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Ali Soufan

Former FBI Supervisory Special Agent, CEO Soufan Group, Author of "The Black Banners"

Ali Soufan
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New York, NY, USA
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Executive Leadership
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Ali Soufan Biography

He 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 information with him, which could have prevented the attacks. He is the CEO of the Soufan Group. 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.

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 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. 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.

While investigating the September 11th attacks in Yemen, Soufan received intelligence that the CIA had been withholding for months. According to The New Yorker, "Soufan received the fourth photograph of the Malaysia meeting—the picture of Khallad, the mastermind of the Cole operation. The two plots, Soufan instantly realized, were linked, and if the C.I.A. had not withheld information from him he likely would have drawn the connection months before September 11th." He was tasked with the "intensive interrogation" of Abu Jandal over the course of five days in Yemen, during which time Jandal gave up the names of a number of members of al-Qaeda.

It was his questioning of Mohammed al Qahtani, that led to the terrorism charges against Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri in Chicago, whom al Qahtani had mentioned being a relative.

In 2005, Soufan approached Florida doctor Rafiq Abdus Sabir and pretended to be an Islamist militant, and asked him whether he would provide medical treatment to wounded fighters in the Iraq War. When Sabir agreed to provide medical treatment, he was arrested and sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment for supporting terrorism. Soufan has been described as having had a close working relationship with FBI counter-terrorist agent John P. O'Neill.

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Ali Soufan Books

  • The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al-Qaeda
    The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al-Qaeda

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  • What topics does Ali Soufan speak about?

    Ali Soufan is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Executive Leadership.

  • Where does Ali Soufan travel from?

    Ali Soufan generally travels from New York, NY, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent.

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Ali Soufan is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics . The estimated speaking fee range to book Ali Soufan for your event is available upon request. Ali Soufan generally travels from New York, NY, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Robert Verhelst, Annabel Quintero, Kunal Shah, Janine Hamner Holman and Michael Podolsky. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Ali Soufan for an upcoming live or virtual event.

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