EXCLUSIVE: CIA Suicide Bomber Photo
First photo of Humam al-Balawi, double agent who killed seven CIA operatives.
Jan. 6, 2010 — -- ABC News has obtained an exclusive photo of suicide bomber Humam Muhammed al-Balawi, the Jordanian double agent who killed seven CIA operatives and his Jordanian handler in Afghanistan on December 30.
Al-Balawi, a 32-year-old Jordanian doctor, had convinced the Americans that his jihadist postings on the web were only part of his cover identity. He lured 13 CIA operatives and his handler to a meeting at Camp Chapman, an American forward operating base in Afghanistan, by saying he had just met with al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri and had information to share.
The photo comes from a Jordanian identification card, seen below. Al Balawi was born in Kuwait in 1977, raised in Jordan and attended medical school in Turkey. He had been arrested by Jordan's intelligence agency, the General Intelligence Directorate, more than a year ago. Believing they had flipped al Balawi and made him a double agent, the Jordanians released him from prison and sent him to Afghanistan to penetrate al Qaeda by pretending to be an aspiring foreign jihadi.
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