Terrorist Profiles: Adam Gadahn
Adam Gadahn Aliases: Abu Suhayb Al-Amriki, Abu Suhail Al-Amriki, Abu Suhayb, Yihya Majadin Adams, Adam Pearlman, Yayah, Azzam the American, Azzam Al-Amriki
Background Information
Adam Gadahn grew up on a goat farm in the Riverside California area. He was home-schooled until the age of 16 when he moved in with his grandparents in Santa Ana, CA. Described as a loner as well as a follower who lacked social situational skills by people that knew him. In 1995 at the age of 17, Gadahn began studying Islam at the Islamic Society of Orange County. Members of Gadahn’s study group were young fundamentalists who “targeted the mosque’s chairman, Hitham ‘Danny’ Bundakji,” whom they referred to as `Danny the Jew,` for his practice of “wearing Western clothes and being overly friendly with Jews. Gadahn would later in 1997 be placed in jail for two days for assaulting Bundakji. In 1998 Gadahn moved to Pakistan and married an Afghani woman. In the years that followed he occasionally kept in contact with his family in the United States.
The Californian Kid Turned Islamic Terrorist
“He was becoming very extreme in his ideas and views,” said Muzammil Siddiqi, the society’s religious director. “He must have disliked something.” Muzammil Siddiqi is a radical Wahhabist, who is on record in October 2002 at an anti-Israel rally outside the White House threatening the Uniteds States and supporting terrorist groups. If you’re searching for the cause of Adam Yahiye Gadahn’s alleged conversion from heavy metal kid to Al Qaeda operative, a good place to start would be with Siddiqi. Siddiqi also has called for a wider application of sharia law in the United States, and in a 1995 speech praised suicide bombers. “Those who die on the part of justice are alive, and their place is with the Lord, and they receive the highest position, because this is the highest honor,” he was quoted as saying by the Kansas City Star on Jan. 28, 1995. The move to Pakistan appeared to be to fulfill his need for more extreme study of Islam. In less a decade he has risen to bump shoulders with the most notorious of al Qaeda operatives and now he is considered the new face of the organization. appearing on numerous terrorist videos threatening death and destruction to America and it’s allies.
| Fact File: |
| Born: September 1, 1978 (born Adam Pearlman) |
| Place of Birth: United States |
| Languages: Arabic, English |
| Height: 5′11″ |
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| Adam Yahiye Gadahn was indicted in the Central District of California for treason and material support to Al Qaeda. The charges are related to Gadahn’s alleged involvement in a number of terrorist activities, including providing aid and comfort to Al Qaeda and services for Al Qaeda |
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| The Rewards For Justice Program, United States Department of State, is offering a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the arrest of Adam Yahiye Gadahn. |
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| Gadahn’s Muslim manifesto was posted on a USC Website and circulated on the internet after he become wanted by the FBI |
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| The former Orange County resident had a hippie upbringing, a short-but-fanatical devotion to death metal, converted to Islam, and spent two days in jail for attacking a member of his mosque |
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| FBI says he was just one member of a Khalid Sheikh Mohammed-plot to blow up gas stations in the Baltimore area. |
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| ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: When he attended the training camps in Afghanistan. He is known to have performed translations for al Qaeda as part of the services he has provided. |
Terrorist Activities
The FBI states Adam Yahiye Gadahn was indicted in the Central District of California for treason and material support to Al Qaeda. The charges are related to Gadahn’s alleged involvement in a number of terrorist activities, including providing aid and comfort to Al Qaeda and services for Al Qaeda. $1,000,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
Newsweek” magazine reported in 2004 Adam Gadahn was named by al Qaeda operations chief, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Mohammed told interrogators he wanted Gadahn to join a plot to blow up fuel stations outside Baltimore. The report says Gadahn was willing to help, but would not join in any suicide operations because his wife was pregnant.
Gadahn has become one of Osama bin Laden’s senior operatives. (He is believed to be hiding in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan.) He is a member of Al Qaeda’s “media committee,” and his responsibilities are thought to include those of translator, video producer, and cultural interpreter. Primarily, though, Gadahn is a spokesperson, a role he performs with tremendous conviction. He has addressed the United States in five videos, most of which reach a wide audience on the Internet.
