 This photograph of Ahmed Ressam was seen on televisions across the U.S. following his arrest. Ahmed Ressam (Arabic: احمد رسام) (born c.1971) was convicted in a plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport on New Year's Eve 1999.
Ressam was born in Algeria. In 1994 he obtained a falsified passport and applied for political asylum in Canada, making up a story about persecution in Algeria. After settling in Montreal, he became a small-time criminal. At some point, he was recruited into al-Qaida.
Ressam went to a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan in 1998. There he learned skills in weapons, explosives, and poisons. He left in early 1999 carrying the precursors for making explosives and planning to attack a United States airport or embassy. He returned to Canada, and continued making bomb materials and false papers. He made the decision to attack Los Angeles International Airport as part of the 2000 millennium attack plots.
On December 14, 1999, he crossed the border at Port Angeles, Washington. Upon noticing that he appeared nervous, customs officers inspected him more closely and asked for further identification. Ressam panicked and attempted to flee. Customs officials then found nitroglycerin and four timing devices concealed in a spare tire well of his automobile. He was arrested by customs, and investigated by the FBI. He had shared a room with Abdelmajid Dahoumane, a suspected terrorist. A suitcase in the room which they lived in tested positive for chemicals used for making bombs. Ressam began cooperating with investigators in 2001, and revealed that al-Qaida sleeper cells existed within the United States. This information was included in the famous Presidential Daily Briefing delivered to President Bush on August 6, 2001, entitled "Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US".
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