By Judi McLeod
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
The high-flying, ever-elusive Adnan Gulshair el-Shukrijumah has warts. One of his biggest warts is Russell DeFreitas, the authority described "sad sack" and suspected, wannabe terrorist behind the badly bungled John F. Kennedy Airport plot.
While his average guy, could-be-anybody looks have made him the Artful Dodger of the world of international terrorism, el Shukrijumah has had his legendary mystique seriously shaken. Officials have told ABCNews.com that they heard repeated references to "Adnan" during extensive wiretaps conducted on the suspects' telephone calls, including calls to Guyana and Trinidad.
The name of the "next Mohammad Atta" being bandied about by wannabes?
How do you spell "bush league", Mr. el Shukrijumah?
Thanks to "Sad Sack", now not only does the FBI have the ringleader of the hapless foursome behind the JFK Airport plot in custody, the man the New York Post called the "tantalizing terrorist" had to learn how badly the Bush league Boys bungled the job through television.
For el Shukrijumah, the myth of the Man of Mystery is waning and the noose is tightening around his neck.
Osma bin Laden's point man, whose mission it is to nuke seven American cities, is no longer a one-man cell.
He's a fabled one-man cell whose fate now leans heavily on how much information the FBI can extract from singing canaries.
The fugitive, who's made a career of playing the phantom, has had his cover blown by trusted colleagues who first spill the beans then get themselves collared.
The days when an emboldened Adnan el Shukrijumah could allegedly help himself to a Piper PA Pawnee crop duster, tail number XBCYP and fly it off into the wild blue yonder are now part of a long distant past.
El Shukrijumah, who is said to have attended flight schools in Florida and Norman, Oklahoma, along with Mohammad Atta and other 9/11 operatives, became a highly skilled commercial jet pilot. "Jafer the Pilot" is one of his more recognized nicknames.
Nondescript in face and figure, "Adnan" to Russell Defreitas, Kareem Ibrahim, Abdul Kadir and the on-the-run Abdel Nur, never needed expensive time out for plastic surgery. He fits in most anywhere.
Badly dressed and bearded, clean shaven and well turned out according to circumstance, the legendary globe trotting of Adnan el Shukrijumah comes courtesy of a passel of passports from Guyana, Trinidad, Saudia Arabia, Canada and the United States.
In no matter what guise or which passport he happens to be using, el Shukrijuma is the quintessential illegal alien.
The only thing he can't fake is the asthma from which he is said to suffer.
It added to his legend when FBI director Robert Mueller branded him "the next Mohammad Atta" and when the FBI put a $5-million bounty on his head.
The speaker of several languages, including perfect English, el Shukrijumah could pose as the son of a plethora of ethnicities.
In real life, he's the first-born son of the late Gulshair el-Shukrijumah, a radical Muslim cleric. His DOB has him born in Guyana on Aug. 4, 1975.
At home on the Internet, el Shukrijumah obtained an associate's degree in computer engineering from Broward Community College.
Last spotted in Guyana with a wealthy businessman, his name is now associated with losers like DeFreitas, Kareen Ibrahim, already in custody in Trinidad and Abdul Kadir and Abdil Nur.
Farouk Razac, the cambio dealer/businessman with whom el Shukrijumah was last seen, was found dead last month in his Bel Air, Guyana home with a wound to his head and marks around his neck.
Like most mysteries that end up being part folklore, some reported el Shukrijumah sightings never happened.
But the FBI video (www.fbi.gov/terrorinfo/elshukrijumah.htm) of him giving a presentation regarding how to jump-start a car for a class in English as a Second Language is for real.
Since the thwarted JFK Airport plot, some of the elusive has gone out of el Shukrijumah's style.
Dragged out of the shadows where he's long lurked, his picture was plastered front page on the New York Post.
The Phantom of the Internet has finally made it to the mainstream print media.
And now that Osama bin Laden's top gun has sprouted a few warts, it's only a matter of time before he's caught.
No matter where Jafer the Pilot is holed up, he can't help but feel that niggling prickling at the back of his neck.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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