Ali H. Soufan (born 1971) is a Lebanese-American former FBI agent who was involved in a number of high-profile anti-terrorism cases both in the United States and around the world. A New Yorker article in 2006 described Soufan as coming closer than anyone to preventing the September 11 attacks, even implying that he would have succeeded had the CIA been willing to share information with him. He resigned from the FBI in 2005 after publicly chastising the CIA for not sharing information with him, which could have prevented the attacks. He is the CEO of the Soufan Group. In 2011 he published a memoir, which includes some historical background on al-Qaeda: The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al-Qaeda.

Soufan was born in Lebanon. He is an ardent admirer of the poet Khalil Gibran. He graduated from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania (1995), receiving his B.A in Political Science. Soufan also studied for a Masters degree in International Studies at Villanova University.

Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (Arabic: علي بن أﺑﻲ طالب, Transliteration: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, [ʕaliː ibn ʔæbiː t̪ˤɑːlib]; 13^thRajab, 24 BH–21^stRamaḍān, 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661). The son of Abu Talib, Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of Islamic prophet Muhammad, ruling over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam.Sunnis consider Ali the fourth and final of the Rashidun (rightly guided Caliphs), while Shias regard Ali as the first Imam and consider him and his descendants the rightful successors to Muhammad, all of which are members of the Ahl al-Bayt, the household of Muhammad. This disagreement split the Ummah (Muslim community) into the Sunni and Shia branches.

Muslim sources, especially Shia ones, state that since Muhammad's time, Ali was the only person born in the Kaaba sanctuary in Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. His father was Abu Talib and his mother was Fatima bint Asad, but he was raised in the household of Muhammad, who himself was raised by Abu Talib, Muhammad's uncle, and Ali's father. When Muhammad reported receiving a divine revelation, Ali was the first male to accept his message, dedicating his life to the cause of Islam.

Abu Zubaydah (Arabic: ابو زبيدة‎, Abū Zubaydah; born March 12, 1971 as Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn) is a Saudi Arabian citizen, sentenced to death in Jordan and currently held in U.S. custody in Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.

Arrested in Pakistan in March 2002, Abu Zubaydah has been in US custody for more than nine years, four-and-a-half of them as a ghost detainee in the CIA secret prison network. The CIA transferred him between prisons in various countries as part of their extraordinary rendition program. During interrogation in that time he was water-boarded 83 times and has been subjected to numerous other controversial interrogation techniques including forced nudity, sleep deprivation, confinement in small dark boxes, deprivation of solid food, stress positions, and physical assaults. Videotapes of some of his interrogations are amongst those destroyed by the CIA in 2005.

He was transferred to Guantanamo in September 2006 where he and other former CIA detainees are held in Camp 7 where conditions are the most isolating. He has never been charged, despite being accused for years by US authorities.

Martin Bashir (born 19 January 1963) is a British journalist, currently with NBC News as a contributor for its Dateline program, and an afternoon anchor for MSNBC, hosting Martin Bashir. He was previously an anchor for ABC's Nightline and is known for his interviews with Diana, Princess of Wales and controversy surrounding his interview and conflicting statements in his reports on singer Michael Jackson.

Bashir was born in Wandsworth, South London to parents of Pakistani Christian origin and grew up in Wandsworth. He was educated at the state comprehensive Wandsworth School for Boys and King Alfred's College of Higher Education, Winchester (since 2004 the University of Winchester), studying English and History from 1982–1985, and at King's College London. He is fluent in English, Urdu and Hindi. He identifies as a committed Christian.

He started work as a journalist in 1986. He worked for the BBC until 1999 on programmes including Songs of Praise, Public Eye and Panorama and then he joined ITV, working on special documentary programmes and features for Tonight with Trevor McDonald.

Richard L. Wolffe (born 17 September 1968) is a journalist, MSNBC commentator, and author of the Barack Obama books Renegade: The Making of a President (Crown, June 2009) and Revival: The Struggle for Survival Inside the Obama White House (Crown, November 2010).

Born to an English father and a Moroccan mother in Birmingham, England, Wolffe is a 1992 graduate of Oxford University, first-class honours, in English and French literature, having attended the fee-paying independent school, King Edward VI School in Birmingham.

Took the Westminster Press diploma in journalism, starting with the pre-entry course at Hastings in autumn 1992 while a trainee reporter with the Brighton Argus. Moved to the Financial Times and thereafter Newsweek.

Wolffe covered the entire length of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign for Newsweek magazine, traveling with the candidate and his inner circle from his announcement through election day, 21 months later.

He is a political analyst on MSNBC, having appeared frequently on Countdown with Keith Olbermann and Hardball with Chris Matthews. On NBC, he was featured as a political commentator on Meet The Press and TODAY. He features prominently in the forthcoming HBO documentary on the Obama campaign, and played a leading role in the HBO documentary of the 2000 Bush campaign, Journeys With George. He has also appeared on CNN and Fox News, as well as international media including British, Canadian and Australian television.