The Long Fuse, S01E03: "The Blind Sheikh"

Runtime: 33:53 · Season One · A Will Sigmon Media production Season / Episode: 1 / 3 · episodeType: full

Cold open

Friday, August twenty-fourth, two thousand one. The cable that Mary asked for goes out. Two names are added to a State Department watchlist called TIPOFF: Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi. The Commission gives it one plain sentence: "Both Hazmi and Mihdhar were added to this watchlist on August 24." [cool] Their names had been in CIA files since January two thousand, when the two men attended a meeting of al Qaeda operatives in Kuala Lumpur. Nineteen…

About this episode

August 24, 2001: two names finally go onto a State Department watchlist. Then back to the early 1990s: bin Laden is pushed out of Saudi Arabia and builds a business empire in Sudan, a blind Egyptian cleric preaches in New Jersey, and a truck bomb explodes under the World Trade Center in February 1993. The investigation that followed was a success, and it still missed the bomber's uncle.

Disclaimer: a dramatization based on public records, including The 9/11 Commission Report, court filings and trial testimony. Some scenes and dialogue are reconstructed or composited. Voices are AI-generated and are not intended to resemble any real person. Not affiliated with or endorsed by any person or agency depicted. Allegations in court filings are unproven claims. No private victim is named beyond the public record, and people the Commission identified only by pseudonym keep those pseudonyms.

Content note

This episode discusses terrorism and the events leading to the September 11 attacks. No victim is voiced or depicted. No hijacker speaks.

Beat outline / chapters

These are narrative beats from the production script, not timed audio chapters.

• AUGUST 24, 2001
• Opening titles
• THE HEAD OF THE SNAKE. Khartoum, 1992 to 1994
• STRANGE ALLIES. Khartoum, 1991 to 1995
• ADEN AND MOGADISHU. December 1992 to 1994
• THE CLERIC IN NEW JERSEY
• LONG ISLAND AND MIDTOWN. 1989 to 1990
• THE MAN WITH THE KIT. September 1992
• 12:18 P.M. February 26, 1993
• FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS
• DRUGS AND THUGS. Washington, 1993
• THE VISIT. New York, March 1993
• THE SAFEHOUSE. Queens, May to June 1993
• THE CYLINDER. Khartoum, late 1993
• THE UNCLE
• MANILA. December 1994 to January 1995
• THE CASE AGAINST YOUSEF. 1995 to 1997
• THE VERDICTS. 1994 to 1998
• NINETEEN NINETY-FIVE. Tokyo, Oklahoma City and Washington
• THE WALL. July 1995
• THE LAYERS. The FAA, 1993 to 2001
• TWENTY-FIVE. Langley, 1992 to 1995
• TWO LESSONS. Washington, 1993 to the late 1990s
• THE SKIM. 1994 to 1996
• BACK TO AUGUST

Key people

• Omar Abdel Rahman (the Blind Sheikh)
• Ramzi Yousef
• Osama bin Laden
• The Record (narrator)

Key places

• AUGUST 24, 2001
• THE HEAD OF THE SNAKE. Khartoum, 1992 to 1994
• STRANGE ALLIES. Khartoum, 1991 to 1995
• ADEN AND MOGADISHU. December 1992 to 1994
• THE CLERIC IN NEW JERSEY
• LONG ISLAND AND MIDTOWN. 1989 to 1990
• THE MAN WITH THE KIT. September 1992
• 12:18 P.M. February 26, 1993
• DRUGS AND THUGS. Washington, 1993
• THE VISIT. New York, March 1993
• THE SAFEHOUSE. Queens, May to June 1993
• THE CYLINDER. Khartoum, late 1993

Sources

Bibliography

• CR2. The 9/11 Commission Report (2004), ch. 2, "The Foundation of the New Terrorism"
• CR3. The 9/11 Commission Report (2004), ch. 3, "Counterterrorism Evolves"
• CR5. The 9/11 Commission Report (2004), ch. 5, "Al Qaeda Aims at the American Homeland"
• CR6. The 9/11 Commission Report (2004), ch. 6, "From Threat to Threat"
• CR7. The 9/11 Commission Report (2004), ch. 7, "The Attack Looms"
• CR8. The 9/11 Commission Report (2004), ch. 8, "'The System Was Blinking Red'"
• CNS. United States v. Usama bin Laden et al., S(7) 98 Cr. 1023 (S.D.N.Y.), trial transcript, testimony of Jamal al-Fadl, Day 2 (February 7, 2001), as published by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies

Method. CR2 §2.3–2.4, CR3 §3.1, CR5 (KSM), CR8, al-Fadl trial testimony Day 2 (Feb 7, 2001; James Martin CNS PDF), verified against the official text. Narrator: the Record only. Nobody is voiced.

The 9/11 Commission Report: https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/index.htm

Scene-by-scene source notes

• 1. AUGUST 24, 2001. "Both Hazmi and Mihdhar were added to this watchlist on August 24." (VERBATIM) and Mary's request for the TIPOFF cable: CR8 fn 76. August 24, 2001 was a Friday (calendar). Kuala Lumpur meeting January 2000 and CIA awareness of both names from then: CR8 and CR6/CR7 (the Kuala Lumpur meeting is E07's subject; the date is standard in CR8: "the Kuala Lumpur materials"). "the State Department's TIPOFF list of known and suspected terrorists": CR3. "A watchlist stops people at the border. These two were already inside." is the Record's framing; consistent with CR8 ("They were already in the United States").
• 3. NO COUNTRY. 1989 to 1994. All facts in this scene: CR2 fn 30–35: Turabi's invitation "By the fall of 1989"; move back to Saudi Arabia; Iraq invades Kuwait August 1990; the mujahideen proposal "rebuffed"; Saudis join the US-led coalition and allow US forces; public denunciations; clerics exiled; passport taken; escape with "a dissident member of the royal family" in April 1991 under the pretext of an Islamic gathering in Pakistan; assets frozen and citizenship revoked by 1994; "He no longer had a country he could call his own." (VERBATIM); Khartoum–Port Sudan highway; businesses, bank accounts, NGOs; finance officers using business positions to acquire weapons, explosives and technical equipment.
• 3b. THE HEAD OF THE SNAKE. Khartoum, 1992 to 1994. Early-1992 fatwa against the Western "occupation" singling out US forces; "head of the snake" (VERBATIM); "just one among many diverse terrorist barons" (VERBATIM); local battles "in Egypt, Algeria, Bosnia, or Chechnya"; "far enemy" (VERBATIM): CR2 §2.4 fn 42–43. Procurement trips "from western Europe to the Far East"; "China, Malaysia, the Philippines, and the former Soviet states of Ukraine and Belarus": CR2 fn 35. Khartoum Tannery testimony, VERBATIM from *US v. bin Laden*, S(7) 98 Cr. 1023, al-Fadl Day 2 (Feb 7, 2001), tr. 350–352: "(Through the interpreter) We treat the skins of the cows, and then we export them abroad."; the government owed al Qaeda for building the road ("Thaadi Road… From Khartoum City to Atbar City…"; Hijra Construction Company); "Because they don't have money.". The road in the testimony (Khartoum–Atbara–Shendi) differs from CR2's Khartoum–Port Sudan highway; the narration says only "a road… a highway" to avoid conflating them.
• 3c. ADEN AND MOGADISHU. December 1992 to 1994. Somalia deployment late 1992; the fatwa demanding eviction; December 1992 bombs at two hotels in Aden, "killing two, but no Americans"; the Nairobi cell; weapons and trainers to Somali warlords; "Scores of trainers… including most of the senior members… of al Qaeda's military committee"; October 1993 Black Hawk shootdown and early-1994 withdrawal; "were later heard boasting" (VERBATIM): CR2 fn 44–46. "Famine relief" mission: general record (Operation Restore Hope, Dec 1992); The closing two lines are the Record's interpretation, flagged by "the lesson they told each other"; it restates the boast, not a finding.
• 4. THE CLERIC IN NEW JERSEY. "spiritual guide for both, but especially the Islamic Group, was the so-called Blind Sheikh, Omar Abdel Rahman. His preaching had inspired the assassination of Sadat."; "From his headquarters in Jersey City…" (VERBATIM): CR2 fn 28. Moved to the US from Egypt in 1990; Farouq mosque in Brooklyn; "preached the message of Sayyid Qutb's Milestones" (VERBATIM, title spoken without italics): CR3 fn 7. "killed President Anwar Sadat in 1981": CR2. "Mosques in New Jersey and Brooklyn": Jersey City headquarters (CR2) and Farouq mosque, Brooklyn (CR3). Rahman (died 2017) is not voiced, and none of his sermons are read.
• 5. 12:18 P.M. February 26, 1993. Opening sentence VERBATIM; not a suicide attack; truck bomb with a timing device on Level B-2; terrorists departed; hole seven stories up; "Six people died. More than a thousand were injured."; Yousef planted the bomb and "said later that he had hoped to kill 250,000 people"; he "fled to Pakistan immediately after the bombing": CR3 fn 1, 3, 6. Guardrail: no recreation of the blast, no sound effect; the scene is room tone only.
• 6. FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS. "excellent work investigating the bombing"; Ryder van reported stolen in Jersey City the day before; Salameh calling for his $400 deposit; arrested March 4, 1993; arrests leading to the Farouq mosque; informant; landmarks plot incl. Holland and Lincoln tunnels; June 1993 arrests of Rahman and confederates; SDNY convictions of the plotters, the Blind Sheikh and Yousef: CR3 fn 4–8. The three quotes are VERBATIM (CR3 fn 8 and the "Third"/"Fourth" paragraphs; "$400" spoken as "four hundred dollars"). Salameh, Rahman, Yousef: convicted (Rahman deceased).
• 6b. THE CYLINDER. Khartoum, late 1993. CR2 §2.4 fn 49–50 (VERBATIM): "a Sudanese military officer who had been a member of the previous government cabinet"; "the officer set the price at $1.5 million, which did not deter Bin Ladin"; "a cylinder about 3 feet long, and one thought he could pronounce it genuine"; "Al Qaeda apparently purchased the cylinder, then discovered it to be bogus"; "it's easy to kill more people with uranium." Al-Fadl Day 2 (Feb 7, 2001), tr. 357–365: "That's area of '94 or end of '93"; called by Abu Fadhl al Makkee ("we hear somebody in Khartoum, he got uranium, and we need you to go and study that"); "$1,500,000"; the quality / "which the country make it" questions; the jeep to "Khartoum north town"; "you did great job, and he give me $10,000… don't tell… anybody" (paraphrased). The al Qaeda officials and the Sudanese officer are not named in narration (living status unknown; never charged in this matter).
• 7. THE UNCLE. KSM, Yousef's uncle (three years older); Qatar Ministry of Electricity and Water: CR5 fn 5. Fall 1992 phone calls; "On November 3, 1992, KSM wired $660 from Qatar to the bank account of Yousef's co-conspirator, Mohammed Salameh."; "does not appear to have contributed any more substantially to this operation." (VERBATIM): CR5 fn 6. "Yousef's instant notoriety… inspired KSM" and his stated animus: CR5 fn 6 (KSM's own account, attributed). 1994 Manila, the apartment, the Bojinka plan (12 US jumbo jets over the Pacific during a two-day span): CR5 fn 7. Discovery by Philippine police in January 1995: CR3 fn 10 and CR5 fn 8. Yousef arrested in Islamabad Feb 7, 1995 after an accomplice turned him in; KSM "safely… back at his government job in Qatar": CR5 fn 8. Indictment January 1996; "probably warned him about it"; "stayed at large to play a central part in the 9/11 attacks" (VERBATIM, the Report's "(and stayed at large…)" parenthetical): CR3 fn 10. The co-conspirator is not named in narration here (Salameh was named in scene 6). Legal/dignity review (pending): KSM statements attributed; he has not been convicted (military commission case pending), so the narration states only what the Commission found and attributes the rest.
• 7b. THE SKIM. 1994 to 1996. "Sudan Becomes a Doubtful Haven"; currency, funds, the new "miserly" financial manager; al-Fadl "skimmed about $110,000"; "$500 a month while some of the Egyptians in al Qaeda were given $1,200 a month"; "a star informant for the United States" (VERBATIM); Mubarak attempt June 1995 by would-be killers "sheltered in Sudan and helped by Bin Ladin"; November 1995 Riyadh car bomb, "Five Americans and two officials from India were killed"; UN sanctions April 1996; "on May 19, 1996, Bin Ladin left Sudan-significantly weakened, despite his ambitions and organizational skills. He returned to Afghanistan." (VERBATIM): CR2 fn 56–61. Al-Fadl Day 2, tr. 382–393 (VERBATIM): "$110,000"; the sugar resale method (paraphrased); "And we talk about that a lot and there is no one listen, and it come a time I feel I have to do something for myself." (leading "And" dropped); "I pay out around between 25,000 to 30,000 back"; "That's in '96… between May and July"; "I tell him, no, I don't want visa, but I have some information for your government" (lead-in dropped). The Riyadh bombing is not attributed to bin Laden in narration (CR2: "nothing proves that Bin Ladin ordered this attack").
• 8. BACK TO AUGUST. Jane responsible for the US search; began drafting a lead for the FBI New York Field Office; lead not sent until August 28: CR8 fn 77. "Declared war… out loud": the 1996 declaration and 1998 fatwa (CR2 §2.4–2.5; E06). "Fourteen days": Aug 28 → Sep 11.

Credits

Written and produced by Will Sigmon for Will Sigmon Media. Narrated by The Record (AI voice).

Listen next

Next: Episode 4, "The Declaration" — bin Laden's declaration of war, Alec Station, and the years of mostly unheard warnings.

Episode page: https://shows.willsigmon.media/long-fuse/episodes/s01e03

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Disclaimer: a dramatization based on public records, including The 9/11 Commission Report, court filings and trial testimony. Some scenes and dialogue are reconstructed or composited. Voices are AI-generated and are not intended to resemble any real person. Not affiliated with or endorsed by any person or agency depicted. Allegations in court filings are unproven claims. No private victim is named beyond the public record, and people the Commission identified only by pseudonym keep those pseudonyms. The Long Fuse is produced by Will Sigmon Media. The narrator, The Record, and the few unnamed composite characters in the dramatized scenes are synthetic voices; no victim, hijacker or real official is voiced, and documented words are read by The Record as attributed quotations. Quotations from The 9/11 Commission Report keep its spelling, "Bin Ladin".

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