And
Ahmed Ressam (
Arabic: احمد رسام) (born
May 19,
1967) aka "The Millennium Bomber" was convicted and given a prison sentence of 22 years in a plot to bomb
Los Angeles International Airport on
New Year's Eve 1999.
Ressam was born in
Algeria. He entered Canada in
1994 with a forged
French passport. When immigration officials at the
Montreal airport questioned him, he applied for
political asylum, making up a story about persecution in Algeria. After settling in Montreal, he became a small-time criminal. At some point, he was recruited into
al-Qaeda. After not attending his hearing for political asylum, his application for refugee status was denied and a warrant issued for his arrest. He evaded deportation by obtaining a passport using a false name, "Benni Noris."
Ressam used the passport to travel to a terrorist training camp in
Afghanistan in
1998. There he learned skills in weapons, explosives, and poisons. He left in early
1999 carrying the precursors for making explosives and planning to attack a
United States airport or
embassy. He returned to Canada, and continued making bomb materials and false papers. He made the decision to attack
LAX as part of the
2000 millennium attack plots.
On
December 14,
1999, he crossed the border at
Port Angeles, Washington. Upon noticing that he appeared nervous, customs officers inspected him more closely and asked for further identification. Ressam panicked and attempted to flee. Customs officials then found
nitroglycerin and four timing devices concealed in a spare tire well of his automobile. He was arrested by customs, and investigated by the
FBI. He had shared a room with
Abdelmajid Dahoumane, a suspected terrorist. A suitcase in the room which they lived in tested positive for chemicals used for making bombs. Ressam began cooperating with investigators in
2001, and revealed that al-Qaida
sleeper cells existed within the United States. This information was included in the famous
Presidential Daily Briefing delivered to
President Bush on
August 6,
2001, entitled
"Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US".
Ressam's testimony was used by the
Guantanamo Bay Combatant Status Review Tribunal to decide that friends of his, like fellow Algerian
Ahcene Zemiri, should continue to be held as
Unlawful Combatants.
On
July 27,
2005, Ressam was sentenced to 22 years in prison plus five years of supervision after his release.
uppy::lolBIG:
