Wanted: Former al Qaeda Dishwasher

Adnan Shukrijumah, 35, is shown in these undated images provided by the FBI. The suspected al Qaeda operative who lived for more than 15 years in the U.S. has become chief of the terror network’s global operations, the FBI says, marking the first time a leader so intimately familiar with American society has been placed in charge of planning attacks. (AP Photo/FBI)

Washington Times:

Shukrijumah and two other leaders were part of an “external operations council” that designed and approved terrorism plots and recruits, but his two counterparts were killed in U.S. drone attacks, leaving Shukrijumah as the de facto chief and successor to Mohammed — his former boss.

“He’s making operational decisions is the best way to put it,” said Mr. LeBlanc, the FBI’s lead Shukrijumah investigator. “He’s looking at attacking the U.S. and other Western countries. Basically through attrition, he has become his old boss.”

The FBI has been searching for Shukrijumah since 2003. He is thought to be the only al Qaeda leader to have once held permanent U.S. resident status, or a green card.

KSM’s successor is suspected of being in the Pakistani tribal regions of Waziristan.

He was apparently a dishwasher before he worked his way up through the al Qaeda ranks.

Oh, and the anti-GZMers should jump all over this part:

Shukrijumah — the eldest son of a Saudi Imam — came to America as a young child.

They settled in Brooklyn, New York, where his father preached at a mosque. They lived at a nearby house before moving to Florida in the mid-’90s.

His father, who is now dead, opened a small mosque near Fort Lauderdale.

Meanwhile, Shukrijumah worked at odd jobs, including selling used cars. His family says it’s how he paid for courses, including computers and chemistry, at a small college in South Florida. He even took classes to improve his English.

A few years later, when the FBI said they wanted to find him, Shukrijumah’s English professor remembered videotaping him in class and turned over the tape to the FBI. That proved crucial six years later.

On a hunch, LeBlanc asked agents in New York to show that video of Shukrijumah to would-be bomber Zazi.

“From that video, he was able to make an identification,” LeBlanc says.

The FBI says it now has a more detailed profile of Shukrijumah in part, from 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed.

Who only became talkative after being subjected to enhanced interrogations, including waterboarding.

FBI description:

Date of Birth Used: August 4, 1975 Hair: Black
Place of Birth: Saudi Arabia Eyes: Black
Height: 5’3″ to 5’6″ Sex: Male
Weight: 132 pounds Complexion: Dark, Mediterranean
Build: Average
Remarks: El Shukrijumah occasionally wears a beard. He has a pronounced nose and is asthmatic. El Shukrijumah speaks English and carries a Guyanese passport, but may attempt to enter the United States with a Saudi, Canadian, or Trinidadian passport.

Others on the FBI’s most wanted terrorists list.