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September 11, 2001 Terrorists/Hijackers
September 2001-In Boston The FBI found a copy of the Koran, a
videotape on how to fly commercial jets and a fuel consumption
calculator in a pair of bags meant for American Airlines Flight
11. The suitcases belonged to a man with an Arabic name who
investigators believe was one of those who hijacked the plane and
crashed it into The World Trade Center. The man boarded Flight 11
after flying into Boston's Logan International airport from
Portland, Maine, but his bags missed the connection.
The FBI seized a Mitsubishi rental car containing Arabic-language
flight training manuals at Logan International Airport. The car
was rented to two men who were brothers whose passports were
traced to the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan. One of the men
was a trained pilot. They were on flight 175.
Muhammed Attah who learned to fly at Huffman Aviation in Venice,
Florida was on fight 11.
The FBI and The Justice department announced the identities of all
of the hijackers:
The hijackers aboard American Airlines Flight 11 were :
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Mohamed Atta (Egyptian)
he was born on September 1, 1968 in Kafr el Sheikh, a city in
the Nile Delta in Egypt and also carried a Saudi passport. He
grew up in Cairo, Egypt and graduated with a degree in
architecture from Cairo University. He was apparently not
particularly religious during this period. He then moved to
Germany, where he was registered as a student of urban
planning at the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg in
Hamburg from 1993 to 1999. There are other reports that Atta
attended Valencia School of Medicine in Spain during this
period, though these may be a case of mistaken identity.
In Hamburg, Atta worked on a thesis exploring the history of
Aleppo's urban landscapes. It explored the general themes of
the conflict between Arab civilization and modernity. Atta
criticized how the modern skyscrapers and development projects
in Aleppo were disrupting the fabric of that city by blocking
community streets and altering the skyline. There were reports
that he worked as a car salesman while studying, to help pay
for tuition.After he graduated, he took a bus to Aleppo to
visit his professor Dittmar Machule for three days on an
archaeology site. In Germany, Atta was registered as a citizen
of the United Arab Emirates. His German friends describe him
as an intelligent man with religious beliefs who grew angry
over the Western policy toward the Middle East, including the
Oslo Accords and the Gulf War.
While in Germany, Atta became more and more religious,
especially after a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1995. A German
terrorist of Syrian origin, Mohammed Haydar Zammar, claims he
met Atta at this time and recruited him into al-Qaeda. Atta
started attending an Islamic prayer group at the university,
and is thought to have been recruited for fundamentalist
causes there. Other students remember him making strident
anti-American and anti-Semitic statements. That year he also
made an unconditional loan of $25,000 to help Muharrem Acar
start up a Turkish bakery. In a visit home to Egypt in 1998,
his former friends noticed that he had become much more of a
religious fundamentalist than he had been before.
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Waleed al-Shehri (Saudi Arabian)
was from 'Asir Province, a poor region in southwestern Saudi
Arabia that borders Yemen. Studying to become a teacher like
Wail, Waleed accompanied his brother's leave-of-absence after
Wail complained of a mental symptom that had caused him grief,
telling their father that he intended to seek aid from a
religious healer in Medina. The brothers arrived at the Al
Farouq training camp in Afghanistan where they met Ahmed
al-Nami and Saeed Alghamdi. The four reportedly pledged
themselves to Jihad in the Spring of 2000, in a ceremony
presided over by Wail - who had dubbed himself Abu Mossaeb
al-Janubi after one of Mohammad's companions. Waleed
later served in the security forces at Kandahar airport along
with Saeed al-Ghamdi. After being selected for the operation,
he trained with the other hijackers at al-Matar complex under
Abu Turab al Jordani.
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Wail al-Shehri (Saudi Arabian)
Although Wail used the birthdate of September 1, 1968, his
father later claimed that he was only 26-years old at the time
of the attack.A local teacher, Wail reportedly took leave of
his position to seek treatment for a mental symptom that had
caused him grief, telling his father that he intended to seek
aid from a religious healer in Medina. Waleed, who was then
studying to become a teacher himself, accompanied him.
Afterwards, they both disappeared for a time, saying they were
going to Chechnya to defend Muslims there. This has not been
confirmed. The brothers ended up at the Al Farouq training
camp in Afghanistan, where they met Ahmed al-Nami and Saeed
Alghamdi. The four reportedly pledged themselves to Jihad in
the spring of 2000, in a ceremony presided over by Wail, who
had dubbed himself Abu Mossaeb al-Janubi after one of
Mohammad's companions.
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Abdulaziz al-Omari (Saudi Arabian)
Little is known about al-Omari's life, and it is unclear
whether some information refers to al-Omari or another person
by that name. He has used birth dates of December 24, 1972 and
May 28, 1979. He came from Asir Province, a poor region in
southwestern Saudi Arabia that borders Yemen. According to a
2003 CIA report, he had graduated with honours from high
school, attained a degree from the Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud
University, was married, and had a daughter.
He is alleged to have often served as an imam at his mosque in
Saudi Arabia and is believed by American Authorities to have
been a student of a radical Saudi cleric named Sulayman al
Alwan, whose mosque is located in Al Qasim.
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Satam al-Suqami (Saudi Arabian)
A native of the Saudi Arabian city of Riyadh, al-Suqami was a
law student at the King Saud University. While there he joined
a (possible) former roommate named Majed Moqed in training for
al-Qaida at Khalden, a large training facility near Kabul that
was run by Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi.
Mohammed Atta is believed to have flown Flight 11 into the North
Tower of the World Trade Center.
The hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 175 the hijackers were
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Al-Shehhi was born in Ras al Khaimah, in the United Arab
Emirates, to a Muslim cleric. Al-Shehhi was seen as a quiet and
devout Muslim. In February, 1996, al-Shehhi enrolled in a
language institute in Bonn, Germany. He boarded with a local
family. It took two years for him to learn enough German before
he enrolled in a university with a military scholarship.
Fayez left his family in 'Asir, telling his parents that he
hoped to find work with the International Islamic Relief
Organization. He only contacted his parents once after that. He
is believed to have visited the Philippines for three days from
October 17-20, 2000. Banihammad used the controversial program
Visa Express to gain entry into the country together with Saeed
al-Ghamdi. Upon later review of his application, it was noticed
that he hadn't listed an occupation or reason for visit, and
when asked where he would be living in the country, simply wrote
No. However, he still received his Visa.
Born 1979, al-Shehri was one of five hijackers to come from the
'Asir province of Saudi Arabia, the others being Ahmed al-Nami,
Abdulaziz al-Omari and Waleed and Wail al-Shehri, two brothers
unrelated to Mohand. Mohand was a student at Imam Muhammed Ibn
Saud Islamic University in Abha, but his growing devotion to
Wahhabiism took him on frequent trips to Al Qasim, and as a
result he failed his final exams.
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Hamza al-Ghamdi (Saudi Arabian)
Al-Ghamdi was from the al Bahah province of Saudi Arabia, an
isolated and underdeveloped area, and shared the same tribal
affiliation with fellow hijackers Ahmed al-Ghamdi, Saeed
al-Ghamdi, and Ahmed al-Haznawi. This group is noted as being
some of the more religiously observant of the hijackers, and
they are thought to have met each other some time in 1999.
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Ahmed al-Ghamdi (Saudi Arabian)
Al-Ghamdi was from the al Bahah province of Saudi Arabia, an
isolated and underdeveloped area, and shared the same tribal
affiliation with fellow hijackers Saeed al-Ghamdi, Hamza
al-Ghamdi, and Ahmed al-Haznawi. This group is noted as being
some of the more religiously observant of the hijackers.
Al-Ghamdi quit school to fight in Chechnya against the Russians
in 2000, and received a US Visa on September 3rd of that year.
Marwan al-Shehhi is believed to have flown Flight 175 into the
South Tower.
The hijackers aboard American Airlines Flight 77 were :
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Hani Hanjour (Saudi Arabian)
Hanjour was the fourth of seven children, born to a
food-supply businessman in Ta'if, Saudi Arabia. During his
youth he suggested he may drop out of school to become a
flight attendant, although his brother Abulrahman discouraged
this route, and tried to help him focus on his studies.(Cape
Cod Times) He was the only hijacker to live in the United
States prior to any intentions for a large-scale attack, and
was not apart of the Hamburg cell in Germany.
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Khalid al-Mihdhar (Saudi Arabian)
Born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, he went with Nawaf al-Hazmi
(another alleged 9/11 hijacker) to Bosnia in 1995 to join the
Bosnian Muslims in their war against Bosnian Serbs.
Afterwards, both men returned to Afghanistan along with
Nawaf's brother Salem, joined al-Qaeda, and fought against the
Afghan Northern Alliance.
According to al-Mihdhar's family, he fought with Chechnyan
Muslims 1998. He was the only hijacker known to have been
married.On April 7, 1999, al-Mihdhar obtained a US visa
through the US Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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Majed Moqed (Saudi Arabian)
Moqed was a law student from the small town of Annakhil, Saudi
Arabia (west of Medina), studying at King Fahd University's
Faculty of Administration and Economics, before he dropped out
was apparently recruited into al-Qaeda in 1999 along with friend
Satam al-Suqami, with whom he had earlier shared a college room.
Nawaf was born in Mecca to Muhammad Salim al-Hazmi, a grocer. He
travelled to Afghanistan as a teenager in 1993.In 1995, he and
Khalid al-Mihdhar went to fight for the Bosnian Muslim side in
the Bosnian war. Afterwards, Nawaf returned to Afghanistan along
with his brother Salem, and al-Mihdhar. The three there met
al-Qaida, and fought against the Afghan Northern Alliance. Nawaf
al-Hazmi fought alongside Chechnyans sometime around 1998,
possibly with his brother and al-Mihdhar, and returned to Saudi
Arabia in early 1999. In April 1999, both al-Hazmi brothers and
Khalid al-Mihdhar obtained US visas through the US Consulate in
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Born on February 2, 1981 to Muhammad Salim al-Hazmi, a grocer.
There are reports that he fought in Afghanistan with his
brother, Nawaf al-Hazmi, and other reports say the two fought
together in Chechnya. (The two may not have been actual
brothers, although they claimed they were.) Both obtained US
visas through the US Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in April
of 1999.
Hani Hanjour is believed to have flown Flight 77 into the
Pentagon.
The hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 93 were :
Jarrah was born in Mazraa, Lebanon, to a wealthy family. His
parents were nominally Muslim Sunnis, although they lived a
secular lifestyle. When he was seven years old, Israel invaded
southern Lebanon, a fact he referred to later in life. His
parents sent him to a Catholic private school in Beirut called
La Sagesse, where he volunteered at a camp for disabled children
and helped run an anti-drug program.
His academic success to this point was mediocre, and his
parents arranged for private tutors in mathematics, physics and
chemistry. He remained close to his family; he was apparently
the only 9/11 hijacker to have close family ties, including with
his uncle Assem Omar Jarrah whose work permit would later be
found in the wreckage with Ziad's passport. In his childhood, he
had always wanted to fly planes, but his family discouraged
this. "I stopped him from being a pilot," his father told the
Wall Street Journal a week after the attacks. "I only have one
son and I was afraid that he would crash."
Al-Haznawi was the son of an Saudi imam from al-Baha, an
isolated and underdeveloped area, and shared the same tribal
affiliation with fellow hijackers Saeed al-Ghamdi, Hamza
al-Ghamdi, and Ahmed al-Ghamdi. This group is noted as being
some of the more religiously observant of the hijackers.
Al-Haznawi announced he was leaving his family in 1999 to help
fight in Chechnya, although his father forbade him. His father
and brother, Abdul Rahman al-Haznawi, reportedly last heard from
him in late 2000, after he made references to training in
Afghanistan.
Born in Saudi Arabia, al-Nami served as a muezzin at the Seqeley
mosque after having reportedly become very religious sometime in
early 1999. That autumn he enrolled in the King Khaled
University at Abha to study Sharia, he left his family home in
Khamis Mushayt in the summer of 2000 to complete the Hajj, but
never returned - instead travelling to the Al Farouq training
camp in Afghanistan where he meets and befriends Waleed and Wail
al-Shehri, two brothers from Khamis Mushayt, and Saeed Alghamdi.
Al-Ghamdi was from the al Bahah province of Saudi Arabia, an
isolated and underdeveloped area, and shared the same tribal
affiliation with fellow hijackers Ahmed al-Ghamdi, Hamza
al-Ghamdi, and Ahmed al-Haznawi. This group is noted as being
some of the more religiously observant of the hijackers.
Al-Ghamdi is said to have come from a town called Abha. He did
not have a college degree. He may have been in contact with
other future hijackers as early as 1999. Al Ghamdi spent time in
al Qasim province, Saudi Arabia where he transferred to college
but soon dropped out and ceased contact with his family. While
there, he probably associated with the radical Saudi cleric
named Sulayman al Alwan as several other future hijackers did.
Ziad Jarrah is believed to have crashed Flight 93 into the
Pennsylvania countryside to prevent or end an assault by the
passengers.
Ahmed al-Ghamdi, Saeed al-Ghamdi, Hamza al-Ghamdi, and Ahmad
al-Haznawi came from three neighboring towns and belonged to the
same tribe. Wail al-Shehri was Waleed al-Shehri's older brother.
Salem al-Hazmi was a younger brother of Nawaf al-Hazmi.
The terrorist attack itself was planned by Khalid Sheik Mohammed
and approved by Osama bin Laden; according to the 9/11 Commission
Report, Mohammed personally chose the hijackers, and bin Laden
approved of the decision. Sheik Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah became
the organizers of the plot.
Monday, September 10, 2001
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8/9:00 pm Sometime between 8:00 pm and 9:00 pm, two Middle Eastern males
were seen at Pizza Hut, 415 Maine Mall Road, South Portland, Maine, for
approximately fifteen (15) minutes.
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8:31 pm ATTA and AL-OMARI were photographed by a Key Bank drive-up ATM
located at 445 Gorham Road, South Portland, Maine. They were driving a 2001
blue Nissan Altima rental car bearing Massachusetts license 3335VI.
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8:41 pm ATTA and AL-OMARI were photographed by a Fast Green ATM located in
the parking lot of UNO's restaurant, 280 Maine Mall Road, South Portland,
Maine.
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9:15 pm ATTA and AL-OMARI were at Jetport Gas Station, 446 Western, Avenue,
South Portland, Maine.
ATTA was wearing a half dark, half light colored shirt with light colored
slacks.
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9:22 pm ATTA was at Wal-Mart, 451 Payne Road, Scarborough, Maine, for
approximately twenty minutes. Tuesday, September 11, 2001
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5:33 am ATTA and AL-OMARI checked out of the Comfort Inn.
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5:40 am The 2001 blue Nissan Altima rental car, bearing Massachusetts
license 3335VI, entered Portland International Jetport Airport parking lot.
It was parked on the first floor directly across from the airport entrance.
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5:43 am ATTA and AL-OMARI checked in at US AIRWAYS counter.
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5:45 am ATTA and AL-OMARI passed through airport security.
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6:00 am ATTA and AL-OMARI departed on Colgan Air en route to Boston,
Massachusetts.
Hijackers Mohammed
Atta, right, and Abdulaziz Alomari, center, pass through airport
security, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 at Portland International
Jetport
Surveillance video
from Washington Dulles International Airport the morning of Sept.
11, 2001 shows Nawaf al-Hazmi, with his brother, Salem, a fellow
hijacker. They set off the metal detector checked and allowed to
board the plane.
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