Ali Mohamed ( (علي محمد , the only al-Qa’ida operative known to have successfully
infiltrated U.S. military and law enforcement agencies, was born in Kafr El Sheikh,
Lower Egypt, in 1952. His father was a career soldier in the Egyptian Army, and he was
raised in a devout Muslim home. Mohamed went to local public schools and
occasionally helped his uncle herd goats in the northern Sinai during his teen years.
Following in his father’s footsteps, Mohamed attended the Cairo Military Academy after
his graduation from high school in 1970. He was a good student and went on to attend
university near his hometown, obtaining two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree in
psychology from the University of Alexandria.4 In addition to his native Arabic, in the
course of his post-secondary education he learned English, Hebrew and French. He
joined the Egyptian Army in about 1971, eventually rising to the rank of major.5
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