Wali Khan Amin Shah


Wali Khan Amin Shah was a man who had a role in the foiled Bojinka plot. He was convicted of terrorism, and has been imprisoned on these charges since 1995.

Background

Shah was believed to have fought in Loya Paktia, Afghanistan during the 1980s against Soviet forces, possibly together with Osama bin Laden. He owned half of Konsojaya's shares. In addition, he carried several false passports under various aliases, including Norwegian, Saudi and four Pakistani aliases.
While in Manila, in the Philippines, he acquired a girlfriend named Arminda Costudio, a waitress at a Pasay City-area nightclub. Costudio also met Khalid Sheikh Mohammed on several occasions.

Attack on Philippines

Shah bombed the Greenbelt Theatre in Manila on December 1, injuring several people. In January 1995, Shah traveled from Pakistan to Manila via Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to rendezvous with Ramzi Yousef.

Capture and Re-Capture

The Bojinka plot was discovered by police on January 6, 1995. He was arrested by Manila police at an apartment on Singalong Street, which Yousef had set up in case the plot failed, on January 11, but he escaped police custody roughly 77 hours later. After obtaining a fraudulent passport bearing the name Osama Turkestani, he lived on the nearby island of Langkawi until his December 1995 re-arrest in Malaysia. After the re-arrest, he was handed over to United States authorities.
Shah was reported to have made an unsuccessful escape attempt from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.
Shah has been cooperating with the United States Government since August 1998. Shah, Federal Bureau of Prisons # 42799-054, previously incarcerated at Marion USP, is now at FCI Terre Haute. His release date is 26 March 2022.