Ali Soufan

Ali H. Soufan
Soufan in 2022
Born1971 (age 52–53)[1]
Beirut, Lebanon
NationalityLebanese-American
Alma materMansfield University of Pennsylvania (BA)
Villanova University (MA)
Known forFBI agent
WebsiteSoufanGroup.com

Ali H. Soufan (born 1971) is a Lebanese-American former FBI agent who was involved in a number of high-profile anti-terrorism cases both in the United States and around the world. A 2006 New Yorker article described Soufan as coming closer than anyone to preventing the September 11 attacks and implied that he would have succeeded had the CIA been willing to share information with him.[2] He resigned from the FBI in 2005 after publicly chastising the CIA for not sharing intelligence with him which could have prevented the attacks.

In 2011, Soufan published a memoir which includes some historical background on al-Qaeda: The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al-Qaeda.[3] In 2017, he published Anatomy of Terror: From the Death of Bin Laden to the Rise of the Islamic State. He is the CEO of The Soufan Group[4] and founder of The Soufan Center, "a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving as a resource and forum for research, analysis, and strategic dialogue related to global security issues and emergent threats." Soufan is a Phi Kappa Theta alumnus and winner of the Kennedy award in 2018.

In 2023, an honoree by the Carnegie Corporation of New York's Great Immigrant Award.[5]

  1. ^ "Ali Soufan Q&A: "Hotel California is the story of my life"". www.newstatesman.com. June 20, 2018.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference TheAgent was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "An Interrogator Writes 'The Inside Story Of 9/11'". NPR - Fresh Air. September 13, 2011. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference soufangroup was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Pedro Pascal and World Bank's Ajay Banga among those named to Carnegie's 2023 Great Immigrants list". AP News. June 28, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2024.