Interview with the wife of Abu Mus'ab al-Suri

Written by Yvonne Ridley

Tuesday, 13 July 2010

Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, commonly known as Abu Mus’ab al-Suri, is a Spanish national of Syrian origin who has been ‘disappeared’ since 2005. In November 2004, Nasar was identified on the FBI ‘Most Wanted Terrorists’ List and on November 18, 2004, the U.S. Department of State offered a bounty of $5 million US for information concerning his location. The US prematurely described Abu Mus’ab al-Suri as a‘leading al-Qaeda figure’. He was subsequently captured in Pakistan in 2005 and handed over to US authorities. It is believed he was held in secret detention in the British island of Diego Garcia before being rendered to the Middle East. Cageprisoners investigations have traced Abu Mus’ab’s location back to a secret prison in Syria - where it is believed he is at present.

Mustafa Setmariam Nasar has four children and a wife who have had no communication with him for six years and virtually no knowledge of his whereabouts or conditions.
Cageprisoners patron, Yvonne Ridley, recently met up with Helena Moreno, Mustafa Nasar’s wife, who now lives with her family in the Gulf.

Cageprisoners: As-salaamu ‘alaikum. Can you please introduce yourself?

Helena Moreno: Wa ‘alaikum as-salaam wa rahmatullah. My name is Helena Moreno from Madrid. I became Muslim 21 years ago and took the name Sajidah. A few weeks later I married a man who taught me so much about Islam that he also became my teacher. His name is Mustafa Setmariam, and he was born in Syria in Aleppo 1958.

CP: Describe Abu Mus’ab Al-Suri, the man you know?

CP: Describe Abu Mus’ab Al-Suri, the man you know?

HM: I know my husband as Mustafa and I have to say I know him better than the man written about in the media by the name of Abu Mus’ab Al-Suri. I know Mustafa as a husband, a father and a teacher but I know very little about Abu Mus’ab other than what I have read.
I know that some sections of the media have wrongly stated that he belongs to al-Qaida and I know that he is not. In the 80s it is well documented he made a declaration making it clear he was not part of al-Qaida.
We were married at the end of 1988 in Madrid. He was very hard working and industrious, buying and selling handcrafts from Syria. He was very gentle and kind.
I felt very blessed when I married him. The most blessed thing that happened to me was embracing Islam and the second most blessed thing was marrying Mustafa. He was gentle and kind and explained Islam to me, always giving proof from the Qur’an and never, ever pushing me. He was very soft and very intelligent and very funny. He made me laugh, a lot. Not only at the beginning, even in the most difficult times when he was worried there was always a feeling of happiness and joy and looking to the funny side of things to make things go easier. He sacrificed a lot to help me out and get settled in to a new life as a wife, as a Muslim.
I was brought up as a strong, determined Western woman and was an atheist. I had a lot of opposition between me and my family who opposed my conversion, but he always worked to find a just solution.
The man I know was a peacemaker and a bridge-builder.
At the end of 1997 we had been living in London for three years and we decided to move to Kabul. I was very scared because all I knew about Afghanistan was what I’d read in the media. I thought I was going to live somewhere in a tent, without water and sheltering from bombs travelling everywhere by donkey or horse.
When we got there it was so different. We were living in Khost where we had a very nice, small house and he put in a lot of effort to turn it into a home. At that time I had only three children but they loved it and I have to say I loved it too.
The most difficult thing for me was loneliness because I couldn’t speak to my Afghan neighbours and I am a very social person. But the joy of sitting outside in a large backyard looking at the mountains was wonderful. The food tasted beautiful and the air was so pure.
May be I didn’t tell him right away but I loved it. We used to look at the sky and the stars and he would tell me where the polar bear was and which star was called what.
After a few months we moved to Kabul – life was so different. We had running water, electricity and although it was a city the air was still very fresh. My social life was more active as there were other families there.
He opened a grocery shop and worked in the Ministry of Information as a consultant – the Taliban were in power. It was not at all frightening. The media stories in the West said that women were not allowed out on their own, or even to speak in the street and could not even laugh. It was not like that at all. I met with female friends regularly and we would go shopping and talking openly in the streets.
I opened a clothes shop in my home selling clothes, toys, make-up and creams for the sake of the sisters because not everyone had an opportunity to go shopping. It wasn’t run for profit but more as a social vehicle for sisters – it became like a social centre.
If Mustafa was a good husband he was also such a great father, inshallah he is a good father. He was always very involved with the children and spent hours reading to them, playing with them and every evening he gave bedtime stories. The children just loved him.
I have four children – Abdul Kader, 19; Omar, 15, Daniah, 13, Thuraya, 11 – the youngest still remembers how her daddy used to put her on his shoulders and play with her. She often says ‘when’ never ‘if’ Daddy comes back he will still put me on his shoulders.
They last saw him in September 2004 when we left Karachi in Pakistan to move to Kuwait. When we left he went out on to the balcony at 4am in the morning, to say goodbye. That image, that balcony, that house is so fixed in my mind, subhanallah.
I had no idea, and neither did the children, that that was going to be the last time we saw him until now.
After the events of September 11, I was in denial. I wanted things to stay the way as they were but Mustafa knew something terrible was coming and so we left Kabul and lived for a few days in a small place outside.
I was petrified whenever I heard the planes passing every single night when the war started. We knew Kabul had fallen and we began to move south in groups of cars with others. There were 10 cars packed with women and children and we ran from city to city and village to village and always hearing these planes overhead.
I stopped being scared when we were in danger because our little convoys were being bombed all the way. We knew the cities were being taken and bombed by anti-Taliban forces. I was worried but I remained calm and looking back I wonder where that strength came from. But I sometimes think it was Allah’s way of preparing me for what was to come.
We made lots of dua. It was Ramadan and [we had] nothing to break our fast.
Our final destination was Karachi and we thought that was going to be temporary. It was the beginning of 2002 and we remained in Karachi until September 2004.

CP: In what circumstances were you separated?

HM: For two years we lived very quietly in Karachi. We were afraid to speak Arabic because we knew Arabs were being sold and [were] disappearing. At that time they were taking only the men but it was still a trauma for the children and their mothers.
The children were not allowed out and were told to remain quiet – they couldn’t play with the local children. We explained to them that we have to wait for a little while and that we would remain together.
We’d left Afghanistan with planes bombing us and so for the children we were safe. We waited to see what was happening and were thinking of returning to Spain.
In the end we decided that I would take the family first to Kuwait and then I would apply to have his passport renewed and if he was wanted it would emerge then. Of course we knew nothing and could not imagine at all that the name of Mustafa was a high value target for the Americans.
So I headed with the children for Kuwait in September 2003. Our options were limited. I knew we couldn’t remain in Pakistan because the children needed to be educated. We kept in touch by phone and internet and the last communication I received was in May 2005.
I am still in the Gulf.

CP: Where is your husband and how is he faring? What is the latest news and how old and credible is it?

HM: I last heard from him in May 2005. On November 3 2005, it was Eid ul-Fitr, I got a call from someone I trust telling me my husband had been arrested and he asked me to be patient. I was speaking on the phone in my bedroom and it was lunchtime.
I tried to compose myself. I knew that his arrest did not mean a conventional arrest with lawyers. I knew he was going to be ‘disappeared’ and only God would know if I was going to see him again. I knew that he would suffer and I knew that I would be alone for a long time and I hoped that I had not lost him forever. But I could not have imagined that it would get this bad.
I know that some time around the beginning of 2006 he was in Diego Garcia but not on the island. The US denied having him on the island but there are ships around the island.
I’ve asked the Spanish Embassies to find out what they can. What they agree that is in cases like my husband’s there are no official records.
So far the Spanish authorities have been unable to find out any information and I find this appalling. They know he is Spanish citizen and the father of four Spanish children.
The story hit the media in the November 2005 and there was a frenzy of speculation for two months and then nothing. The media said he had something to do with September 11; he was then called the mastermind of the Madrid bombings and the London bombings. Suddenly his name was linked to so many things. He was the mastermind of everything according to the media – none of it was true but that did not stop them.
I’m 99 per cent sure my husband is in Syria. Again the information has come from trusted sources. The last credible information was around the autumn of 2008. This has also been corroborated by a Western NGO.

CP: How has he come to be in the situation he is in?

HM: I think we are living in an age where it is dangerous to be a thinker and a writer. He was never a man of action in terms of being a fighter. When the children used to ask where is daddy I would say he is a writer and some people do not like what he has written. Now they are growing up and it’s not so easy. I do not lie to my children but even when I try to tell them the truth it’s not easy because none of this makes sense.
I’ve speculated, it’s in my head but it may have been that he was betrayed by some poor Pakistani, but then why it happened is not important now. What is important is that my husband has been gone for six years and the children do not know their father anymore. I carry his photograph in my purse and [keep] one in my closet – but I don’t want him to become a blurred picture to them. Sometimes they still talk about their daddy as though he left for work in the morning and he’ll return by the afternoon.
If his name was Antonio or Phillippe my government would have done something different. If I was not covered with my hijab they would have acted different. He is the only European that I have heard of who is ‘disappeared’.
Pakistan is not admitting anything officially nor is America or Syria.

CP: What do you think his current situation is after the latest news you have heard, if any?

HM: I try to lie to myself otherwise I cannot cope with what is happening. I try and believe that he is well and that he is just sitting in a cell. I cannot bear to think he is being tortured. I know that he is a very clever person and he loves talking and that somewhere he is talking to his Syrian guards and they will not harm him and be easier on him.

CP: How have you and your children coped without your husband?

UM: This is a terribly difficult situation. Every time I eat a piece of fruit or chocolate I feel guilty and whenever I catch myself laughing and enjoying my children’s company I feel like a traitor. Everything in my life is connected to him. I love him.

CP: There are allegations that your husband was somehow connected to the London and Madrid bombings. What do you think is the truth behind these claims?

The journalists needed something to fill their newspapers. They knew they could target him because he cannot defend himself but they know they have no proof to connect anything with him. The Spanish Secret Services have even visited my parents and they said they knew he had nothing to do with that. He even called my parents and told them not to believe this because it was not true. My parents have been very, very supportive. My father cannot understand how in the 21st century how a man can just disappear without any information at all. It’s not like he drowned in a ship in the middle of the ocean. Someone has taken him and someone must know where he is and if he is still alive. It has been very difficult for my parents.
Will someone tell me if I’m a widow now?

CP: In the book Architect of Global Jihad: The Life of Al-Qaeda Strategist Abu Mus’ab Al-Suri, the author describes your husband as a ‘thinker and ideologue’ more than an operational figure. Why do you think he is seen as such an important figure?

HM: I have read that book last summer in the hope that I might find out something new. I didn’t get the impression that he was being given such a significant role. What is important is that he continually describes him as being a thinker and a writer – are words so dangerous? You have to be empty, silly and ignorant and then you are not considered a threat.

CP: Despite the title, the same book suggests that your husband was not only opposed to 1998 attacks on the US embassies in East Africa and the 9/11 attacks but, was known to be highly critical of Al-Qaeda. What, if any, is his real position on this?

HM: I cannot speak for my husband, inshallah one day he will be able to explain his position but remember my husband was always the one who wanted to build bridges and open dialogue with non-Muslims.

CP: Your husband is a Spanish citizen: what has the Spanish government done for him?

HM: As far as I am aware, the Spanish government has not done so much for him. I went to Spain in February 2010 and I am working with Amnesty International there and we had lots of meetings with politicians. They were kind and showed a certain interest but one woman in the Foreign office said she thought his file had gone missing because they’d moved office. How on earth can my Spanish government say they’ve lost papers simply by moving office?

CP: What do you hope to achieve in the case of your husband?

HM: I want to have him back. I need him as a husband, a partner, a father. We, as Muslims, need to know the truth because this injustice is being done to all of us. This case is much bigger than simply me wanting my husband back.

CP: What has been the response of the Spanish people?

HM: My husband’s name has been in the shadows but when ordinary people hear about his story they all ask the same thing: How on earth can someone disappear like this.

CP: What has been the response of the Muslim community?

HM: The response of the Muslim community is very sad. In the country in which I live almost no one knows who I am or who my husband is. They don’t ask many questions. I don’t get emails of support. If I go in forums I don’t hear or see Mustafa’s name. Occasionally, very occasionally I’m told to be patient. And the Arab community is too afraid to even write his name or show support to a woman living on her own with her children.

CP: What has been the impact of your husband’s disappearance on your family?

HM: It has been devastating. The children have been without their father for more than half their lives. They miss their father a lot, especially the eldest. He was very attached to his father and he is not doing well. He has very difficult times. He gets depressed. The girls are coping better than the boys.

CP: What is the worst thing about this situation?

HM: Everything is bad – it is the not knowing. If I were not to know anything at all it would be bad but knowing little pieces of information from people who have been ‘disappeared’, tortured and returned that is killing me inch by inch. If I am watching a film and there’s a comment or a scene involving torture I have to switch it off. I don’t think I could watch the film Rendition. Every image I see coming out of Bagram, I put Mustafa’s face on it and it’s not easy.
They are torturing me terribly and I don’t think they even care.

CP: What, if any, is the best thing about this situation for you?

HM: In general I am an optimistic person and I always try and look for the good things. I am sure I will learn someday what the good things are. This has made me a stronger person and I’ve learned how to accept Allah’s will. I know that I am able to fight for me and my children but to fight for him also … alone, again. I could never imagine that I could be this strong. I am very thankful that Allah (swt) has given me patience, al-hamdullilah.

HM: To whoever has been ‘disappeared’, or arrested in Guantanamo, on ships, in jails and are free now. I want to remind them that not everyone has been so lucky and I want them to remember those who are still in the darkness. We are going to be asked, all of us, what we have done for those people. I would like to say, especially to the sisters who are in my situation, better or worse, just say al-hamdullilah from the deepest of your heart because not everyone has been blessed with this exam or test. Please anyone who knows anything, even the smallest thing then contact me through Cageprisoners.

CP: Who can help and why?

HM: We should also send a message to those who are responsible for this. I try to understand what is the point for these evil actions? I hope and I wonder if you can sleep at night - what sort of a spirit and soul do you have, when you kiss your children at night think about those children of the ‘disappeared’? We are all human beings and we have our weaknesses. We have to learn how to forgive.
This has been six years of not knowing.
I want to give a huge thank you for those few ones who have been there from the Muslim community and the non Muslims, NGOs and others who have helped.
Please write to your local Spanish Embassy and ask them what they are doing. Write about Mustafa. We have to keep his name alive to keep him alive.

CP: Thank you and may Allah ease your hardship.

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