Ahmad Ibrahim al-Sayyid al-Naggar

Ahmad Ibrahim al-Sayyid al-Naggarwas a member of theEgyptian Islamic Jihad,an Islamist terrorist group active since the 1970s. TheADLdubbed him the "propaganda chief" of the militant organisation.He was one of 14 people subjected toextraordinary renditionby theCIAprior to the 2001 declaration of aWar on Terror.

Life

It is very clear that the Islamic Jihad supports the Taliban wholeheartedly.

—al-Nagger

His permanent address was on al-Shaikh al-Husari street inGiza. In 1991, he was sentencedin absentiato three years imprisonment in the al-Jihad case arising from the assassination ofAnwar Sadat.However, he fled the country in 1993 when Adil al-Sudani got him a false passport in the name ofAbdel Raheem Mohammed Husseinand bought him an October 18ferryticket fromNuwaibatoJordan,and told him to wait for a phone call at the Jordan River Hotel inAmman.When he arrived the next day, he received a call fromMahmud al-Deebwho told him to book a flight four days later toSanaa, Yemento meet with him. When al-Naggar arrived, he was greeted byAyman al-Zawahiriand his brotherMuhammad al-Zawahiri,Ahmad Salamah Mabruk,andThirwat Shehata,who assured him that al-Jihad took care of its own, and they were glad to see him safe.

In 1994, he was asked to travel to Sudan, and was subsequently met by al-Zawahiri, who asked him to oversee civil organisation of al-Jihad.

In October of the following year, Zawahiri asked him to instead travel to Yemen to oversee civil operations there; but three months later was told to travel with his fake passport in the name ofAhmed Rajab Mohammed,to take a job as a teacher with theHaramain charityinTirana, Albania.He also led theCentre for Islamic Heritage.

Following the 1996 rise of theTalibangovernment in Afghanistan, al-Naggar tried to link al-Jihad to the new government, noting their shared ideals.

Capture, trials, execution

Osama wanted to launch a guerrilla war not only in the Arab and Islamic world, but in the whole world... he believed these attacks would force America and its allies to change their policy in the Middle East and the Islamic world

—al-Naggar, during trial

He was sentenced to deathin absentiain an Egyptian military court on October 15, 1997, for the crime of membership in al-Jihad, and possession of weapons.He was ostensibly linked to the 1995 plot to blow up theKhan el-Khalili market,as well as the assassination of Speaker of ParliamentRifaat el-Mahgoubin October 1990.The trial was condemned as "unfair" byAmnesty International.

In 1998, Bary asked al-Naggar to claim asylum in theUnited Kingdom,so he could help convinceHani Sibaito support the AlgerianGIAin media communiques.

He was arrested on July 2, 1998, as he stepped off the plane in Cairo, having been deported from Albania with the help of theCIA.His wife was also arrested.

He was tried in the 1999Returnees from Albaniatrial at which he was defended byMontasser el-Zayat.He was tortured for nine months; locked in a room with water up to his knees 24 hours a day. When taken toSSIheadquarters inLazughli Squareand questioned by Captain Yasir Azzulddin,his hands and feet were tied, as interrogators applied electric shocks to his nipples and penis. Under torture, al-Naggar admitted that al-Jihad had acquiredanthraxfrom an unnamed East Asian country for $3,695.He later claimed his confessions were only a result of this torture. He was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment.In November, he was transferred toTora Prison,where Amnesty noted he was at less risk of torture or sudden execution.

Together with the other three returnees brought from Tirana, his capture and torture were listed as the main reasons for the1998 United States embassy bombings.

He was hanged on February 23, 2000, at al-Isti'naf prison, due to the earlier death sentence levied against him.