Ali Soufan
| Ali H. Soufan | |
|---|---|
FBI lead investigator Soufan in Afghanistan (2001)
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| Born |
July 8, 1971 Lebanon |
| Nationality | Lebanese-American |
| Alma mater |
Mansfield University of Pennsylvania (B.A., International Studies and Political Science) Villanova University (M.A., International Relations) |
| Known for | FBI agent |
| Website | soufangroup |
Ali H. Soufan (born July 8, 1971) is a Lebanese-American former FBI agent who was involved in a number of high-profile anti-terrorism cases both in the United States and around the world. A New Yorker article in 2006 described Soufan as coming closer than anyone to preventing the September 11 attacks, even implying that he would have succeeded had the CIA been willing to share information with him. He resigned from the FBI in 2005 after publicly chastising the CIA for not sharing intelligence with him, which could have prevented the attacks. In 2011, he published a memoir, which includes some historical background on al-Qaeda: The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al-Qaeda. He is the CEO of The Soufan Group.
Soufan was born in Lebanon. He is an ardent admirer of the poet Khalil Gibran. He graduated from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania (1995), receiving his B.A in Political Science.
Soufan was called to Jordan in 1999 to investigate the Jordan Millennium Bombing plot, and discovered a box of documents delivered by Jordanian intelligence officials prior to the investigation, sitting on the floor of the CIA station, which contained maps showing the bomb sites. His find "embarrassed the CIA", according to a 2006 New Yorker profile of him.
In 2000, he was made the lead investigator of the USS Cole bombing. When given a transcript of the interrogations of Fahd al-Quso, he noticed a reference to a one-legged Afghan named "Khallad", whom he remembered as a source identified years earlier as Walid bin 'Attash; this helped the FBI to track down Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. Following the September 11th attacks, Soufan was one of eight FBI agents who spoke Arabic, and the only one in New York City. Colleagues reported that he would sit on the floor with suspects, offer them tea and argue over religion and politics in fluent Arabic, while drawing out information.
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