Walid bin Attash

“	I was the link between Osama bin Laden and his deputy Sheikh Abu Hafs al-Masri and the cell chief in Nairobi. I was the link that was available in Pakistan. I used to supply the cell with whatever documents they need from fake stamps to visas, whatever.	„
	~ Bin Attash admitting his crimes.

Walid Muhammad Salih bin Mubarak bin Attash, also known as Father of the Leg and Khallad (born 1978) is a Yemeni man currently held in extrajudicial detention in Guantanamo Bay for his involvement in planning the 1998 US Embassy bombings and the USS Cole bombing. He was also allegedly involved in selecting and training the hijackers responsible for the September 11 attacks.

Biography

Bin Attash was born to a Saudi family on friendly terms with Osama bin Laden in 1978. In 1997, Attash joined Al-Qaeda after losing his leg while fighting against the Northern Alliance, assisted in coordinating the 2000 millennium attack plots, and informed Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, future 9/11 hijackers, of the upcoming Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda summit. He was also named as the mastermind behind the USS Cole bombing in October 2000.

On 29 April 2003, Bin Attash and Ammar Al-Baluchi were captured by the CIA and imprisoned at a CIA black site, later being transferred to Guantanamo Bay on 6 September 2006. Bin Attash was held before a combatant status review tribunal that same year in order to determine whether or not his imprisonment was constitutional. Evidence in the tribunal included testimony from Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali that Bin Attash had ordered him to participate in the bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi during the 1998 US Embassy bombings, and from a participant in the USS Cole bombing that Bin Attash had sent him a letter asking for his assistance in the attack. He was also implicated in various other attacks after a raid on an Al-Qaeda safe house resulted in the discovery of a ledger containing many payments made by Bin Attash to various Al-Qaeda Jihadists. Ultimately, the tribunal concluded that Bin Attash's classification as an enemy combatant, and therefore his imprisonment, was constitutional. He, al-Baluchi, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Mustafa al-Hawsawi were later charged before a military tribunal, all pleading guilty, although their pleas were delayed for mental competency hearings for al-Shibh and al-Hawsawi.