Menad Benchellali

Menad Benchellali is a convicted terrorist arrested in France in December 2002, ^[1] and the reported brains behind the so-called Chechen Network, a group of Islamists who plotted a number of abortive terrorist attacks on French soil. ^[2]

Benchellali was arrested as part of an investigation into efforts by French Islamists to send volunteers to fight Russian forces as part of the Second Chechen War. ^[1] In January 2004, a number of Benchellali's associates were arrested by French police, who claimed to have thwarted chemical or biological weapons attacks. ^[1]

Benchellali himself is reported to have been a chemical weapons specialist, and was known to his associates as The Chemist. ^[3] French investigators assert that, when Benchellali returned to France, from Afghanistan, he built a home lab in his bedroom, where he manufactured ricin.

Benchellali is reported to have sent his younger brother and a friend, Nizar Sassi, to Afghanistan. ^[4] Mourad and Sassis were captured and detained in Guantanamo.

Benchellali, was convicted, along with 24 others, on June 14, 2006 for their roles in planning a terrorist attack that was to have taken place in France to support Chechen independence. ^[5] Benchellali was described as the group's leader, and received a 10-year sentence. Benchellali's father, a younger brother, and his mother were also convicted for their roles.

Mourad Benchellali published a book about his experiences, and on June 14, 2006 the New York Times published an op-ed by Mourad, in which he blamed Menad for tricking him into attending a military training camp on what he thought would be a kind of vacation. ^{[6] [7]} Mourad said he was looking forward to his day in court, for attending that training camp, after spending years in detention, without charge, in Guantanamo.

References

1. Henley, Jon (January 12, 2004). "Al-Qaida terror plot foiled, say French police". The Guardian . Guardian News & Media Limited . Retrieved 18 December 2019.
2. Hafez, Mohammed M. (2007). Suicide Bombers in Iraq: the Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom. Washington DC: United States Institute of Peace. p. 172. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
3. Warrick, Jo (May 4, 2004). "An Al Qaeda 'Chemist' and the Quest for Ricin". Washington Post . Retrieved 18 December 2019.
4. Chang, Alice. "Nizar Sassi: A French Detainee Waiting to Return Home". Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism . Archived from the original on 14 September 2005. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
5. "French court convicts 25 for planning attack". The Globe and Mail . June 14, 2006. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
6. Smith, Craig S. (June 14, 2006). "French Court Sentences 25 Islamic Extremists". New York Times . Retrieved 18 December 2019.
7. Smith, Craig S. (14 June 2006). "French court sentences 25 Islamic extremists - Europe - International Herald Tribune". The International Herald Tribune . The New York Times Company . Retrieved 18 December 2019– via NY Times.