A man that U.S. officials have called one of the most credible and useful Al Qaeda informers in Europe came out during conversations with U.S. investigators, The New York Times reported Feb. 17.
Jordanian Shadi Abdullah told investigators: ‘My family is very poor. I wanted to come to Germany to start a new life. Another reason was the opportunity to live a freer life in Germany. This involves my sexual tendencies toward men. I had expected problems and disadvantages in relation to this in Jordan.’
According to The Times: ‘In addition to providing counterterrorism officials with details like the meanings of code words used in taped conversations, [Abdullah] laid out a road map of the network’s capabilities and intentions and explained how the hierarchy was rebuilt after the death or capture of Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan. Mr. Abdullah provided names and descriptions of dozens of Qaeda members, helping authorities to disrupt terrorist plots in Germany, Italy, Britain and the [U.S.].’