Jibraan Al-Zarian

Jibraan Al-Zarian was a civilian living in Washington, D.C. during the events of Day 7. He was the older brother and father-figure of Hamid Al-Zarian.

Before Day 7

Jibraan was a 27 year old day laborer at the Cabrera Granite Construction site and had an expired visa. He lived at 2700 Eastbrook and attended Bryden University. Both of his parents were killed in a US airstrike by the Pakistani border when he was just eleven years old. Jibraan formed a close bond with his younger brother, Hamid.

Jibraan attended the mosque of Muhtadi Gohar and several times he went to him for spiritual advice.

Day 7

Cara Bowden called a meeting with twelve other co-conspirators, including Alan Wilson. She devised a plan to use Jibraan as a patsy for the release of the Prion variant, which would shift the blame of the attack to Muslim extremists. Planted evidence implicating Al-Zarian would include fabricated emails, phone records, and a large wire transfer to his account. Bowden said that using an innocent civilian would be easier to control and manipulate and that his body would be left at the scene. All twelve members unanimously agreed to move forward with the operation.

Jibraan had difficulty sleeping and was watching news reports on television. He cooked breakfast for his younger brother and told him to come home as soon as he got off work. Jibraan feared that, after all the attacks of the day, the population might direct their anger against Muslims. Hamid, however, calmed him telling him that most of his co-workers think he's Puerto Rican anyway.

Tony threatens Jibraan Al-Zarian.

Bowden and Almeida arrived at the apartment complex with two other subordinates and the group cut off electricity to the home, prompting Jibraan to check the fuse box. In the darkness, the two brothers were ambushed by the group. Tony Almeida threw Jibraan to the wall and pointed a gun to his face.

Tony forced Jibraan to make a confessional speech on video in order to fabricate his involvement in an upcoming terrorist attack. The video was disrupted however when D.C. police visited the house when his neighbors called saying that unknown men had entered his house. Jibraan made an excuse under gunpoint of Tony Almeida to dismiss the police officers.

Upon completing the video, he was forced to "confess" to his brother Hamid that he was a terrorist along with Tony, and that Hamid didn't know Jibraan as well as he thought. His brother spat at his face before Tony took Jibraan away.

He later got into a van with Tony where Tony gave him a comm unit with a tracker to allow him to follow and talk to Jibraan. He instructed Jibraan to take the red line on the subway all the way to the Washington Center Station. Jibraan demanded to know what would happen once he arrived. Tony told him that they would let him know. Tony reminded him that all he needed to worry about was his brother. Jibraan nodded his head in understanding, and got out of the van. Looking back at Tony, he descended into the station.

Inside he approached a ticket booth. Removing the earpiece, he clutched it in his hand to muffle his plea for help to the lady at the ticket counter. He asked her to call the police because terrorists had his brother. She waved over a nearby security officer, who then talked to Jibraan. He asked what was wrong, and Jibraan explained his situation. However, the guard asked him to put the earpiece back on. Realizing he was talking to one of Tony's operatives, he hesitantly put the earpiece back in his ear. Tony gave him a lecture to never attempt something like that again. He reminded Jibraan that they were watching him. The guard slipped him a ticket, and Jibraan moved towards the train.

Jibraan sat on the train where Bowden dropped off a duffel bag containing the pathogen set to detonate in fifteen minutes. The train stopped at a station where Bowden got off. Jibraan saw her, and despite her disguise, suspected that it was the same woman who broke into his house hours before.

Jibraan tries to get the canister out of the station.

A few minutes later, Jibraan was contacted by Jack Bauer via his earpiece. He was told that Hamid was safe and that Tony was taken into custody by the FBI. Jibraan asked to speak to his brother, but Jack brought up the fact that Jibraan was still in danger. Jack asked if they gave him some sort of package, but Jibraan told him they didn't. Jack then asked him to look for an abandoned bag on the train. Jibraan told Jack about seeing Bowden get off the train at the last stop. As all this was happening, a passenger grew suspicious of Jibraan. The train began to pull into Washington Station, and Jack asked him to wait until all passengers were off the train. Once everyone left, he searched the train, eventually finding the duffel bag containing the pathogen. Before opening the bag, he asked why he had to do this, and Jack told him that thousands of lives are relying on him. He opened the bag to find the canister counting down with just a little over a minute left. Jack ordered him to move to the street, and Jibraan made his way up the escalators. However, a guard stopped him after being told by the suspecting passenger. Thinking fast, Jibraan retrieved the canister and shouted that he had a bomb. Everyone got out of his way, which allowed him to run for the surface. Making it onto the street, FBI and Hazmat arrived. Jack took the canister off Jibraan's hands and successfully put the canister inside a containment unit before it detonated. After being scanned by Hazmat, Jibraan received a thank you from Jack before moving off with Agent Moran to give a statement. He identified Cara Bowden from a picture of her at the White House.

Later, Jibraan reunited with his brother and Gohar, and they embraced. Jack watched with a smile.

Background information and notes

• In addition to the role of Jibraan, Omid Abtahi also played Safa on Day 4.
• The casting call for Jibraan (then known as Yusef Maanvi) describes him as "Middle Eastern in his late 20s with a very slight accent. He has been living in the US for quite awhile and has raised his younger brother, Kamil. Yusef is very protective of his younger brother, and there is a father/son type of relationship. Although, Yusef has never been involved in any terrorist activity, he is being set up."
• Jibraan is said to be a student at Bryden University. In 2011, actor Omid Abtahi played Raqim Faisel, a Bryden University professor/terrorist on the show Homeland. The show was created by 24 showrunner Howard Gordon.

See also

Wiki 24 has 14 images related to Jibraan Al-Zarian.