Hassan Ghul
Hassan Ghul (Arabic: حسان غول), born Mustafa Hajji Muhammad Khan (August 1977 - 1 October 2012), was a Saudi-born Pakistani member of al-Qaeda who revealed the kunya of Osama bin Laden's messenger, which eventually led to Operation Neptune Spear and the death of Osama Bin Laden. Ghul was an ethnic Pashtun whose family was from Waziristan. He was designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee of the Security Council in 2012.
Hassan Ghul | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 1977 |
| Died | 1 October 2012 (aged 35) North Waziristan, Pakistan |
| Other names | Mustafa Hajji Muhammad Khan (birth name), The Gatekeeper |
| Occupation | Courier to high ranking commander in Al-Qaeda |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | Al-Qaeda |
| Service/ | Al-Qaeda central |
Captured by Kurdish Peshmarga forces in Iraqi Kurdistan and turned over to American intelligence in early 2004, Ghul was said to have served as anywhere from a courier who delivered messages for al-Qaeda members to a high-ranking associate of either Osama bin Laden, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, or Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
He was held at a CIA black site for two years. It was during this time of detainment in early 2004, but before he was subjected to torture, that Ghul listed al-Kuwaiti as a close associate of bin Laden. CIA records show that Ghul was not the first source of the name "al-Kuwaiti," which was also provided in 2002 by another detainee, Abu Zubair al-Ha'ili, who was being held by a foreign government.
In 2006, Ghul was transferred to the custody of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, which released him in 2007. Ghul was killed by a CIA drone strike in North Waziristan in October 2012.