Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali

Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali is one of the four former al-Qaeda members sentenced in 2001 to life without parole for their parts in the 1998 United States embassy bombings. The others are Mohammed Saddiq Odeh, Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, and Wadih el Hage. All four are in the supermax prison known as ADX Florence. A number of other suspects are still wanted or awaiting trial for this bombing.

Militant activity
A Saudi from a wealthy family, Al-Owhali attended al-Qaeda's Khalden training camp in 1996. He traveled to Kenya on a false passport under the name of Khalid Salim Saleh Bin Rashid, which he later claimed was provided by "Bilal", whom American military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay have suggested was Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.

During the Nairobi bombing, he had initially sat in the passenger seat of the Mitsubishi Canter, and threw a stun grenade at embassy guards before exiting the vehicle which the driver detonated. Osama bin Laden later offered the explanation that it had been his intention to leap out and shoot the guards to clear a path for the truck, but that he had left his pistol in the truck and subsequently ran off.

Arrest and imprisonment
Kenyan doctors attending to al-Owhali were suspicious of his role in the event, and noted that his injuries showed he had his back to the explosion and suggested he may have been running from the scene.

He was arrested August 12, 1998 and confessed to his role in the bombing. He cooperated with the FBI willingly, and gave them the telephone number he had called before and following the bombing; 967-1-200578, a Yemeni phone number belonging to the father-in-law of Khalid Mihdhar (who was a 9/11 hijacker and is thought to have helped organized the USS Cole bombing) which turned out to be the key communications hub in Yemen for al-Qaeda militants. He eventually tipped off the Americans about the upcoming Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit where the plans for 9/11 and USS Cole bombing were finalized.

In a successful bid to escape the death penalty, al-Owhali's lawyers played video clips from two cabinet members, attesting to the negative impact of sanctions which encouraged him to join Al-Qaeda.

Provided evidence against other captives in the war on terror
The Summary of Evidence memos prepared for the Combatant Status Review Tribunals of the fourteen "high-value detainees" mentioned Al-Owhali. Fourteen "high-value detaninees" who had been held for years, in secret CIA interrogation camps transferred from CIA custory to military custody in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.
 * Abd Al Rahim Hussein Mohammed Al Nashiri ||
 * One of the allegations against Al Nashiri was:
 * One of the allegations against Al Nashiri was:


 * "Mohammad Rashid Daoud Al-Owhali (Al-Owhali), confessed and was later convicted in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, for his role in the al Qaida bombings of the United States embassies in East Africa, which occurred on 7 August 1998. Al-Owhali obtained a Yemeni passport in the name of Khalid Salim Saleh Bin Rashid. Al-Owhali identified the individual who facilitated Al-Owhali's obtaining a Yemeni passport as Bilal, Bilal is known to Federal Bureau of Investigation investigators as Abdul Rahim al Nashiri, the detainee. Al-Owhali used this same Yemeni passport to travel to Nairobi, Kenya, arriving on 2 August 1998."
 * "Mohammad Rashid Daoud Al-Owhali (Al-Owhali), confessed and was later convicted in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, for his role in the al Qaida bombings of the United States embassies in East Africa, which occurred on 7 August 1998. Al-Owhali obtained a Yemeni passport in the name of Khalid Salim Saleh Bin Rashid. Al-Owhali identified the individual who facilitated Al-Owhali's obtaining a Yemeni passport as Bilal, Bilal is known to Federal Bureau of Investigation investigators as Abdul Rahim al Nashiri, the detainee. Al-Owhali used this same Yemeni passport to travel to Nairobi, Kenya, arriving on 2 August 1998."


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