He led the Al Khaldan training camp in Afghanistan, the facility where Zacarias Moussaoui and Ahmed Ressam trained.
He is a close associate of Abu Zubaydah.
He was on the September 26, 2002 list of terrorists released by the U.S. government following the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack. The list detailed individuals and organizations whose assets were to be immediately frozen.
He was captured by Pakistani officials at the end of 2001 or beginning of 2002 as he attempted to flee Afghanistan following the collapse of the Taliban ensuing the 2001 U.S. Attack on Afghanistan.
He was then turned over to U.S officials and held at a detention center at the Kandahar airport. In the second week of January 2002, he was flown to the USS Bataan in the northern Arabian Sea, the ship which is being used to hold eight other important prisoners, including John Walker Lindh.
His capture was first reported by NBC News in the evening of January 4, 2002.