A Saudi national known to investigators as Osama bin Laden's "banker" was apprehended inside the U.S. in 1994 - only to be set free by the Clinton administration in a decision that was considered a "massive loss" in the war on terrorism by U.S. intelligence officials.
Bin Laden brother-in-law Mohammed Jamal Khalifa was believed to be "the real money man" behind the scenes for the 9/11 mastermind, reports investigative journalist Peter Lance, in his comprehensive overview of the 9/11 attacks, "1,000 Years For Revenge: International Terrorism and the FBI."
The bin Laden relative was involved most intensively in bankrolling Ramzi Yousef, the operations chief for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, who conceived the plan later adopted by bin Laden to hijack airliners and fly them into the Twin Towers.
Convicted of murder in Jordan, Khalifa was picked up on a fraud rap by INS agents in San Francisco. Lance writes that at the time, Khalifa "was in the process of funding Yousef's Bojinka and Pope John Paul II assassination plots - even as Yousef was laying the groundwork for what became the 9/11 attacks."
Documents found on his person indicated that the bin Laden brother-in-law was a major cog in the global terror machine. Based on that evidence, the U.S. Attorney in San Francisco pushed to have him held for questioning.
But the Clinton State Department had other ideas. Reports Lance:
"Secretary of State Warren Christopher wrote to Attorney General Janet Reno on Jan. 5, 1995, arguing that 'to permit Mr. Khalifa to remain at large inside the United States in light of his alleged activities and criminal conviction in Jordan . . . . would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.'"
"Of course," notes the author, "the U.S. Attorney in San Francisco wasn't asking for Khalifa to be released, merely held for questioning. Khalifa had traveled the world as Osama bin Laden's 'banker.' He was a potential intelligence gold mine."
Secretary Christopher, however, prevailed. Khalifa was deported to Jordan, where, at trial, the murder witness recanted. Bin Laden's banker was promptly set free.
U.S. counterterrorism officials were dumbfounded by the administration's decision to let Khalifa go. "Not even speaking in retrospect, but contemporaneous with what the intelligence community knew about bin Laden, Khalifa's deportation was unreal," CIA counterterrorism analyst Jacob L. Boesen told the author.
Concludes Lance: "In light of what we now know. . . Khalifa's release has to be considered one of the most grievous instances of negligence in the years leading up to 9/11."
Little more than a year after the Clinton administration let bin Laden's banker get away, President Clinton would personally turn down an offer for Osama bin Laden's arrest and extradition to the U.S. by Sudan.
Hear Clinton describe why he turned down Sudan's bin Laden offer.
Editor's note:
"CATASTROPHE" Reveals Bill Clinton’s Role in 9/11 - Click Here to find out more
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Al-Qaeda
Sen. Hillary Clinton
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