CIA Bomber Made His Wife 'Proud'

But she had no idea he was involved with al-Qaeda
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 8, 2010 9:38 AM CST

Defne Bayrak says she was shocked when she heard that her husband, Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, was the suspected bomber in the attack on the CIA, but thought it a fine death. “I am proud of my husband,” Bayrak, a Turkish author and translator, told CNN. “My husband accomplished a very big operation in such a war. If he is a martyr, may God accept his martyrdom.”

But Bayarak had no inkling what her husband was up to. “When he phone us, his conversations were very normal,” she says, adding that they constantly talked online. He kept telling her he would return home to Turkey soon—indeed, the rest of the family members CNN talked to had believed he was in Turkey. His brother said his actions were "out of character," and that he was "under pressure." (More Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi stories.)

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