by Thomas Joscelyn
Shortly after the capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) on March 1, 2003, authorities began to round up operatives associated with a terrorist based in Southeast Asia named Hambali. At the time, KSM was relying on Hambali to help orchestrate al Qaeda’s next round of attacks against the American Homeland as well as a variety of other targets. As intelligence authorities unwound the KSM-Hambali network, they were led to a terrorist known as “Lillie.” (His real name is Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep.)
According to a short biography prepared by American intelligence officials: “Lillie was particularly interested in the ideas of martyrdom and was slated to be a suicide operative for an al Qaeda ‘second wave’ attack targeting Los Angeles.” Lillie was trained in weaponry and explosives at al Qaeda’s al Farouq camp in Afghanistan prior to September 11, 2001, and received further training in bombmaking from a top al Qaeda expert in Southeast Asia.
Lillie performed a number of missions for Hambali. He “facilitated the transfer of al Qaeda funds used for the Jakarta Marriot Hotel bombing in 2003,” according
Lillie was captured in August 2003. During his debriefings, according to declassified CIA documents, he gave up information that led to the arrest of Hambali – one of KSM’s key point men for future attacks against America. Lillie is currently a high-value detainee at Gitmo.
