Mohamed Atta
Atta was born in 1968 in a small town in Egypt's Nile Delta. He was 10 years old when he moved with his family to the Abdeen section of Cairo. Atta studied architecture at Cairo University, graduating in 1990, and continued his studies in Germany at the Hamburg University of Technology. In Hamburg, Atta became involved with the al-Quds Mosque, where he met Marwan al-Shehhi, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, and Ziad Jarrah, together forming the Hamburg cell. Atta disappeared from Germany for periods of time, spending some time in Afghanistan, including several months in late 1999 and early 2000 when he met Osama bin Laden and other top al-Qaeda leaders. Atta and the other Hamburg cell members were recruited by bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed for the "planes operation" in the United States. Atta returned to Hamburg in February 2000, and began inquiring about flight training in the United States.
Mohamed Ould Maaouya
Maaouya was born in Méderdra, and he received his higher education in Nouakchott as well as France. In 1984 he became Central Director of the Ministry of the Interior, and he served as Secretary-General of the Ministry of the Interior from 1984 to 1986; he was also a regional "wāli" in 1982 and 1986. He was Adviser to the Presidency of the Republic from 1989 to 1992, then Director of the Cabinet of the Prime Minister Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar, with ministerial rank, from 1992 to 1996. From 1996 to 1997, he was Adviser to the Presidency of the Republic again; subsequently he was Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation from 1997 to 1999, Secretary-General of the Ministry of the Interior again from 1999 to 2002, and Secretary-General of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Development from 2002 to 2005.