Mahfouz Ould al-Walid

For other people named Abu Hafs, see Abu Hafs (disambiguation).
Mahfouz Ould al-Walid
محفوظ ولد الوالد
Born (1975-01-01) January 1, 1975 (age 49)[1]
Mauritania
NationalityMauritania Mauritanian
Other namesAbu Hafs al-Mauritani
Khalid al-Shanqiti
Mafouz Walad al-Walid[2]
Known forIslamic scholar and poet affiliated with al-Qaeda until the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Mahfouz Ould al-Walid (Arabic: محفوظ ولد الوالد; born 1 January 1975), kunya Abu Hafs al-Mauritani (Arabic: أبو حفص الموريتاني), is a Mauritanian Islamic scholar and poet previously associated with al-Qaeda. A veteran of the Soviet–Afghan War,[3] he served on al-Qaeda's Shura Council[4] and ran a religious school called the Institute of Islamic Studies in Kandahar, Afghanistan, from the late 1990s until the American invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.[5]

Along with Saeed al-Masri and Saif al-Adel, al-Walid opposed the September 11 attacks two months prior to their execution.[6][7]: 18 [8] Under interrogation, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said that al-Walid had opposed any large-scale attack against the United States and wrote bin Laden a stern letter warning against any such action, quoting the Quran.[6]

Al-Walid fled from Afghanistan to Iran after the American invasion and was held there under house arrest from 2003 until April 2012.[9][10] At that time, Iran extradited him to Mauritania, where he was held in prison until his release on July 7, 2012. He was released after renouncing his ties to al-Qaeda and condemning the September 11 attacks.[10][11]

  1. ^ "Global Terrorism (SDGT) Designation Update".
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference SDN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ al-Zawahiri, Ayman (March 2, 2008). A Treatise Exonerating the Nation of the Pen and the Sword from the Blemish of the Accusation of Weakness and Fatigue (PDF).
  4. ^ "Former al-Qaeda mufti: I condemn ISIL attacks". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  5. ^ Joscelyn, Thomas (April 10, 2011). "Al Qaeda fighter properly detained at Gitmo, court finds". Long War Journal. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  6. ^ a b 9/11 Commission (July 22, 2004). "9/11 Commission Report" (PDF). pp. 251–252. Retrieved October 23, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference ctc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "Former Al-Qaeda leader interviewed on group's affairs, September attacks". BBC Monitoring Middle East. October 18, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  9. ^ Windrem, Robert (June 24, 2005). "Al-Qaida finds safe haven in Iran". NBC News. Archived from the original on October 28, 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  10. ^ a b Benson, Pam (July 10, 2012). "Osama bin Laden confidant released from prison". CNN Security Clearance. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  11. ^ "Al Qaeda leader Abu Hafs al-Mauritani freed in Mauritania". CBS News. July 9, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2012.