(2020-0778-F) Abd al-Rahim

The materials in FOIA 2020-0778-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related material. Researchers interested in this topic should also see 2006-0228-F and 2006-1164-F. Abd al-Rahim Hussein Muhammed Abdu Al-Nashiri is a Saudi citizen who was born in Saudi Arabia in January 1965. The United States’ 9/11 Commission report notes that al-Nashiri traveled to Afghanistan in the early to mid-1990s to participate as part of the mujahideen against the Soviets. He met Usama bin Laden about 1996 however it is believed that he didn’t join the al-Qaeda organization until 1998 after living in Yemen for about a year. When he did finally join the organization, it is believed that he reported directly to Usama bin Laden, and he initially participated in small actions that aided the al Qaeda organization or allowed the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Africa. Al-Nashiri, despite his initial resistance, would very quickly become one of al Qaeda’s more active members. October 12, 2000, the U.S.S. Cole, a destroyer, pulled into the port of Aden, Yemen to take on fuel as it transited the Arabian Sea. At 11:18 local time a small boat with two men on board pulled aside the Cole and detonated a bomb hidden in their vessel. The resulting explosion killed 17 sailors on the Cole and wounded 40 more. It is believed that al-Nashiri, using a long list of aliases, planned and carried out the preparation work for the bombing. According to press sources, Al-Nashiri was arrested in November 2002. He was transferred to prison facilities at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba where he remains as of July 2022. Al-Nashiri has been criminally charged by the United States government for committing perfidy, murder in violation of the law of war, attempted murder in violation of the law of war, terrorism, conspiracy, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, and hazarding a vessel. Open records in this case consist of one cable news relay related to the U.S.S. Cole bombing investigation, one Department of State press guidance cable, an email version of that same guidance piece, and an email press report from London, England. The remainder of records in this case are withheld for national security reasons.