Editing Mohammed Haydar Zammar

{{short description|Syrian-German militant (born 1961)}}
{{BLP sources|date=March 2011}}
{{Infobox War on Terror detainee
| name           = Mohammed Haydar Zammar<br />محمد حيدر زمار
| image          = 
| image_size     = 
| caption        = 
| birth_date     = {{birth year and age|1961}}
| birth_place    = [[Aleppo]], [[Syria]]
| arrest_date    = October 2001
| arrest_place   = [[Morocco]]
| arresting_authority= [[Law enforcement in Morocco|Moroccan police]]
| release_date   = 
| release_place  = 
| death_date     = 
| death_place    = 
| citizenship    = [[Germany|German]]
| detained_at    = [[Far' Falastin]] prison, [[Damascus, Syria]]
| id_number      = 
| group          = Formerly [[Al-Qaeda]], now [[Islamic State]]
| alias          = 
| charge         = 
| penalty        = 
| status         = Under custody of the YPG as of April 2018
| csrt_summary   = 
| csrt_transcript= 
| occupation     = 
| spouse         = 
| parents        = 
| children       = 
}}

'''Mohammed Haydar Zammar''' ({{langx|ar|محمد حيدر زمار}} ''Muḥammad Ḥaydar Zammār'') (born 1961) <ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2018/11/30/feature/this-is-the-man-who-recruited-the-9-11-hijackers/ |title=This is the man who recruited the 9/11 hijackers |date=2018-11-30 |author1=Liz Sly |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |place=Washington, D.C. |issn=0190-8286 |oclc=1330888409}}</ref> is a Syrian-German militant who served as an important [[al-Qaida]] recruiter,<ref name=CounterCurrentsZammar2014-01/><ref name=NewFaceOfAlQaeda/> and is currently a member of the [[Islamic State]]. He claims to have recruited many of the [[Hijackers in the September 11 attacks|organizers]] of the [[September 11 attacks]]. He was detained in [[Far'Falastin]].

==Early history==
Zammar was born in Syria to a religious Muslim family.<ref name=CounterCurrentsZammar2014-01/>
At ten he moved to Germany. He trained in [[metalworking]] and planned to work for [[Mercedes-Benz]]. Instead he worked as a translator in [[Saudi Arabia]], and  a truck-driver in Hamburg. In 1991, he flew to [[Afghanistan]] by way of [[Pakistan]] and underwent a training program for [[mujahideen]] fighters. His training included weapons knowledge, use of explosives, and advanced tactics. He was moved to an elite training camp near [[Jalalabad, Afghanistan|Jalalabad]] and after a year, returned to Hamburg.

Zammar travelled extensively over the next few years. While working as a [[mechanic]], he took long trips to [[Syria]], [[Jordan]], [[Turkey]], and [[Sweden]]. In 1995, he traveled to [[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]] to fight there. And in 1996, Zammar visited Afghanistan for a second time, this time to become a formal member of the group called al-Qaeda. He was reported to have been personally invited by [[Osama bin Laden]].

== Recruiter for al-Qaida ==
When Zammar returned to Hamburg he became an Islamic preacher.
''[[Der Spiegel]]'' described him, in 2002, as an imposing figure who frequently gave enthusiastic speeches on behalf of bin Laden and other [[Islamists]].<ref name=DerSpiegelAttasArmee/>
German police began to  investigate him at this time, long before [[September 11 attacks|al-Qaeda's attacks on 9-11]]. Zammar made frequent short trips to Afghanistan throughout this period.

[[Mohamed Atta]] became friends with Zammar around 1998.<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=Masterminds of Terror: The Truth Behind the Most Devastating Terrorist Attack the World Has Ever Seen|author1=Fouda, Y.|author2=Fielding, N.|date=2004|publisher=Arcade Publishing|isbn=9781559707176|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IASlEi7rogIC&pg=RA1-PA174|pages=1–174|accessdate=2017-01-08}}</ref> Zammar reportedly boasted that he personally recruited Atta and other hijackers into al-Qaida. Zammar also met frequently with [[Mounir El Motassadeq]] around this time.

In 1998 Germany intensified their surveillance of Zammar. He was trailed, his phone was tapped and  his calls were recorded. German authorities shared this information with the [[CIA]], including Zammar's phone conversations with hijackers [[Marwan al-Shehhi]], [[Mohamed Atta]], [[Ramzi bin al-Shibh]], and [[Said Bahaji]].<ref name="google2">{{cite book|title=The Terror Timeline: Year by Year, Day by Day, Minute by Minute: A Comprehensive Chronicle of the Road to 9/11--and America's Response|author=Thompson, P.|date=2004|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=9780060783389|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Awgp3H5mBXgC&pg=PA141|page=141|accessdate=2017-01-08}}</ref>

Atta, Shehhi, and bin al-Shibh formed the [[Hamburg cell]] in November 1998, and Zammar is reported to have been a frequent visitor.<ref name="google3">{{cite book|title=The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. Authorized Edition|author=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States|date=2004|publisher=W.W. Norton|isbn=9780393060416|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fNqdmUnqTJUC&pg=PA164|page=164|accessdate=2017-01-08}}</ref> Atta became the group leader, and Zammar was seen as a valuable conduit for international contacts.

In the Summer of 1999, U.S. intelligence discovered that Zammar was in direct contact with one of bin Laden's senior operational coordinators. The U.S. apparently did not share this information with German intelligence. Zammar is also known to have met frequently with [[Said Bahaji]] in Germany in 2000.

==Capture==
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=May 2016}}
On October 27, 2001, Zammar traveled to [[Morocco]]. Not long afterwards, he was arrested by Moroccan police with the assistance of the U.S. Although he was a German citizen and under investigation by Germany, German intelligence only learned about the arrest from the newspapers in June 2002.

Instead of being deported to the U.S. or Germany, Zammar was secretly sent to [[Syria]] for indefinite detention in the notorious [[Far'Falastin]] detention center in [[Damascus]]. Time Magazine reported: ''"U.S. officials in Damascus submit written questions to the Syrians, who relay Zammar's answers back. . . State Department officials like the arrangement because it insulates the U.S. government from any torture the Syrians may be applying to Zammar."''<ref>
{{cite news|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,265413,00.html|title=Help from an Unlikely Ally| publisher=[[Time Magazine]]|date=23 June 2008|accessdate=19 April 2018}}</ref>

On December 15, 2005, it was officially confirmed that German ''[[Federal Criminal Police Office (Germany)|Bundeskriminalamt]]'' federal police officers had on at least one occasion participated in Zammar's interrogation in Syria; it was claimed that these officers were unaware of the conditions at the prison. This seems doubtful given that it was widespread knowledge in the intelligence/international politics community, but if referring specifically to the treatment of Zammar, it may or may not be true; it is not known whether Zammar's interrogation by Syria or other parties did or does involve torture and if so, to which extent.

According to Amnesty International, Muhammad Haydar Zammar was a victim of the US-led [[extraordinary rendition|renditions programme]] who was convicted in February 2007 after an unfair trial before the Syrian Supreme State Security Court. Amnesty also alleged that he was held in pre-trial detention for almost five years, much of it in incommunicado and solitary confinement, at the notorious Palestine Branch of Military Intelligence in Damascus. During his detention he was tortured and otherwise ill-treated. In June 2007 the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention stated that Muhammad Haydar Zammar was detained arbitrarily and called upon the Syrian authorities to "remedy the situation". Amnesty International was not aware of the authorities having taken any steps to do so.

==Release==
Zammar was released as part of a prisoner exchange between the Islamist Syrian rebel group [[Ahrar al-Sham]] and the Syrian Government in September 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/03/zammar-hamburg-cell-qaeda-terror-ahrar-syria.html |title= 9/11 plotter released in Syria prisoner exchange}}</ref> A member of the negotiating team told [[Der Spiegel]] that days after being released, Zammar travelled to the Syrian city of [[Raqqa]] and joined the [[Islamic State]] (IS). He reportedly organised for funds to be sent to the [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]]-based militant group [[Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis]], and negotiated for the group to swear allegiance to IS.<ref name=DerSpiegelIS>
{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/islamic-state-expanding-into-north-africa-a-1003525.html|title=The 'Caliphate's' Colonies| publisher=[[Der Spiegel]]|date=2014-11-18|quote="He immediately went to the IS in Raqqa. He had likely planned it beforehand. Zammar is thought to have organized money transfers to Sinai and he is presumed to be in the region as well, say sources close to him"|accessdate=2015-05-04}}</ref>

==Recapture==
Zammar was recaptured by members of the Kurdish [[People's Protection Units]] in March 2018 near the village of Darnij in Deir al-Zour.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-prisoner/man-linked-to-9-11-attacks-on-u-s-captured-in-syria-pentagon-idUSKBN1HR027|title = Man linked to 9/11 attacks on U.S. Captured in Syria: Pentagon|newspaper = Reuters|date = 20 April 2018}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2018/11/30/feature/this-is-the-man-who-recruited-the-9-11-hijackers|title=This is the man who recruited the 9/11 hijackers|last=Sly|first=Liz|date=30 November 2018|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=4 December 2018}}</ref> {{As of|2018|11}}, he is being held in a prison in Qamishli, Northern [[Syria]], from where he gave an interview to the Washington Post.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://anfenglishmobile.com/news/an-organizer-of-september-11-attacks-captured-by-ypg-26174|title = An organizer of September 11 attacks captured by YPG}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

==See also==
*[[Abu Hamza al-Masri]]
*[[Khalid El-Masri]]
*[[Abu Omar case]]

==References==
{{Reflist|
refs=
<ref name=CounterCurrentsZammar2014-01>{{cite news
 |url         = http://www.countercurrents.org/davidsson180114.pdf
 |title       = The case of Muhammad Haidar Zammar: How German leaders conspired with the U.S. and Syria in covering-up a secret operation
 |publisher   = [[Counter Currents]]
 |author      = [[Elias Davidsson]]
 |date        = January 2014
 |accessdate  = 2014-01-23
 |archive-date = 2014-01-23
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20140123130933/http://www.countercurrents.org/davidsson180114.pdf
 |url-status  = dead
}}</ref>
<ref name=NewFaceOfAlQaeda>
{{cite news 
| url         = https://books.google.com/books?id=XiGooey3INkC&q=Mohammed+Haydar+Zammar&pg=PT218
| title       = Al-Zarqawi: The New Face of Al-Qaeda
| publisher   = [[Polity Press]]
| author      = Jean-Charles Brisard, Damien Martinez
| date        = 2005
| page        = 
| location    = 
| isbn        = 9780745635729
| accessdate  = 2014-01-23
| quote       = 
}}
</ref>
<ref name=DerSpiegelAttasArmee>
{{cite news 
| url         = http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-24389618.html
| title       = Atta's Armee
| publisher   = [[Der Spiegel]]
| author      = 
| date        = 2002-09-02
| page        = 
| location    = 
| isbn        = 
| accessdate  = 2014-01-23
| language    = German 
|trans-title=Atta's Army
| quote       = "Wer hat die Atombombe erfunden? Die Amerikaner", rief Zammar. Und: "Wer sind die größten Terroristen? Die so genannte zivilisierte Welt." Zammar, 195 Zentimeter groß und knapp drei Zentner schwer, stand in den Moscheen am Rand und trank Tee, und wer etwas brauchte, bat ihn um ein paar Minuten Gehör. Zammar war glaubwürdig für die anderen, weil er den Heiligen Krieg bereits hinter sich hatte, von dem die Jungen noch träumten.
}}
</ref>
}}

==External links==
*{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64793-2002Sep10.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223233030/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64793-2002Sep10.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2017-12-23|title=Hamburg's cauldron of terror|last=Finn|first=Peter|date=2002-09-11|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2017-12-23}}
*{{Cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/a-385870.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223233515/http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/a-385870.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2017-12-23|title=Der vergessene Gefangene|last=Stark|first=Holger|date=2005-11-21|work=Der Spiegel|access-date=2017-12-23|language=German}}
*[http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/CIA/activities/kidnapping/al_zammar/index.htm The Kidnapping of Muhammad Al-Zammar – ''A Document Archive''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090506091930/http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/CIA/activities/kidnapping/al_zammar/index.htm |date=2009-05-06 }}

{{GermanTerrorism}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zammar, Mohammed Haydar}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:German al-Qaeda members]]
[[Category:Syrian al-Qaeda members]]
[[Category:Alleged al-Qaeda recruiters]]
[[Category:German prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:People from Aleppo]]
[[Category:People subject to extraordinary rendition by the United States]]
[[Category:Far' Falastin prisoners]]
[[Category:Syrian emigrants to Germany]]
[[Category:Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members from Germany]]
[[Category:Hamburg cell]]