Abdul Rasul Sayyaf: Professor, Mujahideen, Warlord, Politician and 9/11's True Mastermind
by Anthony C Heaford --- @mancunianquiet on twitter
Updated September 17, 2024
Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a Pashtun born in 1946 Afghanistan, is the most interesting of characters. He gained a bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies from Kabul University before earning a Masters degree from the Al-Azhar University in Egypt (as per afghan-bios.info). And that's why he used the prefix Ustad (meaning professor) on his twitter account. Sayyaf is commonly known as the Professor, a detail that became extremely pertinent in the weeks before 9/11, when one of the hijackers sent his last message to Ramzi bin al-Shibh in Germany:

“The first semester commences in three weeks.
Two high schools and two universities.
This summer will surely be hot;
19 certificates for private education and four exams.
Regards to the professor. Goodbye.”
(Source: Al Jazeera / CNN)

I've very little doubt the Professor referred to in that hijacker's message was Abdul Rasul Sayyaf. The timing of that message, three weeks before 9/11, coincides with when Sayyaf had finally gained access to Ahmad Shah Massoud for the assassins posing as journalists who murdered Massoud on September 9 2001 (Source: The New Yorker). I believe Massoud's murder was a prerequisite for 9/11 and that the hijackers had waited until the assassins had access to Massoud before booking their tickets for September 11 2001.

As well as being a respected professor, Sayyaf has been a senior Mujahideen commander, a brutal Warlord, a wily politician, an international terrorism guru, and I assert he is 9/11's true Mastermind:
  • It's no secret Sayyaf was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's (KSM) boss - employing, training and mentoring KSM after being introduced by KSM's brother Zahid in 1987 (2004 9/11 Commission report pages 146 & 147).
  • Filipino Abdurajak Janjalani trained in Sayyaf's camps in the 1980s and assumed the name Abu Sayyaf to honour the Afghan resistance leader (US Department of Defense report page 4). When Janjalani returned to the Philippines in 1990 he formed a Muslim seperatist militia there called Abu Sayyaf.
  • Indonesia's Bali bombing accused Hambali (currently detained in Guantanamo Bay) trained in Sayyaf's camp too (9/11 Commission Report page 150).
  • And the infamous Ramzi Yousef taught explosive demolition (US Dept. of Justice page 39/40) in Sayyaf's Khalden camp (Institute for the study of War page 2) in 1991/92 then tried to murder 250,000 innocents in New York by bombing the World Trade Center (WTC) in February 1993.
Professor Sayyaf's twitter page
Sayyaf's 2014 election bid
My 2014 email about Sayyaf
Describing Sayyaf as an international terrorism guru is not an exaggeration, begging the questions:

Why was Sayyaf put on the CIA payroll in October 2001?
(see the Gary Shroen book 'First In' below))
Why was Sayyaf free to run for the Afghan Presidency in 2014?
(as per press clipping above)

What was ex-CIA director Mike Pompeo doing shaking hands with Sayyaf in 2019?
(see the banner photo at the top of this report)
Those are just a few of a plethora of questions I've been asking about Sayyaf since 2014, when I first heard of him after he'd announced his candidacy for the Afghan presidency. I started with an email to the British embassy in Kabul in September 2014 (pictured above right).

Sayyaf wasn't a stranger to the CIA, in fact they had a very good measure of him very early on. In this declassified 1985 CIA assessment of Sayyaf titled The Divisive Unifier (pictured below), they knew Sayyaf was the main conduit for Arab Gulf nations' donations to the 1980s Afghan Mujahideen cause, leading to Sayyaf being referred to as the Arab's fair-haired child. The CIA knew he was accused of misappropriating Arab donations to build his own insurgent organisation. Sayyaf is also noted as being head of the Peshawar, Pakistan based Seven Party Fundamentalist Alliance that attempted to coordinate the various factions and foreign volunteers fighting the Soviet Union.
CIA's declassified 1985 assessment of Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, says he's 'a central figure in the splintered Afghan resistance... the Divisive Unifier'.
The CIA's 1985 assessment reports that Sayyaf is accused of misusing 'Arab money to the Jihad to build his own insurgency organization'.
One of Sayyaf's most significant mentions in the 2004 9/11 Commission Report (page 148) states:
"In January 1996, well aware that U.S. authorities were chasing him, [Khalid Sheikh Mohammed]
left Qatar for good and fled to Afghanistan, where he renewed his relationship with Rasul Sayyaf."

This confirms not only did Sayyaf employ, train and mentor Khalid Sheik Mohammed prior to his terrorist spree, Sayyaf maintained his relationship with KSM in the midst of his terrorist spree. And yet one of the first things the most senior CIA officer who deployed to Afghanistan first after 9/11 did was put Sayyaf on the CIA payroll. That CIA officer was Gary Schroen - he admits it shamelessly in his book 'First In' - saying he personally handed Sayyaf his first $100,000 CIA payment.
October 2001: Sayyaf added to the CIA's payroll
July 2016: US NATO General bows to Sayyaf
Sept 2020: NATO 'strongly supports' Sayyaf
Within a year of starting my general research into Sayyaf - motivated by my military service in 2012 Helmand - my investigation gained a massive new significance. On 4 May 2015 I discovered an old photo contact sheet from my 1997 visit to Yemen and immediately recognized the man introduced to me as the Engineer. It was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abdul Rasul Sayyaf's protege. My degree of seperation from Sayyaf suddenly became one - I'd met his protege KSM in Yemen when KSM was working for / managing Sayyaf's global terror network. That 1997 meeting with KSM is summarised on this website's homepage linked here. My intention here is to convey my certainty that Abdul Rasul Sayyaf is not only 9/11's True Mastermind and an international terrorist guru, but he is a close and trusted Western ally, strongly supported by NATO and protected by the very highest echelons of the Deep State and Western security agencies, and the media at large. Other than my one degree of seperation from Sayyaf I have no first-hand knowledge of the man; all the evidence and information I'm presenting is public source.
Sayyaf with US NATO Commander General John Nicholson, US Secretary of Defense Mike Pompeo (with photo bomber Mohammad Karim Khalili), ex-president Hamid Karzai, Chief Executuive Abdullah Abdullah, & US peace negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad.
Sayyaf with US NATO Commander General Scott Miller & the Afghan minister of defence/ former spy chief - a murderous drug lord called Asadullah Khalid. Sayyaf petitioned for Khalid to get a government post; they're allies. Photo taken about 2019.
This situation is almost beyond my comprehension, but given my experiences in 1997 Yemen and 2012 Afghanistan I can see how this would be possible - rogue elements of the CIA and NATO protecting 9/11's true Mastermind. What is beyond my comprehension is virtually no one else speaking about this absolute travesty of justice. I've never seen anyone else refer to Sayyaf's multiple mentions in the 9/11 Commission report - no one from the Intelligence community, military or government, no journalist or activist, no 9/11 bereaved, no lawyers or attorneys - literally no one. I can only hope that my presenting this public source information about Sayyaf may cause someone to ask the same questions as I've been asking since 2014.