Name Khalid al-Juhani | ||
 | ||
Born circa 1975 Saudi Arabia Died May 12, 2003
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | ||
Khalid Mohammad bin Muslim Al-Arawi Al-Juhani (Arabic: وقع خالد بن محمد مسلم الجهني, also known as Mu'awiyah al-Madani) was a Saudi member of al-Qaeda who appeared cradling a rifle, in a 2002 videotape in which he promised a "martyrdom" attack. In 2003, the Saudi government identified al-Juhani as one of twelve dead perpetrators of the Riyadh compound bombings based on DNA found at the scene.
Life
Al-Juhani was once a bodyguard for Osama Bin Laden. He fled Afghanistan, along with Saleh al-Oufi, in late 2001 following the American invasion.
On January 14, 2002, a series of five videocassetes were recovered from the rubble of the destroyed home of Mohammad Atef outside of Kabul, Afghanistan. The tapes showed Abderraouf Jdey, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Muhammad Sa'id Ali Hasan, Abd Al-Rahim, and al-Juhani vowing to die as martyrs. It was the first time authorities had reason to suspect him of any wrongdoing. NBC News said the videos had been recorded after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
After the tape was discovered, and the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan contacted his family members, they said he spent three years fighting in Afghanistan from the time he was 18 years old, and another three years fighting in Chechnya. They believed he had been left mentally ill "as a result of pressure he faced during the [Afghan] war". He fled Afghanistan during the American invasion, and moved to Yemen, before moving to Riyadh in 2003. In Saudi Arabia, Karim el-Mejjati agreed to allow al-Juhani to live with his family. He tried to find a wife for al-Juhani, who was not supposed to be involved in any more fighting.
On March 23, 2003, el-Mejjati's wife and 10-year-old son Ilyass left the city to try to reach an ophthalmologist. They had been originally intended to travel with al-Juhani, which caught the attention of the Mabahith secret police. However, al-Juhani argued he wasn't feeling well and asked a brother and his wife to instead accompany el-Mejjati and her son. The group was nonetheless arrested by authorities who hoped that al-Juhani was present.
Al-Juhani was identified as one of the twelve suicide bombers in the May 2003 suicide bombing attacks in Riyadh.