Menad Benchellali is a suspected terrorist arrested in France on January 6, 2004.[1]
Benchellali is alleged to have been an al Qaeda chemical weapons specialist.
According to the Washington Post, Benchellali was known as "the chemist.[2] French investigators assert that, when Benchellali returned to France, from Afghanistan, he built a home lab in his bedroom, where he manufactured ricin.
Benchellali is reported to have sent his younger brother and a friend, Nizar Sassi, to Afghanistan.[3] Mourad and Sassis were captured and detained in Guantanamo.
Benchellali, was convicted, along with 24 others, on June 14, 2006 for their roles in planning a terrorist attack that was to have taken place in France to support Chechen independence.[4] Benchellali was described as the group's leader, and received a 10-year sentence. Benchellali's father, a younger brother, and his mother were also convicted for their roles.
Mourad Benchellali published a book about his experiences, and on June 14, 2006 the New York Times published an op-ed by Mourad, in which he blamed Menad for tricking him into attending a military training camp on what he thought would be a kind of vacation.[5][6] Mourad said he was looking forward to his day in court, for attending that training camp, after spending years in detention, without charge, in Guantanamo.
References
edit- ^ Henley, Jon (January 12, 2004). "Al-Qaida terror plot foiled, say French police". The Guardian. Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
- ^ Warrick, Jo (May 4, 2004). "An Al Qaeda 'Chemist' and the Quest for Ricin". Washington Post. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
- ^ Chang, Alice. "Nizar Sassi: A French Detainee Waiting to Return Home". Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism. Archived from the original on 14 September 2005. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
- ^ "French court convicts 25 for planning attack". The Globe and Mail. June 14, 2006. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
- ^ Smith, Craig S. (June 14, 2006). "French Court Sentences 25 Islamic Extremists". New York Times. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
- ^ Smith, Craig S. (14 June 2006). "French court sentences 25 Islamic extremists - Europe - International Herald Tribune". The International Herald Tribune. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 18 December 2019 – via NY Times.
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