Jarrah, Sayid
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Resided in: Tikrit & Ramaldi
Occupation: Communications Specialist/Interrogator for the Republican Guard
Reason for Travel: Was in Australia working for CIA in sting; flying to LA to find love from his past
Flight Seat #: Unknown
Sayid was originally from Baghdad, Iraq and served in the Republican Guard during the Gulf War. He was captured by the U.S. Army during this time, and held prisoner, during which he was put under pressure by a (CIA?) Agent named Inman (who later works for DHARMA as Desmond's partner) to torture a former boss, Tariq to find the whereabouts of a captured American pilot. Sayid was initially reluctant, but relented after he was shown footage of attrocities perpetrated by Tariq. Sayid vowed never to use any means of torture again. Inman gave him bus fare back to Ramaldi and left in the convoy with Sergeant Sam Austen.
After the war, he went back on his word, and continued to serve in the Guard, now as an interrogator/torturer. He worked for a new superior officer, Omar, and questioned prisoners like Falah. During a routine investigation into a bombing, he discovered that his childhood friend, Nadia, was a subject for interrogation. He gradually got closer to her during her imprisonment, and tried to help her. When Omar asked him to kill Nadia, Sayid betrayed the Guard and freed her, shooting Omar and himself in the process (to make it look like she did it while escaping). Sayid then left Iraq, seeking to find her.
Seven years later, Sayid was roped in by the CIA to work in a terrorist sting operation in Sydney. Agents Cole (CIA) and Hewitt (ASIS) promised him information pertaining to the whereabouts of Nadia if he cooperated. Sayid infiltrated the terrorist cell of Haddad and Yusef through Sayid's old college friend, Essam. The sting was successful, but Essam kills himself after feeling betrayed by Sayid. The CIA gave Sayid a different ticket to Los Angeles to reunite with Nadia, but Sayid rescheduled it to Flight 815 in order to be able to give Essam's body a proper burial.
On the island, Sayid's technical expertise has become a vital tool to the group of survivors. Using his skills, he is able to fix the transceiver and discover a radio transmission on the island. He also was able to create a radar for the rafters to use as they sailed away from the island.
Sayid, however, has a dark side with his past, and uses torture to extract information when Sawyer is falsely accused of stealing asthma medication in Boone's luggage. When it's clear that Sawyer is not guilty of this, Sayid regrets his actions, and tracks off into the jungle to spend time alone.
Here, Sayid discovers and befriends Danielle, who has been on the island for sixteen years. She at first tortures him (believing him to be one of the Others), but then begins to trust his story that he means her no harm, and tells him about Alex and vaguely, about some of the secrets of the island, and feeling sorry for her, Sayid fixes her music box. When she is distracted, he steals her notes and maps, and tries to use them to find out their location on the island.
Sayid develops a friendship with Shannon, who helps him translate the French notes, and eventually they become lovers. He saves Locke's life when Shannon tries to shoot him out of vengeance for Boone's death. He and Shannon see an image of Walt shortly before Shannon is accidentally shot by Ana-Lucia as the tail section comes up to that area of the jungle. Sayid tries to attack the tail section group in his grief and confusion at losing Shannon. Ana-Lucia has him tied up, but when they are alone, the two come to the understanding that they are both haunted by their pasts of violence.
Sayid is the one that Danielle turns the then-unknown man Ben in to, after she traps and shoots him with a crossbow. She says not to trust him, that he will lie. Ben at that time tries to convince everyone that his name is Henry Gale. Sayid locks him in the armory, beats him up, and is about to torture him when Jack intervenes. Sayid is part of the expedition to find the balloon Ben claimed to have come from, but after digging up the grave that Ben said he buried his wife in, discovers his lie. The real Henry Gale is in the grave, as evidenced by his driver's license.
After Ben escapes, Sayid correctly suspects Michael "has been compromised" and is going to lead the 4 on the expedition to the Other camp for an ambush. He hatches a plan with Jack to travel by Desmond's boat and scout the camp first, and build a fire with black smoke as a warning signal that it is ok to approach (along the way, he is the first to spot the four-toed statue). However, when Sayid arrives, he finds that the camp has been abandoned and may just be a decoy. He is with Sun and Jin when the EMP goes off. Later, the three make an attempt to save Jack, Kate and Sawyer, but are thwarted when the Others steal the boat.
