Djamel Beghal (also transliterated as Jamel Beghal and Djamel Begal) is a French Algerian and alleged Al-Qaida member.
Beghal had once lived in London and attended the Finsbury Park mosque along with Richard Reid, Zacarias Moussaoui, Nizar Trabelsi, the Courtailler brothers, and other Al-Qaida suspects.
Beghal allegedly planned the Paris Embassy plot and recruited people for Al-Qaida. Beghal was clean-shaven and was dressed in western clothing to attract almost no attention.
In 28 July 2001, he was arrested at Dubai International Airport while transferring from a flight from Pakistan to a flight to Europe.
Beghal confessed to UAE authorities that he was conspiring to destroy the U.S. embassy in Paris. The confession doomed the plot. After he was extradited to France on September 30, Beghal retracted part of his statement, saying that he said it under duress.
In October 2001, Beghal said that a man named Zein-al-Abideen Mohammed Hussein recruited him for the attack. That man turned out to be Abu Zubaydah.