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 Ali Nur
Nur was born on 12 October 1962 in Mogadishu, Somalia, where he spent his childhood. He is the eldest in a family of six siblings. His father, Ali Nur "Americo", worked as a foreman in a borehole-drilling company. Later, he ran a chain of restaurants and a rental car service in Mogadishu. He also had an interest in real estate. His mother was a housewife who died when he was 9 years old.