Abdul ibn Shareef was the Qumari Minister of Defence, controlling partner at Bank Al-Hassan, and brother of the Sultan of Qumar.[1] He was also a lead member of the Bahji who was assassinated in May 2002[2] on the orders of President Bartlet.[3]
Shareef was initially introduced as an allied minister (along with Qumar), but it emerged that he was actually a key member of the Bahji terrorist network and was behind the thwarted attempt to blow up the Golden Gate Bridge. As a result, having been shown evidence that he was a terrorist, President Bartlet ordered his assassination, as it was impossible for him to be brought to trial due to the chain of evidence that implicated him originating with a tortured Chechen.
He met with the President hours before his assassination, who refused to shake hands with him (blaming a rash for it) and gave him a pen with a recording device in it. He was assassinated by U.S. Navy Seals on a remote airstrip in Bermuda and the plane's disappearance at sea was faked. To further cover up the assassination, American intelligence planted stories that Shareef had fled to Libya and was plotting to overthrow his brother. Regardless, Qumar blamed Israel for Shareef's death and shot down a plane carrying Israeli Foreign Minister Ben Yosef.[4][5]
In Bermuda Danny Concannon found evidence linking the Bartlet administration to Shareef's death.[6] He discovered there was a rift between the President and the Secretary of Defense Miles Hutchinson after the President rescinded his executive order against the assassination of foreign leaders[7] and tracked down the pilot on Shareef's plane. The Bahji likewise figured out the Americans were behind the assassination and abducted Zoey Bartlet in retaliation.[2]
Acting President Glen Allen Walken publicly admitted to the assassination[8] and authorized the bombings of terrorist training camps in Qumar. Zoey Bartlet was found,[9] and the capture of arms trafficker Jamal Othman led to the discovery of blueprints and contacts with the Bahji network that netted a dozen arrests.[10]