Adnan Gulshair El Shukrijumah
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Adnan Gulshair El Shukrijumah (born August 4, 1975) is a suspected operative of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network. It is believed he is in the United States suspected of plotting to carry out out a terrorist attack against U.S. interests abroad or domestically. When Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was captured and interrogated, he fingered Adnan El Shukrijumah as the man who would later be in charge of a new attack. Shukrijumah is a Saudi national but may have a passport from Guyana, Trinidad, or Canada. Shukrijumah also goes by nearly a dozen different aliases, among some of which are Adnan G. El Shukri Jumah, Abu Arif, Ja'far Al-Tayar, Jaffar Al-Tayyar, Jafar Tayar, and Jaafar Al-Tayyar. He spent fifteen years in the United States.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a worldwide alert for Shukrijumah in the spring of 2003 shortly after the start of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. The FBI has spearheaded a massive manhunt involving various municipal, state and federal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad to locate Shukrijumah. The FBI does not know whether Shukrijumah is working or traveling alone or if he is acting in concert with other al-Qaida members as part of a terrorist cell. The FBI has stated that Shukrijumah is likely to be armed and extremely dangerous. The United States Department of Justice has offered a bounty of $5 million dollars for his capture.
Though wanted desperately for questioning by the FBI, the FBI will not specify the nature of threats Shukrijumah poses to the U.S. It is believed by authorities that Shukrijumah may had been trained at a al-Qaida terrorist camp. Shukrijumah has extensive flight training that he received at a flight school in Florida and is a pilot, though he is not registered with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Obviously, this is of concern to law enforcement since virtually all the al-Qaida hijackers involved in the September 11 terrorist attacks, received training to be pilots at U.S. private flight schools. Also, it is believed by the FBI that Shukrijumah has been trained by al-Qaida to operate as a terrorist organizer and opeartional/field commander and lead or coordinate a terrorist assault, much the same way Mohammed Atta was designated and trained as a organizer and operational/field leader by al-Qaida to lead the September 11 hijackers in killing 3,100 by attacking The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia and leveling the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City, New York. El Shukrijumah may play a large and leading role in the next set of terrorist attacks to come upon the U.S. Shukrijumah's parents live in Florida and maintain their son's innocence. They claim that he lives in Morocco with his wife and children. Shukrijumah was last seen in the Miami or southern Florida area in the early part of 2003. He has not been seen since and no one knows of his whereabouts.
On May 26, 2004, he was listed along with six others when United States Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that reports indicated that Al Qaeda members were planning a terrorist action for the summer or fall of 2004. Others listed on that date were Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, Amer El-Maati, Aafia Siddiqui, Adam Yahiye Gadahn, and Abderraouf Jdey.
On June 30, 2004, it was announced by the Honduran Security Ministry that Shukrijumah, who had been in Honduras at some time during the previous month, had plotted to blow up the Panama Canal in an attempt to hamper boat traffic.