Hassan Ghul - History

History

Ghul was first mentioned in the 9/11 Commission, where he was stated to have led three people, including Mushabib al-Hamlan, to a waypoint controlled by Abu Zubaydah.

He was captured on January 23, 2004 by Kurdish police forces, possibly associated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, at a checkpoint near Kalar, at the Iranian border after police sent a fax to American CIA officials to confirm his photograph. There are contradicting claims that he was caught entering Iraq to bring al-Zarqawi money and bomb schematics or that he was caught leaving Iraq bringing al-Zarqawi's progress report on successful suicide bombings into Iran.

Ghul was carrying a USB flash drive and two CDs, one allegedly including a 17-page progress report believed to have been written by al-Zarqawi, claiming responsibility for suicide attacks in Iraq. US Intelligence officials have contradicted the accepted story, stating that the progress report was instead found in an abandoned safehouse in Baghdad. In addition, the US military provided the media with "photocopies of the original handwritten Arabic letter" which were then translated, muddying the claim that it had been a computer document. A notebook in his satchel also revealed a number of names and phone numbers of suspected associates.

Kurdish forces immediately turned Ghul over to the American military, and he was interrogated while still in the country. Although he may have been cooperative with the military interrogation, his questioning revealed little.