Details of the conversation in an Exhibition Avenue restaurant are contained in a new book authored by Bahraini Aimen Dean, an alias used by a man who was once Al Qaeda’s top bomb-maker and later became a spy for British intelligence.
His new book, Nine Lives: My Time as the West’s Top Spy Inside Al Qaeda, refers to his time in Bahrain after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US.
He said it was then that he met a Saudi in his 30s, identified as Akhil, in Manama.
In an extract from the book, published by CNN, Mr Dean recalls discussing an improvised chemical device called a “mubtakkar”, designed to release lethal quantities of hydrogen cyanide.
His new book, Nine Lives: My Time as the West’s Top Spy Inside Al Qaeda, refers to his time in Bahrain after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US.
He said it was then that he met a Saudi in his 30s, identified as Akhil, in Manama.
In an extract from the book, published by CNN, Mr Dean recalls discussing an improvised chemical device called a “mubtakkar”, designed to release lethal quantities of hydrogen cyanide.
“After 9/11, MI6 (British intelligence) was enthusiastic about my moving to the Gulf,” said Mr Dean.
“Bahrain was regarded as an important conduit between Saudi Arabia and Iran, where some in Al Qaeda’s upper echelons had taken refuge.”
He said he met Akhil, a Saudi chemistry teacher, for dinner on Exhibition Avenue where the duo shared grilled lamb and rice – and afterwards the latter asked Mr Dean if he was also known as Abu Abbas Al Bahraini.
“‘Yes,’ I answered. ‘That was the name I took in Afghanistan,’” recounted Mr Dean.
“I had to tread carefully. I hardly knew this man.”
He said Akhil then asked if he was aware of something called a mubtakkar.
“‘Yes, I am,’ I responded, and as casually as I could gave him the barest details about the device.”
He said Akhil described an urgent message from his friends in Saudi Arabia, who had his notes from the mubtakkar but could not understand his handwriting.
Mr Dean was handed papers with diagrams and formulas to check whether they were on track in building the device.
The duo met again at the same restaurant, where Mr Dean was informed a mubtakkar was successfully tested in the desert.
Mr Dean writes in his book that the Saudi teacher described using chemical gas in the ventilation of a subway system, confirming a New York plot dating back to...
“Bahrain was regarded as an important conduit between Saudi Arabia and Iran, where some in Al Qaeda’s upper echelons had taken refuge.”
He said he met Akhil, a Saudi chemistry teacher, for dinner on Exhibition Avenue where the duo shared grilled lamb and rice – and afterwards the latter asked Mr Dean if he was also known as Abu Abbas Al Bahraini.
“‘Yes,’ I answered. ‘That was the name I took in Afghanistan,’” recounted Mr Dean.
“I had to tread carefully. I hardly knew this man.”
He said Akhil then asked if he was aware of something called a mubtakkar.
“‘Yes, I am,’ I responded, and as casually as I could gave him the barest details about the device.”
He said Akhil described an urgent message from his friends in Saudi Arabia, who had his notes from the mubtakkar but could not understand his handwriting.
Mr Dean was handed papers with diagrams and formulas to check whether they were on track in building the device.
The duo met again at the same restaurant, where Mr Dean was informed a mubtakkar was successfully tested in the desert.
Mr Dean writes in his book that the Saudi teacher described using chemical gas in the ventilation of a subway system, confirming a New York plot dating back to...
