Jihadi Mastermind Known for Encouraging ‘Lone Wolf’ Attacks was Handed by CIA to Syria

An influential jihadi theoretician who has long called for “lone wolf” attacks was once in CIA custody.

Abu Musab al-Suri was captured by the Pakistanis and handed over to the US in 2005.

The US intelligence services released al-Suri to Bashar al-Assad and now he’s a free man, as Newsweek bureau chief Christopher Dickey explains.

“It’s a whole cynical commerce in human lives and human intelligence, as they call it, that goes on at that level and particularly at the height of the war on terror being waged by the Bush administration,” Dickey says.

Invest in independent global news

The World is an independent newsroom. We’re not funded by billionaires; instead, we rely on readers and listeners like you. As a listener, you’re a crucial part of our team and our global community. Your support is vital to running our nonprofit newsroom, and we can’t do this work without you. Will you support The World with a gift today? Donations made between now and Dec. 31 will be matched 1:1. Thanks for investing in our work!