| “ | These atrocities were all committed by your government. Emir gave his life trying to avenge these crimes... and now I can no longer protect you. | ” |
— Al Badi to Emma Peters
| ||
Abu Hakim Al Badi is an Iraqi terrorist leader who appeared in the Season One episode of Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, "The Matchmaker".
Background[]
Very little is known of Al Badi's background. He was presumably born in Iraq and became the leader of a terrorist group with presence in Mosul, Ramadi, and possibly Haditha. This group regularly performed bombings in Iraqi mosques and churches, and was the subject of airstrikes by the U.S. Air Force. In 2014, one of such airstrikes killed his younger brother Ahmed in Ramadi. The airstrike in question was ordered by the American ambassador to Turkey, Tom Wilson, who later went on to broker a Turkish-Iraqi alliance against Al Badi's group. In an attempt to prevent the signature of this alliance, Al Badi devised a plan with his British ally Marion Codwell to lure an American teenage girl and brainwash her to kill Wilson in a suicide attack at the signing ceremony of the alliance, which was going to be held at the courtyard of the American consulate in Istanbul.
The Matchmaker[]
Al Badi has 16-year-old Emma Peters tied and imprisoned in an unknown location in Istanbul. He introduces himself using his real name and claims to be an old friend of her Turkish boyfriend, Emir Bayer. He says that Emir is a very important person and that these measures are necessary to protect him, because Emma endangered him when she called her parents after arriving in Antalya, Turkey. When the International Response Team travels to Antalya to investigate Emma's disappearance and the human trafficker that Al Badi hired to capture Emma, Marko Bashir, is arrested, he accuses Emma of betraying Emir and has two female associates dress her in Muslim attire. Shortly after, another American girl lured to Turkey, Julie Allen is killed by Al Badi's associates.
Al Badi has Marion convince Emma that Emir wanted to marry her against his family's wishes, that he has been murdered by the U.S. government, and that it is her fault. Al Badi then tells her that the reason Emir did not contact her directly before was because he had discovered American war crimes in Iraq and he wanted to protect her. After showing her videos of the atrocities supposedly uncovered by Emir, he claims that he cannot protect her anymore and that she should go home. Emma says that she has no home and asks how she can avenge Emir. Al Badi tells her that the man who ordered Emir's death is Wilson, and sends her to the American consulate with instructions to detonate a bomb within ten feet of him. However, she is prevented from doing so by Garrett, who shows her that Emir is alive and that she has been manipulated. Because Al Badi did not hide his real identity and address in Istanbul from Emma, he is easily traced back and arrested along with Marion.
Modus Operandi[]
Through his ally Marion, Al Badi contacted vulnerable American teenage girls through the internet and convinced them to travel to Turkey in secret. There, they were held captive and verbally brainwashed and psychologically tortured and manipulated into committing a suicide attack against the American ambassador, his real objective. In the case of Julie Allen, he had her shot dead by one of his followers with a Remington Model M40A1 rifle after she refused to carry out a suicide bombing.
Profile[]
No profile of Al Badi was made by the IRT as its attention was centered on Marion.
Known Victims[]
- 2014(?)-2015, Iraq: Numerous unnamed people (killed in bombings of mosques and churches by him and/or under his orders)
- 2015, Istanbul, Turkey:
- Julie Allen (shot by his followers after refusing to carry a suicide bombing)
- Emma Peters (brainwashed into performing a suicide bombing at the American Consulate; was rescued)
- The attempted suicide bombing at the American Consulate in Turkey by Emma Peters:
- U.S. Ambassador Tom Wilson
- Numerous unnamed bystanders
- Jack Garrett (incidental)