[2][3] A former member of Special Service Wing (SSW) and a veteran of Soviet–Afghan War, Khawaja described himself as a close associate of Osama bin Laden in the early days of the Afghan resistance against the Soviet Union.

[5] We don't believe in killing innocent people, but we would certainly like to send you into the Stone Age the same way you have sent us into the Stone Age...a slave normally hates his masterA November 9, 2005, article in the Asia Times described Khawaja as the "point man" for Mansoor Ijaz, which it describes as "...a US citizen of Pakistani origin with close ties to the right wing of the Republican Party".

[10] A noted friend of the Egyptian-Canadian Khadr family, Khawaja spoke in their defence saying they were being unfairly targeted by Canadian authorities because of deference to the United States, and Islamophobia.

[12] Deborah Scroggins, author of the book Wanted Women: Faith, Lies & The War on Terror: The lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali & Aaafia Siddiqui, describes meeting Zaynab while she was a house-guest of Khawaja, in Islamabad, Pakistan, in 2004.

[14] He was found dead in Mir Ali on April 30, 2010 – a month after being kidnapped by a group calling themselves the "Asian Tigers", while filming a documentary about Colonel Imam.