The FBI is seeking information on the whereabouts of a Saudi Arabian man who was a former associate of Osama bin Laden for questioning about his alleged involvement with the Al-Qaeda terror group.
The State Department is offering a $5 million reward for the location of Hamza Al Ghamdi, who served as a trusted member of bin Laden's security detail in the period leading up to the September 11 attacks.
"We have not forgotten," Christie M. Curtis, Acting Assistant Director in charge of the FBI’s New York City Field Office, said in a Thursday news release. "Twenty-three years later, the FBI is still seeking justice for the victims of the September 11th attacks by continuing to seek those who desire to harm us."
Al Ghamdi has participated in armed conflict zones, including Afghanistan and Tajikistan, and held significant roles within the Al-Qaeda network, the FBI said. In addition, he also operated Al-Qaeda guesthouses near Kabul, Afghanistan, where he provided logistical support to the group's members, authorities said.
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As an associate, Al Ghamdi worked alongside the late senior Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri and embedded himself within the core of the terrorist group’s operations.
Al Ghamdi also uses these names: Salih Saeed Albitaih Alghamdi, Hamza Salih Bin Sa'id Al-Ghamdi and Hamza Al Ghamidi, the FBI said.
The timing of the FBI's announcement came a day after the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The FBI noted that Al Ghamdi is not the same Hamza Al Ghamdi who was one of the terrorists on United Airlines Flight 175 that took over the plane and crashed it into the World Trade Center in New York City.
