Habib Marwan

Habib Marwan was the mastermind behind the terrorist attacks of Day 4. For nearly five years he maintained and funded a number of terrorist sub-cells, primarily in Los Angeles but ranging as far as Iowa and the East Coast, to cripple the United States of America on that day.

Before Day 4
Marwan was an immigrant from Turkey, and his American alias was Harris Barnes. Using the Barnes identity, he earned a middle management position at the McLennan-Forster Corporation to work on the Dobson Override device. Marwan used his funds and position in the company to create sleeper cells and acquire technology needed to implement his plans. Besides placing himself at the defense contractor, he inserted Ali into IDS Data Systems and had Henry Powell insert Marianne Taylor into CTU Los Angeles.

Day 4
Marwan planned a series of attacks against the United States, all of which were to happen during Day 4. Through information gathered from Navi Araz at the beginning of the day, Marwan and his terrorist cells have been planning for the day's attacks for nearly 5 years. Each attack, starting with the train bombing in Santa Clarita early in the day, were diversions for larger, more devastating attacks against the United States. The train attack was a cover for the kidnapping of James Heller and Audrey Raines. The kidnapping was cover for the nuclear power plant attack.



Marwan had one of his cells hijack a train to acquire the Dobson Override, a device which would bypass security codes and melt down each reactor while changing the kill codes. The goal was to melt down 104 separate nuclear reactors in power plants around the country. During the execution of this plan, Navi Araz contacted Marwan with help in finding his wife, Dina, and son, who had betrayed the group. Marwan detested this distraction but had one of his subordinates give Navi the requested personnel and resources needed to silence the two.

When CTU shut down all but six of the reactors, Marwan posed as an IT technician, snuck into IDS Data Systems, and tried to personally work the override into melting the remaining cores. He was stopped by Jack Bauer and Curtis Manning however, when they arrived at the office building and spotted him. Marwan fired his gun to create a panic, and used the resulting chaos to escape. Marwan killed a field agent and put on his gear to pose as the agent to escape from the building and in the process, he also killed agent Solarz.

When CTU found another lead to Marwan, Joseph Fayed, Jack decided to use a sting operation to get his location by letting Dina Araz and Fayed take Jack hostage and bring him to Marwan. He caught onto the plan, however, and abducted Jack and Dina while Fayed made a martyr of himself. While captive at a nearby warehouse, Marwan, suspecting that Dina is working with CTU, tested her loyalty by giving her a unloaded gun and telling her to shoot Jack. When she pulled the gun on Marwan, however, he had one of his men kill Dina and restrain Jack. Marwan, needing another distraction to sway CTU from his next planned attack, called Michelle Dessler. He offered CTU an exchange of Jack for Behrooz Araz. CTU set up the exchange, but Marwan was not present during the swap.



The nuclear reactor threat kept President John Keeler in the air around Los Angeles. The commotion of the days events allowed an ex-military pilot in one of Marwan's cells, Mitch Anderson, to steal a stealth fighter in the area. Marwan called Anderson to proceed with the plan to shoot down Air Force One. With CTU's focus on finding Marwan and Jack's exchange, Anderson was able to steal the fighter effortlessly and get it in Air Force One's airspace. It was too late for CTU to stop the attack, and Anderson destroyed an escort fighter, critically damaging Air Force One and forcing it to crash land.



With the wreckage of the plane included the nuclear football, a briefcase that contained all the firing codes for the US' nuclear warheads. Marwan got to the football in time to take one of the codes from the briefcase, but had to leave the Football behind, as he was being perused by Jack. After escaping and returning safely back to Los Angeles, Marwan went in a back room of The Hub nightclub. There, he recorded a tape to be leaked to the media in which he explained the meaning of the days attacks, including the nuclear warhead attack that will happen before the end of the day, to the American public. Through another lead that Jack found from Joe Prado, they cornered Marwan again. Jack and the team were interrupted by new President Charles Logan, who tried to arrest Jack for disobeying orders. Marwan and his cell escaped from the nightclub using underground tunnels and an explosive to seal off their route.

Marwan next placed some calls to Robert Morrison in Iowa, where Sabir Ardakani and another sub-cell secured the nuclear warhead tracked by Marwan's stolen nuclear football intelligence. Morrison and Ardakani successfully launched the warhead. He then met with his chopper pilot at the Global Centre parking lot, where he planned to escape LA with Mandy and Gary, two of his mercenaries. Because Mandy gave up this location for a full presidential pardon, Bauer and CTU agents engaged him in a running gunfight in the parking structure. When faced with his own capture, he moved to martyr himself and avoid interrogation concerning the target of his missile, which was threatening Los Angeles. Bauer grabbed him, but Marwan sliced a knife into Jack's left hand and, with a broad grin on his face, fatally dropped from the multi-story parking garage. The stealth missile was intercepted by a jet fighter and destroyed before its nuclear warhead could detonate.



Marwan believed that American people should see their enemy and refused to have his face covered when he made the video about the day's attacks.

Memorable quotes

 * Habib Marwan: People of America, you wake up today to a different world. One of your own nuclear weapons has been used against you.  It will be days and weeks before you can measure the damage we have caused.  But as you count your dead, remember why this has happened to you.  You have no knowledge for the causes of the people you strike down or the nations you conquer.  You choose to meddle in their affairs, without respect. You follow your government, unquestioningly, toward your own slaughter.  Today, you pay the price for that ignorance. ... Unless you renounce your policies of imperialism and interventionist activities, this attack will be followed by another... and another after that. ("Day 4: 1:00am-2:00am")

Background information and notes

 * Marwan appeared in 16 episodes of the show, making him the show's longest-running single season main villain.
 * In one deleted scene, Marwan met up with his wife and young son to send them to safety in Mexico. The scene was cut to eliminate any feeling of compassion towards the terrorist.
 * Marwan was originally supposed to appear in 6 episodes, but the producers were impressed by Vosloo's acting performance and portrayal of the character. They decided to make him the main villain for the rest of the season. He appeared in the final 12 episodes of Day 4 after the change.
 * Habib Marwan is one of the four Muslim main antagonists in any season of 24, along with Syed Ali of Season 2, Abu Fayed in Season 6, and Samir Mehran of Season 8.
 * The laptop that Marwan uses throughout the day and the one to launch the nuclear warhead is Alienware brand.
 * Although Arnold Vosloo was credited for "Day 4: 2:00am-3:00am," Marwan only appears in footage from his prerecorded message to America, filmed in "Day 4: 1:00am-2:00am."
 * Marwan died thinking he was successful, and was one of the only main villains who did not see the collapse of his plans.