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Abderraouf Jdey (Arabic: عبد الرؤوف جدي) (also known as Farouk the Tunisian) (born May 30, 1965) is suspected to be a member of the Al Qaeda terrorist organization. Only months after 9/11, in January 2002, he was identified as one of five al-Qaeda members discovered in martyrdom videos, who were then listed by the FBI on a newly created list called "Most Wanted Terrorists Seeking Information." Jdey remains as the only original member on the current version of the FBI's list, now known as the FBI Seeking Information - War on Terrorism list. FBI Seeking Information Alert for Abderraouf Jdey, FBI.gov
Jdey moved to Canada from Tunisia in 1991 and became a Canadian citizen in 1995. He studied biology at the University of Montreal, then trained with some of the Sept. 11 hijackers in Afghanistan, and was recruited for a "second wave" of suicide attacks. Jdey returned to Canada in early 2001. In November, 2001 he left Canada.
Martyrdom video in Atef rubble
After January 14, 2002, Jdey was uncovered as one of five suspected al-Qaeda members delivering what United States Attorney General John Ashcroft described as "martyrdom messages from suicide terrorists." They had been found on five discovered videos, recovered from the rubble of the destroyed home of Mohammad Atef outside of Kabul, Afghanistan. NBC News said that the five videos had been recorded after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
In response, on January 17, 2002 the FBI released to the public the first Most Wanted Terrorists Seeking Information list (now known as the FBI's "Seeking Information - War on Terrorism" list), in order to profile the five wanted terrorists about whom very little was known, but who were suspected of plotting additional terrorist attacks in martyrdom operations. Most Wanted Terrorists Seeking Information, January 17, 2002, (dead link) Martyrdom Messages/video, Seeking Information Alert video clips published by the FBI January 17, 2002, and photos of the remaining 4 terrorists, FBI archival after September 2002 The videos were shown by the FBI without sound, to guard against the possibility that the messages contained signals for other terrorists.
Ashcroft called upon people worldwide to help "identify, locate and incapacitate terrorists who are suspected of planning additional attacks against innocent civilians." "These men could be anywhere in the world," he said. Ashcroft added that an analysis of the audio suggested "the men may be trained and prepared to commit future suicide terrorist acts."
On that day, Ramzi Binalshibh was one of the only four known names among the five. Ashcroft said not much was known about any of them except Binalshibh. The other initial known three are still featured in compiled video clips on the FBI site, in order of appearance, Muhammad Sa'id Ali Hasan, Abd al-Rahim, and Khalid Ibn Muhammad Al-Juhani. FBI Seeking Information - War on Terrorism, Martyrdom Messages/video Seeking Information Alert, VIDEO 2 minutes 11 seconds, mpg (29.1 mb) FBI Seeking Information - War on Terrorism, Martyrdom Messages/video Seeking Information Alert, VIDEO 2 minutes 11 seconds, rm (229 kb - stream) FBI Seeking Information - War on Terrorism, Martyrdom Messages/video Seeking Information Alert, VIDEO 2 minutes 11 seconds, asf (371 kb - stream)
A week later, on January 25, 2002 Abderraouf Jdey was finally identified as the fifth member of the group pledging martyrdom, with the alias: Al Rauf Bin Al Habib Bin Yousef Al-Jiddi. A "suicide note" to the same effect was also found later in Jdey's own house along with a photograph of himself. The question of whether the photograph and video showed al-Jiddi or Jdey was resolved when the FBI announced that the two were the same person, using separate names.
Jdey was found to be a resident of Montreal, Canada. An international manhunt was launched January 25, 2002 for his companion, also a fellow Tunisian, and Canadian citizen named Faker Boussora, then 37. U.S. officials said the two Tunisian-born Canadians were part of a Canadian group plotting to kill more civilians. Boussora was added to the earlier group of five on the FBI's "Seeking Information" list, where he still currently remains listed, along with Jdey, under the full name, Faker Ben Abdelazziz Boussora.
Both the U.S. 9/11 Commission and testimony from Al-Qaeda 9/11 mastermind Khaled Sheikh Mohammed identified Jdey as a prospective "second-wave" highjacker, who would again hijack airplanes to attack the United States. Unlike the first group, according to Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, none of these "second wave" group would have Arab passports -- the idea was to have Malaysian, Indonesian, French and Canadian passport holders perpetrate the plot.
The Khaled Sheikh Mohammed testimony was released in the U.S. trial of the later convicted terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, a French national who was also identified as a second-wave highjacker.
The statement from Mr. Mohammed says that Jdey told al-Qaeda figures he wanted to drop out of the plot in the summer of 2001.
Summer 2004 terror alert
On May 26, 2004, Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller announced that reports indicated that Jdey was one of seven al-Qaeda members who were planning terrorist actions for the summer or fall of 2004. The other alleged terrorists listed on that date were Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, Amer El-Maati, Aafia Siddiqui, Adam Yahiye Gadahn, and Adnan G. El Shukrijumah. The first two had been listed as FBI Most Wanted Terrorists since 2001, indicted for their roles in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings. The other four were added to the FBI's "Seeking Information" wanted list, joining Jdey, who was still on the list from his January 2002 martyrdom video. Jdey currently remains as the only original member, and the longest time spent on the FBI's Seeking Information list. Transcript: Ashcroft, Mueller news conference, CNN.com, Wednesday, May 26, 2004 Posted: 8:19 PM EDT (0019 GMT)
In April, 2005, the U.S. State Department Rewards for Justice Program offered a reward of up to $5 million for information on Jdey.
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1965 births | Living people | Al-Qaeda members | Tunisian people
"Abderraouf Jdey"