View source for Mahfouz Ould al-Walid

{{Short description|Member of al-Qaeda}}
{{Other people|Abu Hafs}}
{{Infobox person
| name=Mahfouz Ould al-Walid<br/>{{Nobold|{{Lang|ar|محفوظ  ولد الوالد}}}}
| image=
| birth_date={{Birth date and age|1975|1|1}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions/20070601a|title=Global Terrorism (SDGT) Designation Update}}</ref>
| birth_place=[[Mauritania]]
| nationality={{Flagicon|Mauritania}} Mauritanian
| other_names=Abu Hafs al-Mauritani<br />Khalid al-Shanqiti<br />Mafouz Walad al-Walid<ref name=SDN />
| known_for=Islamic scholar and poet affiliated with al-Qaeda until the September 11, 2001 attacks.
}}
'''Mahfouz Ould al-Walid''' ({{langx|ar|محفوظ ولد الوالد}}; born 1 January 1975), [[Kunya (Arabic)|kunya]] '''Abu Hafs al-Mauritani''' ({{langx|ar|أبو حفص الموريتاني}}), is a [[Mauritania]]n Islamic scholar and poet previously associated with [[al-Qaeda]]. A veteran of the [[Soviet–Afghan War]],<ref name=ayman>{{cite book
| last=al-Zawahiri
| first=Ayman
| title=A Treatise Exonerating the Nation of the Pen and the Sword from the Blemish of the Accusation of Weakness and Fatigue
| url=https://fas.org/irp/dni/osc/exoneration.pdf
| author-link=Ayman al-Zawahiri
| date=March 2, 2008}}</ref> he served on al-Qaeda's Shura Council<ref>{{cite web |title=Former al-Qaeda mufti: I condemn ISIL attacks |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/2015/11/abu-hafs-al-mauritani-al-qaeda-mufti-reject-islamic-state-isil-baghdadi-caliphate-151121133941210.html |website=www.aljazeera.com |access-date=30 January 2020}}</ref> and ran a religious school called the [[College of Islamic and Arabic Studies, Afghanistan|Institute of Islamic Studies]] in [[Kandahar]], [[Afghanistan]], from the late 1990s until the [[American invasion of Afghanistan]] in 2001.<ref name=longwar >{{cite web
| title=Al Qaeda fighter properly detained at Gitmo, court finds
| url=http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/04/al_qaeda_fighter_pro.php
| first=Thomas
| last=Joscelyn
| work=Long War Journal
| date=April 10, 2011
| access-date=October 23, 2012
}}</ref>
Along with [[Saeed al-Masri]] and [[Saif al-Adel]], al-Walid opposed the [[September 11 attacks]] two months prior to their execution.<ref name=911report>{{cite web
| url=http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report_Ch7.pdf
| title=''9/11 Commission Report''
| author=9/11 Commission
| author-link=9/11 Commission
| date=July 22, 2004
| access-date=October 23, 2012
| pages=251–252
}}</ref><ref name=ctc />{{rp|page=18}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biyokulule.com/view_content.php?articleid=5302 |title=Former Al-Qaeda leader interviewed on group's affairs, September attacks |work=BBC Monitoring Middle East |date=October 18, 2012 |access-date=August 14, 2014}}</ref> 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]].<ref name=911report />
Al-Walid fled from Afghanistan to Iran after the American invasion and was held there under house arrest from 2003 until April 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/8330976/ns/dateline_nbc/t/al-qaida-finds-safe-haven-iran/#fullstory |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028050125/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/8330976/ns/dateline_nbc/t/al-qaida-finds-safe-haven-iran/#fullstory |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 28, 2014 |first=Robert |last=Windrem |work=NBC News |date=June 24, 2005 |access-date=August 14, 2014 |title=Al-Qaida finds safe haven in Iran}}</ref><ref name=cnnsecurity>{{cite news
| url=http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/10/osama-bin-laden-confidant-released-from-prison/
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710232215/http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/10/osama-bin-laden-confidant-released-from-prison/
| url-status=dead
| archive-date=July 10, 2012
| title=Osama bin Laden confidant released from prison
| first=Pam
| last=Benson
| work=CNN Security Clearance
| date=July 10, 2012
| access-date=October 23, 2012
}}</ref> 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.<ref name=cnnsecurity /><ref>{{cite news
| title=Al Qaeda leader Abu Hafs al-Mauritani freed in Mauritania
| url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/al-qaeda-leader-abu-hafs-al-mauritani-freed-in-mauritania/
| work=CBS News
| access-date=July 10, 2012
| date=July 9, 2012}}</ref>
==Life==
The publisher of the magazine ''Al-Talib'' (''The Student''), al-Walid wrote poetry that attracted the attention of [[Osama bin Laden]], and was invited to give spiritual lectures to [[mujahideen]] at [[Afghan training camps]].<ref name=ayman /> Some time in late 2000 or early 2001, bin Laden was videotaped reciting al-Walid's poem "Thoughts Over al-Aqsa Intifadah".<ref>[[IntelCenter]], "Know Thy Enemy", DVD Series, volume 28</ref>
It was later suggested that he had traveled to Iraq in early 1998 in an attempt to meet with [[Saddam Hussein]], but was turned away as the leader did not want to create problems for his country.<ref name="intel">[[Senate Intelligence Committee]], 109th Congress, "Senate Report of Pre-war Intelligence on Iraq", p. 73-75</ref>
Later in 1998, the United States learned al-Walid was staying in Room 13 at the Dana Hotel in [[Khartoum]], and President [[Bill Clinton]] sought to have him killed or preferably [[Extraordinary rendition|renditioned]] to a friendly country for interrogation. When a plan was finally made to capture him using another country's officials, he had already left [[Sudan]].<ref>
{{cite news
| last = Miller
| first = Judith
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/30/us/a-nation-challenged-the-response-planning-for-terror-but-failing-to-act.html?pagewanted=5
| title = A NATION CHALLENGED: THE RESPONSE; Planning for Terror but Failing to Act
| work = New York Times
| date = December 30, 2001
| access-date = June 6, 2015
}} Al-Walid called by his kunya, Abu Hafs.</ref><ref>{{cite book |author-link=Richard A. Clarke |first=Clarke |last=Richard |title=[[Against All Enemies]] |year=2004 |publisher=Free Press |isbn=978-0743260459 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/againstallenemie00clar/page/143 143–146] }}</ref>
In 1998, Germany began monitoring [[Mohamedou Ould Salahi]]'s accounts, and it was noticed that al-Walid had asked him to spare some money twice, resulting in a [[Deutsche Mark|DM]]8,000 transfer in December and one other situation in which he sent him money.<ref name="der"/> In January 1999, al-Walid telephoned Salahi using a monitored [[satellite phone]] he borrowed from Bin Laden.<ref name="dept">Department of Defense, "Administrative Review Board Hearing for Mohamedou Ould Slahi", p. 184-216</ref> He was initially labeled as being the same person as Slahi by the [[Office of Foreign Assets Control]], who amended their list in June 2007 to distinguish the two people.<ref name=SDN>{{cite web |publisher=[[Office of Foreign Assets Control]] |url=http://www.bankersonline.com/ofac/ofacsummary1001.html |title=OFAC Sanctions Matrix from BankersOnline.com |date=October 3, 2001 |access-date=June 6, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2007/sc9034.doc.htm |title=Security Council committee approves amendment to identifying information of one individual on Consolidated List |date=June 4, 2007 |access-date=June 5, 2015 |publisher=United Nations}}</ref> It was later suggested they were [[brother-in-law|brothers-in-law]], cousins or cousins-in-law.<ref name="dept"/> The confusion seemed to stem from the fact that al-Walid's wife and Salahi's wife were sisters.
In mid-2000, al-Walid was approached by [[Ahmed al-Nami]] and [[Mushabib al-Hamlan]] who asked him about becoming suicide operatives.<ref>''[[9/11 Commission Report]]'', July 22, 2004</ref>
[[Ayman al-Zawahiri]] has credited al-Walid's book ''Islamic Action Between the Motives of Unit and the Advocates of Conflict'' as being one of the driving forces behind convincing al-Qaeda to merge with [[Egyptian Islamic Jihad]] in June 2001.<ref name=ayman />
==War on Terror==
{{Further|War on Terror}}
It is believed that the [[American invasion of Afghanistan]] following the September 11 attacks by bin Laden actually drove al-Walid away from al-Qaeda and that he and a number of other discontent former members moved to the south to avoid connection with the ongoing fight.<ref name=ctc>{{cite web |publisher=[[Combating Terrorism Center]] |url=https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/cracks-in-the-foundation-leadership-schisms-in-al-qaida-from-1989-2006 |title=Cracks in the Foundation: Leadership Schisms in al-Qa'ida from 1989-2006 |access-date=June 5, 2015 |date=January 2, 2007 |first=Vahid |last=Brown |archive-date=April 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170430015631/https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/cracks-in-the-foundation-leadership-schisms-in-al-qaida-from-1989-2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=finn>{{cite news |last=Finn |first=Peter |agency=Washington Post |work=SF Gate |title=Al Qaeda finds safety in Iran, say Arab spies / Leaders, fighters living in hotels, they say |url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Al-Qaeda-finds-safety-in-Iran-say-Arab-spies-2777098.php |date=August 28, 2002 |access-date=June 5, 2015}}</ref> He was said to be opposed to the attacks both because he feared that the Americans would respond with force, but also because he felt that killing American civilians could not be justified on religious grounds.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bergen |first1=Peter L. |title=The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden: The Biography |date=3 August 2021 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |page=141 |url=https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-Osama-bin-Laden/dp/1982170522 |language=English}}</ref>
The United States accused him of entering Iraq again in an attempt to get Hussein to negotiate but stated that he was rebuffed on the same terms as his first visit.<ref name="intel"/> He was reported killed twice, the second time following a January 8, 2002 airstrike in Zawar Kili, outside of [[Khost]].<ref name=shahzad>{{cite news |last=Shahzad |first=Syed Saleem |author-link=Saleem Shahzad |work=Asia Times |url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/DH31Ak01.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020911070637/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/DH31Ak01.html |url-status=unfit |archive-date=September 11, 2002 |title=Al-Qaeda Tales: The North African Connection |date=August 31, 2002 |access-date=June 5, 2015}}</ref><ref>Vider, Manuel. "Understanding Terror", p. 15</ref>
When [[Shadi Abdellah]] was arrested in 2002, he cooperated with authorities, but suggested that [[Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]] and [[Osama bin Laden]] were not as closely linked as previously believed, in large part because al-Zarqawi disagreed with many of the sentiments put forward by al-Walid for al-Qaeda.<ref>Bergen, Peter. "The Osama bin Laden I know", 2006. p. 359-422</ref>
Zawahiri continued to speak positively of the role al-Walid played in encouraging [[Pan-Islamism|Pan-Islamic]] peace and cooperation.<ref name=ayman />
Libyan Islamist [[Nomam Benotman]] also indicated in a letter to bin Laden that he, al-Walid, and Al Qaeda security official [[Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah|Abu Muhammad al-Zayat]] opposed the 9/11 attacks.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/features/2010/09/23/feature-03 |title=Noman Benotman criticises al-Qaeda in bin Laden letter |work=Magharebia |date=September 23, 2010 |access-date=August 14, 2014 |first=Camille |last=Tawil}}</ref>
In the 2008 Chilean book ''El Norte de Africa en la Intriga de al Qaeda'', author Carlos Saldivia suggested that al-Walid was involved in the [[2003 Casablanca bombings]].<ref name="junior">Saldivia, Carlos. "El Norte de Africa en la Intriga de Al Qaeda", 2008. p. 207.</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist|2|
refs=
<ref name="der">
{{cite news
| url         = http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,583193-2,00.html
| title       = From Germany to Guantanamo: The Career of Prisoner No. 760
| publisher   = [[Der Spiegel]]
| date        = 2008-10-09
| archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20140813072014/http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/from-germany-to-guantanamo-the-career-of-prisoner-no-760-a-583193-2.html
| archive-date = 2014-08-13
| access-date  = 2014-08-29
| url-status     = live
}}
</ref>
}}
==External links==
* {{cite web | url=http://www.biyokulule.com/view_content.php?articleid=5302 | title=Former Al-Qaeda leader interviewed on group's affairs, September attacks | date=October 18, 2012 | work=Biyokulule Online | publisher=Al-Jazeera TV, Doha, in Arabic}}
{{Al-Qaeda}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walid, Mahfouz Ould}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1975 births]]
[[Category:Mauritanian al-Qaeda members]]
[[Category:Individuals designated as terrorists by the United States government]]