Zahid Al-Sheikh is an elder brother of

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad. He volunteered to travel to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

to help fight to resist the

Soviet occupation of Afghanistan The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by area ...

. Following the ouster of the Soviet forces Zahid is reported to have played a role in planning terrorist projects. He is also reported to have shifted careers to the direction of

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

s that provided aid to refugees. Zahid and two of his brothers traveled to Afghanistan in the mid-1980s. His two brothers are believed to have been killed in combat. His youngest brother, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was later to play a senior role in

al Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

's leadership arrived in 1987. Zahid is reported to have introduced his younger brother to leading anti-Soviet fighters. According to the

9/11 Commission The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, commonly known as the 9/11 Commission, was set up on November 27, 2002, to investigate all aspects of the September 11 attacks, the deadliest terrorist attack in world history ...

, The USA sought Zahid for questioning about whether he played a role in the

1993 World Trade Center bombing The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a terrorist attack carried out by Ramzi Yousef and associates against the United States on February 26, 1993, when a van bomb detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center complex in Manhat ...

. Zahid is reported to have collaborated with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in planning Operation Bojinka, a 1995 plan to hijack 12 airplanes over the Pacific. On September 26, 2001, shortly after al Qaeda's 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' published a report on their investigation as to whether there was evidence of a real link between Osama bin Laden and Mercy International, the charity Zahid helped run. They reported they could find no evidence of a link, but called for a more detailed investigation—to reassure the public.

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

intelligence analysts Intelligence analysis is the application of individual and collective cognitive methods to weigh data and test hypotheses within a secret socio-cultural context. The descriptions are drawn from what may only be available in the form of delibera ...

alleged, during

Adel Hassan Hamad Adel Hassan Hamad is a citizen of Sudan, who was held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camp, in Cuba. Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts estimate he was born in 1958, in Port Sudan, Sudan. Adel Hassan was repatr ...

Combatant Status Review Tribunal The Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRT) were a set of tribunals for confirming whether detainees held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp had been correctly designated as " enemy combatants". The CSRTs were establi ...

and

Administrative Review Board The Administrative Review Board is a United States military body that conducts an annual review of the detainees held by the United States in Camp Delta at the United States Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The purpose o ...

hearing that Zahid was tied to terrorism and that Hamad's acquaintanceship with him was one of the factors in favor of his continued detention. American intelligence analysts alleged that Zahid was the director of the Jelazee Refugee Camp and

Lajnat Al-Da'wa al Islamia Lajnat Al-Da'wa al Islamia ''(LDI, also known as the “Islamic Call Committee”)'' is a Muslim non-governmental organization based in Kuwait. It says that it is a humanitarian aid organization. It has provided aid in Afghanistan and other areas of ...

(LDI) in Pakistan. Hamad confirmed that Zahid had been a director of LDI and not a director of Jelazee Refugee Camp supported by LDI. American intelligence analysts told Hamad's hearing that "other sources" identified Zahid as holding extremist views. Hamad replied that his relationship with Zahid was a purely administrative one, but he did not believe Zahid was an extremist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheikh, Zahid Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Pakistani people of Arab descent