The Man Who Gave US Intelligence The History Of Al Qaeda (Jamal al-Fadl)

Very little is known about Jamal al-Fadl's young upbringing, but what is known about him are from recorded testimonies he gave over the years for NY prosecutors when he decided to become a cooperating informant against the orgaznaition he is alleged to have helped organize in 1987, Al Qaeda. During his brief existence, al-Fadl was a very prominent financier for Osama Bin Laden and was tasked to manage money transfers and coordinate weapons sales in Bosnia and Algeria. He also sets up bank accounts under umbrella Islamic charities which were indirectly linked to Bin Laden and Al Qaeda in the beginning of the 1990's.

However, after embezzling 100,000 of Bin Laden's money and he quickly offered his services as an informant against the orgaznaition for the FBI in 1996. Over the years, he would be debriefed about the inner workings of the organization's hierarchy and committee structure. The U.S also wanted to prosecute Osama bin Laden in his absence under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). To be able to do so under American law, the prosecutors needed evidence of a criminal organization, which would then allow them to prosecute the leader, even if he could not be linked directly to the crime. By 2007, the FBI found him rather troublesome as His upkeep during the first 12 years of his life in Witness Protection were deemed "expensive", and was reportedly an "incessant troublemaker" who suffered severe emotional mood swings, a taste for womanizing and financial scheming.