had to be sent home to Morocco. Once, upon returning to Morocco, he was questioned about the Pakistan
i visa in his passport and the Abdullah Azzam book he was reading.
Around this time, his wife was diagnosed with cancer
. He maintained a relationship with Yusuf Fikri, leader of the Takfir wal-Hijra
.
In 1996 he took a second wife
at the urging of his wife, the Belgian Fatihah al-Hawshy who lived in England and was a friend of his wife.
Around 1997, he traveled to New Jersey
on the invitation of a friend for several months. It was one of two visits he made to the United States
prior to 1999. He later listed the address of a New York
bookseller, Abdulrahman Farhane
, as his own - later entered as evidence against Farhane following accusations he financially supported terrorism.
While American authorities claimed he hadn't entered the country since 1999, Saudi media reported that he traveled back to the United States with al-Hawshy, his second wife, in 2000 and dropped her off there while he traveled to Pakistan.
In July 2001, el-Mejjati and his wife determined to leave Morocco permanently, and flew to Spain for two weeks while awaiting their entry visa to Iran. When Italy declined their request for travel documents, they flew out of Frankfurt
instead. After landing in Tehran
, they crossed the border into Afghanistan the following day. He traveled to Kandahar
, ostensibly to seek out Osama bin Laden
even though he had no intentions of joining al-Qaeda
, but was disappointed to discover the militant leader had already left the city. He later managed to see both bin Laden and Mullah Omar
.
Following the American reprisal bombings following the September 11 attacks, el-Mejjati and his wife left Afghanistan and traveled to Dhaka, Bangladesh
where they remained for ten months after their passports were seized due to fake Pakistani visa stamps. They moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
, using false Qatari passports, after that. Some have claimed the move was authorised by bin Laden to build a "Saudi network".
and Afghan Civil War who was being sought by Americans, stay with his family. He asked his wife to help him find a wife for al-Juhani, who was not supposed to be involved in any more fighting.
On March 23, 2003, his wife and 10-year old son Ilyass left the city to try to reach an Ophthalmologist. They had been originally intended to travel with al-Juhani, which caught the attention of the Mabahith
secret police. However, al-Juhani argued he wasn't feeling well and asked a brother and his wife to instead accompany el-Mejjati and her son. The group was nonetheless arrested by authorities who hoped that al-Juhani was present. When questioned, his wife confirmed to police that el-Mejjati was indeed living in Riyadh, but refused to write an open letter
in the newspapers calling for her husband to surrender himself to authorities stating that he hadn't done anything wrong.
After his wife's arrest, he is believed to have fallen in with the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group
, and to have provided training to its members in a forest outside Rabat
. His name was mentioned in connection with the Riyadh compound bombing in May of that year.
Days before the May 16 attack in Casablanca, el-Mejjati is believed to have fled to Spain. Arguments that he had dressed as a woman to travel unnoticed were rebuffed by his wife who pointed out he stood 6'4".
On June 20, 2003, when it was discovered that al-Juhani had been among the men killed in the Riyadh compound bombings
, Saudi Arabia transferred el-Mejjati's wife and son to Moroccan custody, flying them on a private jet through Cairo into Morocco.
In September 2003, the FBI issued an alert for four people they alleged "pose a threat to U.S. citizens", including Abderraouf Jdey
, Adnan G. El Shukrijumah and the previously unknown Zubayr al-Rimi
and el-Mejjati.
While in Spain, el-Mejjati became associated with Jamal Zougam
, who had helped construct the bombs, leading to the suggestion that he had been involved in the March 11 Madrid bombings.
In December 2003, he was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment in absentia
by a Moroccan court, for his role in the Casablanca bombings.
On March 17, 2004, his wife and son were released from prison. Police set up a 24-hour stakeout
of her house, and watched her every move. In April, Belgian newspapers in Antwerp received threatening notes that made reference to el-Mejjati, and suggested that Jewish locations in the city might become targets in the future. While authorities now began searching Europe in earnest for his whereabouts, others suggested that he had fled to Pakistan, Iran, Syria or Iraq. In early 2005, Riyadh officials intercepted text messages being sent by el-Mejjati to Great Britain
authorising hawala
money transfers.
el-Mejjati, as well as his 11 year old son Adam and the leader of al-qaeda in Saudi Arabia Saud Hamoud 'Abid al-Qatini al-'Otaibi
, were among those killed in April 2005 in a series of Ar Rass raids
by Saudi authorities. Saudi security forces had not known el-Mejjati would be present when they surrounded their first target, a house with approximately eight occupants. When shooting began, the occupants fled to a nearby construction site where the battle lasted until the following morning. A columnist later suggested that el-Mejjati had shot his son after he was captured by Saudi forces. Saudi authorities also alleged that el-Mejjati had killed a foreigner living in the Kingdom, and attacked a police patrol in Al-Ghat "with the support of his son", despite being only 11 years old.
At the time of his death, he was #4 on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's "26 Most Wanted" list.
el-Mejjati was survived by his wife and 12-year old son Ilyass. A friend of the family had phoned to tell her that he had just heard a report that el-Mejjati had been killed on the television, to which she replied "Alhamdulillah
". She then wrote to the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior, and its Saudi counterpart, to ask them to positively confirm the identity of her husband and son through DNA testing, with which they complied.
His wife sought permission to travel to Saudi Arabia to claim the body of her husband and son for proper burial, and proposed traveling with his second wife, stating that she could not find closure until she had seen the bodies herself.
television following his death, in addition to Moroccan newspapers; stating that her husband had been a mujahideen
, and not a terrorist. However, in other interviews she stubbornly stated that it was wrong to consider him a member of GICM since he "only belongs to Al-Qaeda".
Later analysts suggested that he was closely tied to Salafia Jihadia
or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
.
Following the July 6 bombings in London three months after his death, Saudi Arabia stated that they had warned Britain of the impending attack, sending them an intelligence file that contained details of el-Mejjati and his alleged connection to lead bomber Mohammad Sidique Khan
.
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, Karim Thami el-Mejjati (October 30, 1967 – April 2005) was a Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group
Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group
The Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group or Moroccan Islamic Fighting Group is a Sunni Islamist terrorist organization affiliated with al-Qaeda. It is sometimes referred to as GICM after its French name Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain...
militant claimed to have aided the Riyadh compound bombings
Riyadh compound bombings
The Riyadh compound bombings took place on May 12, 2003, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Altogether, 35 people were killed, and over 160 wounded. A smaller campaign of insurgency in Saudi Arabia had started in November 2000 when car bombings were carried out targeting and killing individual expatriates in...
, the 2003 Casablanca bombings
2003 Casablanca bombings
The 2003 Casablanca bombings were a series of suicide bombings on May 16, 2003, in Casablanca, Morocco. The attacks were the deadliest terrorist attacks in the country's history. 45 people were killed as a result of these attacks...
, the 2004 Madrid train bombings and the 2005 London bombings
7 July 2005 London bombings
The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour....
.
He was killed, along with his 11-year-old son, by Saudi authorities in a series of raids in April 2005. His wife maintains that he was not connected to all the attacks, but insinuates that he had arranged attacks against Saudi Arabia, provoking their anger.
Life
A medical studentMedical Student
Medical Student may refer to:*Someone studying at medical school*Medical Student Newspaper, a UK publication...
, el-Mejjati was born to a wealthy Moroccan father who worked in commerce and French mother who worked in cosmetics
Cosmetics
Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...
. They enrolled him in a French-speaking school from which he graduated in 1986. He also spoke English and sub-par Arabic. He kept a poster of Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
taped to his bedroom wall, and dreamed of traveling to the United States. A secular Muslim, he reportedly ate pork and drank alcohol in violation of Islamic law, and enjoyed partying at Les Sablettes beach resort, as well as visiting Ceuta
Ceuta
Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...
and Melilla
Melilla
Melilla is a autonomous city of Spain and an exclave on the north coast of Morocco. Melilla, along with the Spanish exclave Ceuta, is one of the two Spanish territories located in mainland Africa...
.
On September 25, 1991, he married a Tunisian-American named Fatiha, who was seven years older than he was and had been dismissed from her job at the Casablanca medical school
Medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
where he was studying because she started wearing the niqab
Niqab
A niqab is a cloth which covers the face, worn by some Muslim women as a part of sartorial hijāb...
face-covering. A 1985 law graduate, she later remarked that the student unrest over the management's attempts to fire her were likely what brought both her and el-Mejjati back to being observant Muslims. He dropped out of medical school, and they traveled to an Islamic conference in Paris for a month. They had two sons, named Ilyass and Adam.
By 1992, he'd returned to France and begun selling Moroccan handicraft
Handicraft
Handicraft, more precisely expressed as artisanic handicraft, sometimes also called artisanry, is a type of work where useful and decorative devices are made completely by hand or by using only simple tools. It is a traditional main sector of craft. Usually the term is applied to traditional means...
s to support his desire to travel and volunteer as a Bosnian mujahideen
Bosnian mujahideen
Bosnian mujahideen were foreign Muslim volunteers who fought on the side of Bosnian Muslims during the 1992–1995 Bosnian war. They arrived in Bosnia with the aim of fighting for Islam and on behalf of Muslims who were at the time brutally attacked by Serbs and Croats in different parts of the...
. After one tour
Tour of duty
In the Navy, a tour of duty is a period of time spent performing operational duties at sea, including combat, performing patrol or fleet duties, or assigned to service in a foreign country....
in Bosnia, he returned to bring his wife back to the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
with him, but was stymied by Germany's refusal to grant a visa. Returning alone, he was arrested for a month by Croatian
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
forces, before being released at the request of the French government, although he was forbidden to return to Bosnia for five years.
Upon returning to Morocco, he rented a two-room apartment and began wearing Afghan clothing and a long beard. When women visited, he and his male friends would sleep in their cars parked on the street, while the women slept inside. Neighbours later recalled that he once loudly berated a couple for their public display of affection
Public display of affection
Public displays of affection are acts of physical intimacy in the view of others. What are acceptable displays of affection vary between cultures as well as to time and context. Which acts are acceptable have also varied over time...
.
In early 1994, he traveled to Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
on the hajj
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
pilgrimage, and then continued on to Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, where he enrolled at the Khalden training camp
Khalden training camp
The Khalden training camp was a military training camp in Afghanistan. According to the documentary Son of al Qaeda there were hundreds of military training camps in Afghanistan which were tied to al Qaeda...
where he contracted malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
and had to be sent home to Morocco. Once, upon returning to Morocco, he was questioned about the Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
i visa in his passport and the Abdullah Azzam book he was reading.
Around this time, his wife was diagnosed with cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. He maintained a relationship with Yusuf Fikri, leader of the Takfir wal-Hijra
Takfir wal-Hijra
Jama'at al-Muslimin , popularly known as Takfir wal-Hijra , was a radical Islamist group led by Shukri Mustafa, which emerged in Egypt in the 1960s as an offshoot of Muslim Brotherhood, inspired by Sayyid Qutb.The group was...
.
In 1996 he took a second wife
Marriage in Islam
Marriage in Islam is an Islamic prenuptial contract between a man and woman to live as husband and wife. It is a formal, binding contract considered integral to a religiously valid Islamic marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom and bride involved in marriage proceedings...
at the urging of his wife, the Belgian Fatihah al-Hawshy who lived in England and was a friend of his wife.
Around 1997, he traveled to New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
on the invitation of a friend for several months. It was one of two visits he made to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
prior to 1999. He later listed the address of a New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
bookseller, Abdulrahman Farhane
Abdulrahman Farhane
Abdulrahman Farhane was a New York bookstore owner arrested in 2005 as part of a sweep against Americans accused of supporting terrorism.He was convicted after he was asked by a government informant to donate money to help Islamic fighters purchase weapons to fight against American and other...
, as his own - later entered as evidence against Farhane following accusations he financially supported terrorism.
While American authorities claimed he hadn't entered the country since 1999, Saudi media reported that he traveled back to the United States with al-Hawshy, his second wife, in 2000 and dropped her off there while he traveled to Pakistan.
In July 2001, el-Mejjati and his wife determined to leave Morocco permanently, and flew to Spain for two weeks while awaiting their entry visa to Iran. When Italy declined their request for travel documents, they flew out of Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
instead. After landing in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, they crossed the border into Afghanistan the following day. He traveled to Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
, ostensibly to seek out Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
even though he had no intentions of joining al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
, but was disappointed to discover the militant leader had already left the city. He later managed to see both bin Laden and Mullah Omar
Mohammed Omar
Mullah Mohammed Omar , often simply called Mullah Omar, is the leader of the Taliban movement that operates in Afghanistan. He was Afghanistan's de facto head of state from 1996 to late 2001, under the official title "Head of the Supreme Council"...
.
Following the American reprisal bombings following the September 11 attacks, el-Mejjati and his wife left Afghanistan and traveled to Dhaka, Bangladesh
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
where they remained for ten months after their passports were seized due to fake Pakistani visa stamps. They moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Riyadh
Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and belongs to the historical regions of Najd and Al-Yamama. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, and is home to 5,254,560 people, and the urban center of a...
, using false Qatari passports, after that. Some have claimed the move was authorised by bin Laden to build a "Saudi network".
Entry into militant plots
After moving to Riyadh, el-Mejjati agreed to allow Khalid al-Juhani, a veteran of the First Chechen WarFirst Chechen War
The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
and Afghan Civil War who was being sought by Americans, stay with his family. He asked his wife to help him find a wife for al-Juhani, who was not supposed to be involved in any more fighting.
On March 23, 2003, his wife and 10-year old son Ilyass left the city to try to reach an Ophthalmologist. They had been originally intended to travel with al-Juhani, which caught the attention of the Mabahith
Mabahith
The Mabahith , also spelled Mabaheth, is the secret police agency of the Ministry of Interior in Saudi Arabia.According to Human Rights Watch, the Mabahith "monitors suspected political opponents and others, targets individuals for arrest, and interrogates detainees...
secret police. However, al-Juhani argued he wasn't feeling well and asked a brother and his wife to instead accompany el-Mejjati and her son. The group was nonetheless arrested by authorities who hoped that al-Juhani was present. When questioned, his wife confirmed to police that el-Mejjati was indeed living in Riyadh, but refused to write an open letter
Open letter
An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally....
in the newspapers calling for her husband to surrender himself to authorities stating that he hadn't done anything wrong.
After his wife's arrest, he is believed to have fallen in with the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group
Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group
The Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group or Moroccan Islamic Fighting Group is a Sunni Islamist terrorist organization affiliated with al-Qaeda. It is sometimes referred to as GICM after its French name Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain...
, and to have provided training to its members in a forest outside Rabat
Rabat
Rabat , is the capital and third largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco with a population of approximately 650,000...
. His name was mentioned in connection with the Riyadh compound bombing in May of that year.
Days before the May 16 attack in Casablanca, el-Mejjati is believed to have fled to Spain. Arguments that he had dressed as a woman to travel unnoticed were rebuffed by his wife who pointed out he stood 6'4".
On June 20, 2003, when it was discovered that al-Juhani had been among the men killed in the Riyadh compound bombings
Riyadh compound bombings
The Riyadh compound bombings took place on May 12, 2003, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Altogether, 35 people were killed, and over 160 wounded. A smaller campaign of insurgency in Saudi Arabia had started in November 2000 when car bombings were carried out targeting and killing individual expatriates in...
, Saudi Arabia transferred el-Mejjati's wife and son to Moroccan custody, flying them on a private jet through Cairo into Morocco.
In September 2003, the FBI issued an alert for four people they alleged "pose a threat to U.S. citizens", including Abderraouf Jdey
Abderraouf Jdey
A Canadian citizen, Abderraouf bin Habib bin Yousef Jdey was found swearing to die as a shaheed on a series of videotapes found in the rubble of Mohammed Atef's house in Afghanistan...
, Adnan G. El Shukrijumah and the previously unknown Zubayr al-Rimi
Zubayr Al-Rimi
Al-Rimi's wife was arrested in the beginning of June along with the wife of al-Faqasi and two other women. She was turned over to his father for safekeeping, who sought to return her to Morocco....
and el-Mejjati.
While in Spain, el-Mejjati became associated with Jamal Zougam
Jamal Zougam
Jamal Zougam was one of six men implicated in the 11 March 2004 Madrid Train Bombings. He was detained on 13 March 2004, accused of multiple counts of murder, attempted murder, stealing a vehicle, belonging to a terrorist organisation and four counts of carrying out terrorist acts.Spain's El País...
, who had helped construct the bombs, leading to the suggestion that he had been involved in the March 11 Madrid bombings.
In December 2003, he was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
by a Moroccan court, for his role in the Casablanca bombings.
On March 17, 2004, his wife and son were released from prison. Police set up a 24-hour stakeout
Stakeout
Stakeout is a 1987 film directed by John Badham and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Emilio Estevez, Madeleine Stowe, Aidan Quinn, and Forest Whitaker...
of her house, and watched her every move. In April, Belgian newspapers in Antwerp received threatening notes that made reference to el-Mejjati, and suggested that Jewish locations in the city might become targets in the future. While authorities now began searching Europe in earnest for his whereabouts, others suggested that he had fled to Pakistan, Iran, Syria or Iraq. In early 2005, Riyadh officials intercepted text messages being sent by el-Mejjati to Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
authorising hawala
Hawala
Hawala is an informal value transfer system based on the performance and honor of a huge network of money brokers, which are primarily located in the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and South Asia...
money transfers.
Death
Saud Hamoud 'Abid al-Qatini al-'Otaibi
Saud Hamoud 'Abid al-Qatini al-'Otaibi was a leader and the senior member of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula after the death of former leader Abdel Aziz al-Muqrin, Al-Otaibi was responsible for bombings, including the attack on Al-Mohaya housing compound in Riyadh in 2003, Al-Otaibi was also...
, were among those killed in April 2005 in a series of Ar Rass raids
Ar Rass raids
In April 2005, Saudi authorities launched a series of raids in Ar Rass that killed 15 alleged militants, and captured 7 others. More than fifty Saudi security forces were injured in the gunbattles.Among those said to be killed, were the following men;...
by Saudi authorities. Saudi security forces had not known el-Mejjati would be present when they surrounded their first target, a house with approximately eight occupants. When shooting began, the occupants fled to a nearby construction site where the battle lasted until the following morning. A columnist later suggested that el-Mejjati had shot his son after he was captured by Saudi forces. Saudi authorities also alleged that el-Mejjati had killed a foreigner living in the Kingdom, and attacked a police patrol in Al-Ghat "with the support of his son", despite being only 11 years old.
At the time of his death, he was #4 on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's "26 Most Wanted" list.
el-Mejjati was survived by his wife and 12-year old son Ilyass. A friend of the family had phoned to tell her that he had just heard a report that el-Mejjati had been killed on the television, to which she replied "Alhamdulillah
Alhamdulillah
Alhamdulillah or is an Arabic phrase meaning "Praise to God" or "All praise is due to Allah," similar to the Hebrew phrase Halelu Yah...
". She then wrote to the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior, and its Saudi counterpart, to ask them to positively confirm the identity of her husband and son through DNA testing, with which they complied.
His wife sought permission to travel to Saudi Arabia to claim the body of her husband and son for proper burial, and proposed traveling with his second wife, stating that she could not find closure until she had seen the bodies herself.
Aftermath
His wife later gave an interview to France 3France 3
France 3 is the second largest French public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5, and France Ô....
television following his death, in addition to Moroccan newspapers; stating that her husband had been a mujahideen
Mujahideen
Mujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
, and not a terrorist. However, in other interviews she stubbornly stated that it was wrong to consider him a member of GICM since he "only belongs to Al-Qaeda".
Later analysts suggested that he was closely tied to Salafia Jihadia
Salafia Jihadia
Salafia Jihadia is an Islamic terrorist organization affiliated with Al Qaeda that is active in North Africa and Spain.Eleven suspected members of the organization were arrested in Ceuta in December 2006. Judge Baltasar Garzón, a high court judge in Spain, released four of the suspects, but had the...
or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi ; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh was a Jordanian militant Islamist who ran a paramilitary training camp in Afghanistan...
.
Following the July 6 bombings in London three months after his death, Saudi Arabia stated that they had warned Britain of the impending attack, sending them an intelligence file that contained details of el-Mejjati and his alleged connection to lead bomber Mohammad Sidique Khan
Mohammad Sidique Khan
Mohammad Sidique Khan was the oldest of the four homegrown suicide bombers and believed to be the leader responsible for the 7 July 2005 London bombings, in which bombs were detonated on three London Underground trains and one bus in central London suicide attacks, killing 52 people excluding the...
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