Wali Khan Amin Shah (He had many aliases, including Osama Turkestani, Osama Asmuray, and Grabi Ibrahim Hahsen) was an Al-Qaida member that allegedly controlled the purse strings for the foiled Operation Bojinka terrorist attack plot.

Shah, an Afghan had fought with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. After that, he went to Manila, Philippines and laundered money to the project through several individuals, including his girlfriend. The money came from Konsojaya, a front company set up by Indonesian terrorist Riduan Isamuddin, better known as "Hambali". He was on the board of directors of the company, and he owned half of the shares of the company.

Shah carried several false passports under various aliases, including Norwegian, Saudi, Afghan, and four Pakistani aliases.

While in Metro Manila, he got a girlfriend named Arminda Costudio, a waitress at the Manila Bay Club on Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City. Costudio also met Khalid Shaikh Mohammed on several occasions.

Khan bombed the Greenbelt Theatre in Manila, Philippines on December 1, injuring several people.

The Bojinka plot was discovered by police on January 6, 1995. He was arrested by Manila police at an apartment on Singalong Street on January 11, but he escaped on short order 77 hours later. He was given a false passport with the name "Osama Turkestani" on it so that he could escape. He lived on the island of Langkawi until his rearrest. He was arrested in Malaysia in December of that year. He was later sent to American authorities.

When investigators found Shah, he had mangled hands and was missing three of his ten fingers. His legs were heavily scraped by shrapnel, and he had a surgical scar on his stomach. This had been a result in his battle against the Soviets.

Ramzi Yousef, one of Shah's partners, was arrested in Pakistan in February 1995.

Shah is now serving a life sentence in prison. He has been cooperating with the United States Government since August 1998.

See also

• Planning and execution of the September 11, 2001 attacks
• Background history of the September 11, 2001 attacks
• List of alleged Al-Qaida members
• Nitroglycerin
• Operation Bojinka
• Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
• Konsojaya Trading Company
• Mohammed Jamal Khalifa
• Ramzi Yousef
• Riduan Isamuddin

External link

• CNN Article on Shah's conviction - Has a picture of Shah