Overview

Ali Mohamed is an al-Qaeda operative who at different times worked undercover in the U.S. Army, the FBI, and the CIA. Mohamed was sent by the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, a group that would later merge with al-Qaeda, to infiltrate U.S. intelligence in the 1980s.Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he served as an al-Qaeda training instructor and informant, maintaining a close relationship with al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm. Mohamed trained terrorists with links to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and played a central role in planning the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa.Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o;
“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm. He was arrested in September 1998 and pled guilty to five conspiracy charges in 2000.Lance Williams, Erin McCormick, “Bin Laden’s man in Silicon Valley,” San Francisco Gate, September 21, 2001, http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Bin-Laden-s-man-in-Silicon-Valley-Mohamed-the-2875779.php. His sentencing and current whereabouts remain unknown.Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o.

Mohamed was born in Kafr El Sheikh, Egypt, to a devout Muslim family.“Ali Mohamed: A Biographical Sketch,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, accessed August 17, 2017, https://ctc.usma.edu/v2/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Ali-Mohammed.pdf. At fourteen years old, his uncle was reportedly mistreated by Israeli border guards, prompting Mohamed to vow to take revenge against what he perceived to be so-called “enemies of Islam.”“Ali Mohamed: A Biographical Sketch,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, accessed August 17, 2017, https://ctc.usma.edu/v2/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Ali-Mohammed.pdf. Mohamed graduated from a Cairo military academy, and from the University of Alexandria with two bachelor’s degrees––one in psychology––and a master’s degree.Lance Williams, Erin McCormick, “Bin Laden’s man in Silicon Valley,” San Francisco Gate, September 21, 2001, http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Bin-Laden-s-man-in-Silicon-Valley-Mohamed-the-2875779.php;
“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm;
“Ali Mohamed: A Biographical Sketch,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, accessed August 17, 2017, https://ctc.usma.edu/v2/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Ali-Mohammed.pdf. He was proficient in English, Hebrew, and French, along with his native Arabic.“Ali Mohamed: A Biographical Sketch,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, accessed August 17, 2017, https://ctc.usma.edu/v2/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Ali-Mohammed.pdf. In 1971, he joined the Egyptian army and quickly become a major, serving in the Egyptian Special Forces.Lance Williams, Erin McCormick, “Bin Laden’s man in Silicon Valley,” San Francisco Gate, September 21, 2001, http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Bin-Laden-s-man-in-Silicon-Valley-Mohamed-the-2875779.php;
“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm;
“Ali Mohamed: A Biographical Sketch,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, accessed August 17, 2017, https://ctc.usma.edu/v2/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Ali-Mohammed.pdf.

In 1981, Mohamed joined a fundamentalist group called the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, a group founded by current al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri that would later merge with al-Qaeda itself.Lance Williams, Erin McCormick, “Bin Laden’s man in Silicon Valley,” San Francisco Gate, September 21, 2001, http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Bin-Laden-s-man-in-Silicon-Valley-Mohamed-the-2875779.php;
“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm. Zawahiri reportedly mentored Mohamed and later introduced him to Osama bin Laden.“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm. Also in 1981, Mohamed traveled to the United States, where he graduated from a training program for foreign officers at the U.S. Army Special Forces School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.Lance Williams, Erin McCormick, “Bin Laden’s man in Silicon Valley,” San Francisco Gate, September 21, 2001, http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Bin-Laden-s-man-in-Silicon-Valley-Mohamed-the-2875779.php. In this program, trainees learned about counterinsurgency and unconventional warfare.“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm. During this time, Egypt’s president Anwar Sadat was assassinated and members of Mohamed’s Special Forces unit in the Egyptian military were implicated in the plot.“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm. Mohamed escaped arrest.“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm.

In 1984, Mohamed was dismissed from the Egyptian army due to his reputation as an extremist and began working as a security adviser for Egypt’s national airline, EgyptAir.Lance Williams, Erin McCormick, “Bin Laden’s man in Silicon Valley,” San Francisco Gate, September 21, 2001, http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Bin-Laden-s-man-in-Silicon-Valley-Mohamed-the-2875779.php;
Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o. Around this time, Zawahiri reportedly tasked Mohamed to write a report on the best way to hijack a plane. Impressed with Mohamed’s work, Zawahiri—hoping to plant agents in the United States for potential future missions—tasked him with infiltrating U.S. intelligence.Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o;
“Ali Mohamed: A Biographical Sketch,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, accessed August 17, 2017, https://ctc.usma.edu/v2/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Ali-Mohammed.pdf. Mohamed then volunteered, and was accepted, to act as an informant for the CIA. He was instructed to travel to West Germany and make contact with Hezbollah operatives there. Mohamed was ultimately deemed untrustworthy after he revealed to the Hezbollah operatives that he was a CIA agent, and was consequently put on a U.S. State Department Watch List as a suspected terrorist. Despite being placed on the watch list, Mohamed was allowed to enter the United States on a visa.Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o;
“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm;
“Ali Mohamed: A Biographical Sketch,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, accessed August 17, 2017, https://ctc.usma.edu/v2/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Ali-Mohammed.pdf.

On his flight to New York on September 6, 1985, Mohamed met a woman named Linda Lee Sanchez who lived in Santa Clara, California.Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o;
Tom Hays and Sharon Theimer, “In life of double-crosses, Egyptian worked with Green Berets and bin Laden,” Black Hills Pioneer, December 26, 2001, http://www.bhpioneer.com/article_264a0132-b8e9-59b0-b2b2-174098a908fc.html. After arriving in the United States, he sought her out, marrying her after a six week-long courtship and settling with her in Santa Clara. According to acquaintances, he likely married her in order to obtain U.S. residency. After a year of unemployment, Mohamed joined the U.S. Army and became a sergeant. In 1987, he was sent back to Egypt as part of the American force participating in a joint training program, Operation Bright Star. However, the Egyptian military viewed his return in an American military uniform as treason, so the United States immediately sent Mohamed back to the United States, reassigning him to a different Army unit stationed at Fort Bragg.Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o;
“Ali Mohamed: A Biographical Sketch,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, accessed August 17, 2017, https://ctc.usma.edu/v2/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Ali-Mohammed.pdf.

While stationed at Fort Bragg, Mohamed received security clearance up to level “secret,” teaching officers about the Middle East.Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o;
Tom Hays and Sharon Theimer, “In life of double-crosses, Egyptian worked with Green Berets and bin Laden,” Black Hills Pioneer, December 26, 2001, http://www.bhpioneer.com/article_264a0132-b8e9-59b0-b2b2-174098a908fc.html;
Steven Emerson, “Osama bin Laden’s Special Operations Man,” Journal of Counterterrorism and Security International, September 1, 1998, https://www.investigativeproject.org/187/osama-bin-ladens-special-operations-man. Mohamed’s new commanding officer, Lt. Col. Robert Anderson, later claimed that he grew suspicious of some of Mohamed’s extremist comments and behaviors, but that his superiors never addressed his reported concerns.Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o. Anderson later speculated that it was because Mohamed may have been sponsored by a U.S. intelligence agency at the time.Lance Williams and Erin McCormick, “Al Qaeda terrorist worked with FBI,” San Francisco Gate, November 4, 2001, http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Al-Qaeda-terrorist-worked-with-FBI-Ex-Silicon-2861719.php.

Mohamed also reportedly engaged in a number of unauthorized activities while enlisted in the Army. While at Fort Bragg, Mohamed stole Army documents to send to the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o. At one point, he also took a one-month leave during which he traveled to Afghanistan to fight the Soviet invasion, despite being specifically instructed not to do so.“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm;
Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o;
“Ali Mohamed: A Biographical Sketch,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, accessed August 17, 2017, https://ctc.usma.edu/v2/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Ali-Mohammed.pdf. In the late 1980s, he educated Islamic fundamentalists at the al-Faruq mosque in Jersey City, New Jersey, and trained recruits bound for Afghanistan at a refugee center in Brooklyn, New York.Tom Hays and Sharon Theimer, “In life of double-crosses, Egyptian worked with Green Berets and bin Laden,” Black Hills Pioneer, December 26, 2001, http://www.bhpioneer.com/article_264a0132-b8e9-59b0-b2b2-174098a908fc.html;
Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o. The FBI observed Mohamed providing weapons training at a shooting range on Long Island, but did not investigate further.“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm;
Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o. One of the men that Mohamed trained, however, was El Sayyid Nosair, who would go on to assassinate a rabbi in New York City on November 5, 1990.“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm;
“Ali Mohamed: A Biographical Sketch,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, accessed August 17, 2017, https://ctc.usma.edu/v2/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Ali-Mohammed.pdf. On November 8, an FBI raid on Nosair’s home led to the discovery of sensitive documents stolen from Fort Bragg, notated in writing believed to be Mohamed’s.Steven Emerson, “Osama bin Laden’s Special Operations Man,” Journal of Counterterrorism and Security International, September 1, 1998, https://www.investigativeproject.org/187/osama-bin-ladens-special-operations-man;
“Ali Mohamed: A Biographical Sketch,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, accessed August 17, 2017, https://ctc.usma.edu/v2/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Ali-Mohammed.pdf. Mohamed also provided training to some of the conspirators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, according to the 9/11 Commission.National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, Thomas H. Kean, and Lee Hamilton. 2004. The 9/11 Commission report: final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. (Washington, D.C.): 68, http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf;
Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o.

In 1989, Mohamed became a U.S. citizen,Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o. and in November, he was honorably discharged from the Army with commendations for patriotism and professional excellence.“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm. Mohamed then returned to Santa Clara, where he established a communications base for terrorist-linked cells around the world alongside Khalid Abu al-Dahab, a fellow Egyptian Islamic Jihad member who also moved to California.“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm;
Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o. In 1990, he reportedly volunteered his services as a translator for the FBI. While some reports claim that Mohamed was denied the job, others claim that the FBI hired him as an informant instead, and that he was subsequently assigned to infiltrate an extremist mosque.Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o;
Lance Williams, Erin McCormick, “Bin Laden’s man in Silicon Valley,” San Francisco Gate, September 21, 2001, http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Bin-Laden-s-man-in-Silicon-Valley-Mohamed-the-2875779.php;
“Ali Mohamed: A Biographical Sketch,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, accessed August 17, 2017, https://ctc.usma.edu/v2/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Ali-Mohammed.pdf. He also began spending time abroad, telling acquaintances––and his wife––that he was working in Egypt. In the early 1990s, his wife reportedly told an acquaintance that Mohamed was in Afghanistan, training people for bin Laden. At this time, bin Laden’s significance was generally not understood by the American public.Lance Williams, Erin McCormick, “Bin Laden’s man in Silicon Valley,” San Francisco Gate, September 21, 2001, http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Bin-Laden-s-man-in-Silicon-Valley-Mohamed-the-2875779.php.

Mohamed became a high-ranking member of al-Qaeda, according to L’Houssaine Kherchtou, an al-Qaeda defector who later became a U.S. government witness. Kherchtou also reported that Mohamed was present at an al-Qaeda training camp in 1991  near Peshawar, Pakistan, providing military, intelligence, and explosives training for fighters. The same year, Mohamed also reportedly helped bin Laden move to Sudan and set up his new headquarters there.Lance Williams, Erin McCormick, “Bin Laden’s man in Silicon Valley,” San Francisco Gate, September 21, 2001, http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Bin-Laden-s-man-in-Silicon-Valley-Mohamed-the-2875779.php;
Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o. Mohamed continued to provide training to al-Qaeda soldiers and supporters in Sudan and Somalia, even training bin Laden’s personal security guards.Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o;
“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm;
Tom Hays and Sharon Theimer, “In life of double-crosses, Egyptian worked with Green Berets and bin Laden,” Black Hills Pioneer, December 26, 2001, http://www.bhpioneer.com/article_264a0132-b8e9-59b0-b2b2-174098a908fc.html.

In 1992, Mohamed helped set up an al-Qaeda cell in Nairobi, Kenya. In 1993, per bin Laden’s instructions, Mohamed surveyed potential bombing targets in Nairobi, taking photos and collecting maps. Based on Mohamed’s research, bin Laden eventually selected the U.S. embassy, which would be the target of al-Qaeda bombings in 1998. In 1993, Mohamed also made security arrangements for a meeting in Sudan between bin Laden and Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah’s security chief.Lance Williams, Erin McCormick, “Bin Laden’s man in Silicon Valley,” San Francisco Gate, September 21, 2001, http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Bin-Laden-s-man-in-Silicon-Valley-Mohamed-the-2875779.php;
Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o. While in Nairobi in 1994, Mohamed reportedly came under FBI suspicion for his connections to Omar Abdel-Rahman, an extremist cleric involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Mohamed subsequently returned to the United States for interrogation.Lance Williams, Erin McCormick, “Bin Laden’s man in Silicon Valley,” San Francisco Gate, September 21, 2001, http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Bin-Laden-s-man-in-Silicon-Valley-Mohamed-the-2875779.php.

In 1995, Mohamed was reported to be working as a security guard at a power station in Sunnyvale, California. Meanwhile, he allegedly continued to travel and work for al-Qaeda.“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm. That year, he reportedly helped Zawahiri enter the United States for a fundraising tour by providing him with a fake passport.“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm;
Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o. He also reportedly helped smuggle other al-Qaeda members into the United States via Canada.Lance Williams, Erin McCormick, “Bin Laden’s man in Silicon Valley,” San Francisco Gate, September 21, 2001, http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Bin-Laden-s-man-in-Silicon-Valley-Mohamed-the-2875779.php;
Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o. In May 1996, Mohamed reportedly helped bin Laden move from Sudan back to Afghanistan, and continued to make numerous trips to East Africa throughout the subsequent years, helping to plan the August 7, 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, some of the plotters of the 1998 embassy bombings claimed they were “led” by Mohamed.National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, Thomas H. Kean, and Lee Hamilton. 2004. The 9/11 Commission report: final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. (Washington, D.C.): 68, http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf.

Two weeks after the August 7 bombings, FBI officials obtained a warrant and searched Mohamed’s apartment in Sacramento, California, where they found evidence of terrorist activities.“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm;
Lance Williams, Erin McCormick, “Bin Laden’s man in Silicon Valley,” San Francisco Gate, September 21, 2001, http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Bin-Laden-s-man-in-Silicon-Valley-Mohamed-the-2875779.php. Mohamed tried to flee to Egypt but was stopped by authorities and subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury in New York City on September 10, 1998. He lied during his testimony and was arrested later that day, charged with perjury,“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm;
Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o. and was indicted in May 1999 for conspiring to kill Americans abroad.“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm;
Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o. In 2000, a raid on the home of an al-Qaeda leader revealed that Mohamed had personally written al-Qaeda’s training manual.“Ali Mohamed: A Biographical Sketch,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, accessed August 17, 2017, https://ctc.usma.edu/v2/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Ali-Mohammed.pdf. In October 2000, he pled guilty to five counts of conspiracy, professing to the court his al-Qaeda operations in detail, including his role in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, in other plots to kill Americans, and in training terrorists.“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm;
Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o.

Afterward, Mohamed was reportedly moved to the witness-protection wing of an undisclosed federal prison.Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o. His plea agreement with the government and sentencing were kept secret.“Lessons from Ali Mohamed Case,” Defense Human Resources Activity, Department of Defense, https://web.archive.org/web/20161215173643/http://dhra.mil/perserec/osg/terrorism/mohamed.htm. Since his guilty plea, Mohamed has reportedly continued to provide intelligence to the United States as part of his plea deal, including providing information on locations of al-Qaeda’s former training camps.Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o. Despite being in custody since 1998, Mohamed was able to describe many insider details of the 9/11 attacks, including how al-Qaeda operatives would position themselves around the plane and how they could hide box cutters from airport security. Mohamed is believed to have done some of the initial research on tactics for plane hijackings long before the 9/11 plot was actually in the works.Jonathan Towers, Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America, Documentary film, National Geographic, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faj6v4A6A4o.