Killing of William Jefferson
William Arnold Jefferson (November 28, 1951 – November 19, 1995) was an American librarian and United Nations employee who was killed while serving in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Jefferson was found shot to death near Banovići, Bosnia and Herzegovina. His killing was originally described as a criminal act, connected with robbing him of his valuables. American counter-terrorism officials were later to imply it was an act of terrorism. Jefferson was from Camden, New Jersey. He started working for the U.N. in its Dag Hammarskjöld Library in 1982. In 1992 he volunteered to serve on overseas U.N. missions , first serving in Somalia. Joe Sills, a U.N. spokesmen stated: "There was every reason to believe that the motives were criminal and not political. Mr. Jefferson's car was stolen and his personal belongings were missing." A week later the "New York Times" reported: """United Nations officials strongly suspect that he was killed by the mujahedeen, who may have mistaken him for a British citizen." Jefferson was a Librarian at the U.N., who volunteered take leave to serve in Bosnia. American counter-terrorism officials were later to class the killing as a terrorist attack. Saudi Arabian Ahmed Zaid Salim Zuhair  is alleged to have played a role in his killing. When he was captured Zuhair was said to have had Jefferson's watch in his possession. Zuhair's attorneys have pointed out that Zuhair was never charged in connection with the killing, despite extensive investigations by the UN, FBI, and Bosnian authorities. Bosnian authorities issued an arrest warrant for Fa'iz al-Shanbari in 1998 in relation to the shooting. The UN's 200-page investigation made no mention of Zuhair. Zuhair was cleared for release by the Bush administration and finally repatriated to Saudi Arabia on June 12, 2009. During  a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 17, 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder publicly admitted that Zuhair had been cleared for transfer from Guantanamo by both administrations because "there was no sufficient proof" linking him to the Jefferson killing.