Mohamed Atta
Atta was born on September 1, 1968, in Kafr el-Sheikh, located in Egypt's Nile Delta region. His father, Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta, was a lawyer, educated in both sharia and civil law. His mother, Bouthayna Mohamed Mustapha Sheraqi, came from a wealthy farming and trading family and was also educated. Bouthayna and Mohamed married when she was 14, via an arranged marriage. The family had few relatives on the father's side and kept a distance from Bouthayna's family. In-laws characterized Atta's father as "austere, strict, and private," and neighbors considered the family reclusive. Atta was the only son; he had two older sisters who are both well-educated and successful in their careers — one as a medical doctor and the other as a professor.
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.