# Ahmed Khatib > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "Ahmed Khatib," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ahmed-khatib/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *Iraqi-installed occupation governor of Kuwait announced on August 2, 1990, hours after the invasion; medical doctor trained at the American University of Beirut whose mother had been a Sudanese slave in the Kuwaiti royal household; college roommate of George Habash and co-founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.* - **Role:** Occupation governor of Kuwait, announced by Iraq hours after the August 2, 1990 invasion - **Background:** Medical doctor; American University of Beirut - **Mother:** Sudanese slave in the household of the Kuwaiti royal family - **College roommate:** George Habash - **Co-founded:** Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) **Dr. Ahmed Khatib** was the Iraqi-installed occupation governor of Kuwait, announced by Iraq hours after the August 2, 1990 invasion. [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou), then an eight-month CIA analyst on Iraq, had written a classified profile of Khatib for the agency's internal "Leadership Review" a month before the invasion *"just because he was interesting to me,"* and presented him to President George H. W. Bush in the Oval Office that morning.[1][2][3] ## Biography per Kiriakou's Oval Office briefing Per Kiriakou: Khatib was a black Kuwaiti and a medical doctor who *"hates the royal family because his mother was a slave in the household of the royal family. They had slavery until 1955 on the Arabian Peninsula."*[2][3] In reaction, Kiriakou says, Khatib became a communist.[4] The royal family, after slavery ended, sent Ahmed *"to the American University of Beirut. He trained there as a doctor. But his college roommate was [George Habash](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/george-habash), and together they founded the [Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/pflp)."*[2][5][6] Kiriakou's account of the Oval Office reaction: *"And the vice president says, 'Jesus Christ!' like that. And the president just goes like this and he says, 'Gentlemen, thank you. That'll be enough. I need to think about this.'"*[5] Kiriakou has given a shorter account of the same briefing elsewhere, saying that as part of his briefing he told the room that the Iraqis had named Khatib — a man he had personally met — as Kuwait's occupation governor that morning; he traces the later mass expulsion of Palestinians from Kuwait after its liberation in part to the association between Khatib's PFLP co-founding and the occupation government.[7][8] ## See also - [George Habash](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/george-habash) - [PFLP](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/pflp) - [Saddam Hussein](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/saddam-hussein) - [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) ## Sources 1. Former CIA Officer John Kiriakou Explains the Part Everyone Missed (2026-04-27), at 3:37. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-wc8tRNoJk&t=217s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-04-27-carlos-watson-part-everyone-missed/ 2. Former CIA Officer John Kiriakou Explains the Part Everyone Missed (2026-04-27), at 4:40. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-wc8tRNoJk&t=280s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-04-27-carlos-watson-part-everyone-missed/ 3. S1E3 Golden Boy (2025-11-03), at 20:28. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/69078c0f47e14fea24c45efe/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-03-dead-drop-s1e3-golden-boy/ 4. Why CIA Torture Was Illegal and Ineffective (2026-06-26), at 1:01. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQYGh8EnFag&t=61s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-26-the-kiriakou-report-why-cia-torture-was-illegal-and-ineffective/ 5. Former CIA Officer John Kiriakou Explains the Part Everyone Missed (2026-04-27), at 5:10. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-wc8tRNoJk&t=310s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-04-27-carlos-watson-part-everyone-missed/ 6. S1E3 Golden Boy (2025-11-03), at 20:59. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/69078c0f47e14fea24c45efe/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-03-dead-drop-s1e3-golden-boy/ 7. INSIDE THE CIA: What They Aren't Telling You — John Kiri (2024-12-21), at 14:40. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYx6oycyKww&t=880s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-12-21-not-a-grayman/ 8. INSIDE THE CIA: What They Aren't Telling You — John Kiri (2024-12-21), at 15:45. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYx6oycyKww&t=945s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-12-21-not-a-grayman/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ahmed-khatib/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt