The baby-faced and diminutive Tanzanian -- known as ’’Fupi’’ -- faced a bounty of $25m when he was nabbed after a 12-hour shoot-out at an Al Qaeda safe house in Pakistan. Ghailani rose from an Al Qaeda ’’rank-and-file soldier’’ in Afghanistan before the September 11, 2001 (9/11) attacks in the US to become Bin Laden’s cook and his most prolific passport forger and travel agent, according to official records.
Alipokuwa kijana alivutiwa na kiongozi mzalendo wa Misri, Gamal Abdel Nasser, alipokuwa akishiriki katika maandamano dhidi ya Israel wakati wa mtafaruku wa Suez mwaka 1956. Alipanga njama ya kupindua utawala wa kifalme alipokuwa mwanafunzi wa kijeshi alipokuwa mafunzoni Uingereza kabla ya kurejea nyumbani Libya. Alipanga mapinduzi ya Septemba 1, 1969 akiwa katika mji wa Benghazi. Alianza kujenga itikadi zake za kisiasa mwaka 1970 na kuziandika katika kitabu chake cha kijani kibichi.