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User:Geo Swan/Fa‘iz al-Shanbari

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Fa‘iz al-Shanbari is a citizen of Saudi Arabia suspected of the murder of William Jefferson.[1][2] Jefferson was murdered in 1995. His murder has been called the first terrorist act to take place in newly independent Bosnia.[3] The United Nations requested Interpol issue an international arrest warrant for Fa'iz Al Shanbari in 1998. American counter-terrorism analysts asserted that Guantanamo captive Ahmed Zaid Salem Zuhair was in possession of Jefferson's watch, and that this established he had played a role in his murder.

According to historian Andy Worthington, author of The Guantanamo Files, Guantanamo authorities were aware that Bosnian authorities believed al-Shanbari was responsible for the murder, but had withheld that evidence from Zuhair's attorneys.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Traverse in Support of Ahmed Zuhair's Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus". United States Department of Defense. 2008-12-31. Archived from the original on 2010-11-03. Retrieved 2009-06-16. Respondents have repeatedly leveled this scurrilous accusation against Mr. Zuhair despite the fact that Bosnian authorities—the authorities most directly concerned by this crime—in 1998 issued an arrest warrant and a corresponding INTERPOL Red Notice in connection with this crime, for another Saudi national, Fa'iz al-Shanbari. See INTERPOL Red Notice for Fa'iz al-Shanbari, attached as Ex. 35. This warrant was issued as part of the Bosnian government's investigation into the Jefferson killing. See Letter from Zdravko Knežević, Chief Prosecutor of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina (Mar. 21, 2008), attached as Ex. 36.
  2. ^ a b Andy Worthington (2009-06-22). "The Lies Told about the Saudi Hunger Striker Released from Guantánamo". Future of Freedom Foundation. Archived from the original on 2010-11-03. As for allegations that Zuhair was involved in criminal activity during this time, the U.S. government initially claimed in his tribunal at Guantánamo that he 'was responsible for the 1995 death of William Jefferson, an American working for the United Nations in Bosnia-Herzegovina,' even though neither the Bosnian government nor the U.N. found any reason to associate Zuhair with the murder. The Bosnian government issued an arrest warrant for a different man, Fa'iz al-Shanbari, and a 200-page U.N. inquiry into the murder, 'which identifies Mr. Shanbari as a prime suspect, does not contain a single mention of Mr. Zuhair.' {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead= ignored (help)
  3. ^ "Muslim terrorist that killed Serbian policeman has been identified". Live Leak. 2015-04-29. Retrieved 2016-01-20. The first post-war attack that is associated with radical Islamists took place in Banovici late 1995, when he disappeared UNPROFOR officer William Jefferson. His body was discovered after a series of talks officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation with Ali Hamad in Zenica Prison.