Homeland Security


Hambali

Jemaah Islamiya Operations Chief

Detained

Hambali

Details
ImportanceVery High
Location of DetentionU.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba1
Date of CaptureAug. 11, 2003
Location of CaptureAyutthaya, Thailand
AffiliationJemaah Islamiya
RoleOperations Chief
AffiliationAl-Qaeda
Full Given NameRiduan Isamuddin
NationalityIndonesian1
NationalitySudanese1
Alias(es)Hambali Nurjaman, Encep Nurjaman1
Alternate Spelling(s)Riduan bin Isomuddin
Date of BirthApril 4, 19641
Place of BirthCianjur, West Java, Indonesia1
GenderMale
HistoryVeteran of Afghanistan-Soviet civil war (1980-1989)1
 
 
Narrative and Notes
 
Reliable
  • Hambali was the operations chief for al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya in southeast Asia. He had some ties to the Sept. 11 attacks and helped plan the 2002 Bali bombings.
  • He was radicalized in the mid-1980s after encountering Jemaah Islamiya's founders in Malaysia.
  • In 1998, he took charge of Jemaah Islamiya's operations in Malaysia and Singapore.
  • He was one of 14 key al-Qaeda operatives transferred from CIA custody to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2006.1,2
    •  
     
    Sources
    1 'Detainee Biographies,' press release, Director of National Intelligence, Sept. 6, 2006.
    2 The 9-11 Commission Report. July 22, 2004. Chapter 5.1.
    Photo: Globalsecurity.org archive
     
     
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