How old was Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta at the time of the September 11 attacks?
Mohamed Atta
Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta ( ; ""  ; September 1, 1968 – September 11, 2001) was an Egyptian hijacker and one of the ringleaders of the September 11 attacks in which four United States commercial aircraft were commandeered with the intention of destroying specific civilian targets. He served as the hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11 and crashed the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the coordinated attacks. At 33 years of age, he was the oldest of the 19 hijackers who took part in the attacks.
Anthony Shaffer (intelligence officer)
According to US Congressman Weldon, in a speech delivered to Congress, the Pentagon took the following actions against Lt Col. Shaffer as punishment for his repeatedly bringing forward of the above Able Danger facts: Stripped him of his security clearance, put him on indefinite suspension without pay, took away his pension and medical coverage, and had a judge sign a gag order preventing him from telling the press, congress, etc. about Able Danger's discovery of terrorist Mohamed Atta and his cell in NYC. This communication would have, according the CIA Director Tenet, prevented 9/11 hijackings from Boston's Logan International Airport and attacks on the World Trade Center in NYC, the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and other planned targets in the U.S.A. on September 11, 2001.
Ahmad El-Maati
Ahmad Abou El-Maati () (born October 1, 1964) is a Canadian citizen who was arrested and detained for two and a half years in Syrian and Egyptian prisons. He had found a Visitor's Map to Ottawa and was travelling to Syria to get married. This evidence, as well as the post-September 11 fear, led him to be considered a suspected terrorist. In 2001, El-Maati was the subject of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigation into what appeared to be a terror plot involving his job as a truck driver.
Hijackers in the September 11 attacks
Two flight attendants called the American Airlines reservation desk during the hijacking. Betty Ong reported that "the five hijackers had come from first-class seats: 2A, 2B, 9A, 9C and 9B." Flight attendant Amy Sweeney called a flight services manager at Logan Airport in Boston and described them as Middle Eastern. She gave the staff the seat numbers and they pulled up the ticket and credit card information of the hijackers, identifying Mohamed Atta.
Mohamed Atta
In 2005, Army Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer and Congressman Curt Weldon alleged that the Defense Department data mining project, Able Danger, produced a chart that identified Atta, along with Nawaf al-Hazmi, Khalid al-Mihdhar, and Marwan al-Shehhi, as members of a Brooklyn-based al-Qaeda cell in early 2000. Shaffer largely based his allegations on the recollections of Navy Captain, Scott Phillpott, who later recanted his recollection, telling investigators that he was "convinced that Atta was not on the chart that we had." Phillpott said that Shaffer was "relying on my recollection 100 percent," and the Defense Department Inspector General's report indicated that Philpott "may have exaggerated knowing Atta's identity because he supported using Able Danger's techniques to fight terrorism."
September 11 attacks
In late 1999, a group of men from Hamburg, Germany arrived in Afghanistan; the group included Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, Ziad Jarrah, and Ramzi bin al-Shibh. Bin Laden selected these men because they were educated, could speak English, and had experience living in the West. New recruits were routinely screened for special skills and al-Qaeda leaders consequently discovered that Hani Hanjour already had a commercial pilot's license. Mohammed later said that he helped the hijackers blend in by teaching them how to order food in restaurants and dress in Western clothing.
Muhammad Syed
In 2001, after the September 11 attacks and the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, Syed joined anti-war protests. Syed attended a conference of the Islamic Society of North America, where Anwar Ibrahim (Malaysia's Deputy PM 1993–8) roundly condemned the recently uncovered Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse by American soldiers (April 2004), which received loud applause from the audience. However, Anwar Ibrahim went on to say that prisons like Abu Ghraib or worse existed throughout the Muslim world, asked the audience how often they had spoken out against human rights violations against prisoners and others by Muslims in Muslim-majority countries, and accused them of hypocrisy (Anwar Ibrahim himself had been imprisoned in solitary confinement from April 1999 to September 2004). This rare occurrence of self-criticism and self-reflection from within the Muslim community had a profound impact on Syed's way of thinking.
Planning of the September 11 attacks
Marwan al-Shehhi came to Bonn, Germany in 1996 on scholarship from the United Arab Emirates Army to study marine engineering. Al-Shehhi met Atta in 1997, and in 1998, he moved to Hamburg to join Atta and bin al-Shibh. As the son of a religiously trained father, al-Shehhi was very religious, well-educated in Islam, and adhered to a strict form of the faith. However, he had a friendlier, more humorous personality than Atta, who was very serious and more reclusive.
Saeed al-Masri
Mustafa Ahmed Muhammad Uthman Abu al-Yazid (مصطفى أحمد محمد عثمان أبو اليزيد), better known as Saeed al-Masri (سعيد المصري) or simply al-Masri (المصري = the Egyptian), (February 27, 1955 - May 21, 2010) was an Egyptian who was alleged to have acted as the financial chief for al-Qaeda. Along with Mahfouz Ould al-Walid and Saif al-Adel, al-Masri was believed to have opposed the September 11 attacks two months prior to their execution. He was killed in a targeted killing drone airstrike in Pakistan on May 21, 2010.
Marwan al-Shehhi
Al-Shehhi spent his time making preparations for the attack itself, such as meeting with crucial planners abroad, assisting with the arrival of hijackers aboard the other flights, and travelling on surveillance flights determining details on how the hijacking would take place. On September 9, 2001, he traveled from Florida to Boston, where he stayed at the Milner Hotel until September 11. After boarding United Airlines Flight 175 at Logan International Airport, al-Shehhi and 4 other hijackers waited 30 minutes into the flight to make their attack, which then allowed al-Shehhi to take over control as pilot, and at 9:03 a.m., 17 minutes after Mohamed Atta crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into the North Tower, 23-year-old al-Shehhi crashed the Boeing 767 into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. He was the youngest hijacker-pilot to participate in the attacks. The impact of the Boeing 767 operating as United 175 into the South Tower was seen live on television as it happened. 56 minutes later at 9:59 a.m., the 110-story skyscraper collapsed, killing hundreds of people, including around 900 office workers and first responders.
Able Danger
Following the "GSN" report, members of the 9/11 Commission began commenting on the information they had on Able Danger and Atta. Lee H. Hamilton, former Vice Chair of the 9/11 Commission, and Al Felzenberg, a former spokesman for the 9/11 Commission, both denied that the 9/11 Commission had any information on the identification of Mohamed Atta prior to the attacks. Hamilton told the media, "The Sept. 11 commission did not learn of any U.S. government knowledge prior to 9/11 of surveillance of Mohamed Atta or of his cell... Had we learned of it obviously it would've been a major focus of our investigation."
Guantanamo Bay files leak
Media reports on the documents note that more than 150 innocent Afghans and Pakistanis, including farmers, chefs, and drivers, were held for years without charges. The documents also reveal that some of the prison's youngest and oldest detainees, who include Mohammed Sadiq, an 89-year-old man, and Naqib Ullah, a 14-year-old boy, suffered from fragile mental and physical conditions. The files contain statements from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the planner of the 9/11 attacks, who said that al-Qaeda possessed nuclear capacity and would use it to retaliate for any attack on Osama bin Laden. The files also reveal the fate of wanted terrorist Mustafa Mohammed Fadhil, who had been quietly removed from the FBI's most wanted terrorists list in 2005.
Abu Turab al-Urduni
The son-in-law of Ayman al-Zawahiri, Abu Turab al-Urduni (also "Abu Turab al-Jordani") was a Jordanian who has been described by the United States government as one of five individuals who were aware of the operational details of the September 11th attacks, along with Osama bin Laden, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, and Mohammed Atef. US intelligence reports indicated that he was killed by US troops in 2001.
Able Danger
Another variation of the Two Attas theory reported by Kaus notes that Omar Abdel Rahman also had an associate with the name Mohamed El-Amir (a name sometimes used by Atta) who was not the Mohamed Atta involved in the 9/11 hijacking.
Mohammed Nechle
Nechle was born in Algeria and immigrated Bosnia in the 1990s. Nechle became a Bosnian citizen, and married a Bosnian woman. Nechle was working for the Red Crescent at the time of al Qaeda attacks of September 11, 2001.
Ahmed Mohamed clock incident
At the time of the incident on Monday, September 14, 2015, Mohamed was fourteen years old and a high school freshman. In interviews with local media, Mohamed said that he wanted to show the engineering teacher at school what he had done over the weekend; he had taken apart a clock and rebuilt it inside a pencil case that resembled a small briefcase. His father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, said that he had driven him to school that morning and encouraged him to show his technological skills.
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.
Counterterrorism Center
Amid this activity, in November–December 1999 Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, Ziad Jarrah, and Nawaf al-Hazmi visited Afghanistan, where they were selected by al-Qaeda for the 9/11 operation. In late 1999, the NSA picked up traces of an "operational cadre" consisting of al-Hazmi, his younger brother Salem, and Khalid al-Mihdhar, who were planning to go to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in January 2000. A CTC officer sought permission to conduct surveillance on the men. At about this time the SOCOM-DIA data mining operation "Able Danger" also identified a potential al-Qaeda unit, consisting of the future leading 9/11 hijackers, and termed them the "Brooklyn cell". Altogether, the operation found five cells, including two of the three cells involved in the 9/11 attack.
Religious violence
The tension reached a climax on September 11th, 2001 when Islamic terrorists flew hijacked commercial airplanes into the World Trade Center in New York City and The Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The “War on Terror” has triggered anti-Muslim sentiments within Christendom and throughout the rest of the world. Al-Qaeda is one of the most well known Islamic extremist groups, created by Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden. Al-Qaeda's goal is to spread the “purest” form of Islam and Islamic law. Based on his interpretation of the Quran, bin Laden needed to do “good” by inflicting terror upon millions of people. Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, bin Laden praised the suicide bombers in his statement: "“the great action you did which was first and foremost by the grace of Allah. This is the guidance of Allah and the blessed fruit of jihad”". In contrast, echoing the overwhelming majority of people who interpreted these events, President Bush said on September 11, ""Freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward... And freedom will be defended. Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts."" Despite the interpretations of Islam espoused by a few militant sects, Islam is not a fundamentally violent religion. Certain groups hold the view that the Quran should be interpreted literally, while others believe that with the changing course of history, the interpretation of it should also change.
Controversies surrounding the subject include disagreements over whether terrorist acts are self-defense or aggression, national self-determination or Islamic supremacy; whether Islam can ever condone the targeting of non-combatants; whether some attacks described as Islamic terrorism are merely terrorist acts committed by Muslims or terrorist acts motivated by nationalism; whether Zionism and the Arab-Israeli Conflict are at the root of Islamic terrorism, or simply one cause of it; how much support for Islamic terrorism exists in the Muslim world and whether support of terrorism is only a temporary phenomenon, a "bubble", now fading away.
Mohammed Ahmad Said Al Edah
Mohammed Ahmad Said Al Edah is a citizen of Yemen who was held in the United States' Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba, for fourteen and a half years. His Internment Serial Number is 33.
Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts estimate he was born in 1962, in Hay al-Turbawi Ta'iz, Yemen.
Suicide attack
Criminal Justice professor Adam Lankford argues that suicide terrorists are not psychologically normal or stable, and are motivated to suicide/killing to mask their desire to die beneath a "veneer of heroic action", because of the religious consequences of killing themselves outright. He has identified more than 130 individual suicide terrorists, including 9/11 ringleader Mohamed Atta, with classic suicidal risk factors, such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, other mental health problems, drug addictions, serious physical injuries or disabilities, or having suffered the unexpected death of a loved one or from other personal crises.
Operation Arabian Knight
On October 18, 2010, a federal judge gave their lawyers time to "attempt to finalize a plea agreement." In March 2011, they accepted a plea deal and admitted they wanted to try to join al-Shabab, an Al Qaeda-affiliated group and admitted they were part of a conspiracy to kill, maim, and kidnap.
Mohamed Osman, 19 years old, of Bayonne, New Jersey, pleaded guilty on September 15, 2010, before Senior U.S. District Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise making materially false statements to members of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force who were investigating Alessa and Almonte. Osman had denied knowing about the two men's plans but later admitted that was a lie. He faced a potential eight years in jail and $250,000 fine at sentencing on December 20, 2010.
The Path to 9/11
The miniseries presented a dramatization of the sequence of events leading to the September 11, 2001 attacks by Al Qaeda on the United States, starting from the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and up to the minutes after its collapse in 2001. The movie takes the point of view of two main protagonists: John P. O'Neill, and a composite Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent, "Kirk". O'Neill was the real-life Special Agent in charge of Al Qaeda investigations at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He died in the collapse of the Twin Towers on September 11 shortly after retiring from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and taking the position of Director of Security for the World Trade Center. The composite CIA agent "Kirk" is shown dealing with various American allies, especially Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud, in Afghanistan. In addition, "Patricia", a CIA headquarters analyst, represents the views of the rank and file at CIA headquarters. The miniseries features dramatizations of various incidents summarized in the 9/11 Commission Report and represented in high-level discussions held in the Clinton and Bush administrations. The final hour of the movie dramatizes the events of 9/11, including a recreation of the second plane hitting the World Trade Center, Tom Burnett's calls to his wife, and John Miller's reporting near the scene of the attacks. The film concludes with information about the 9/11 Commission's recommendations, as well as the performance evaluation the Commission gave the government when it reconvened in 2005.
Timeline for the day of the September 11 attacks
6:00: Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz al-Omari travel on Colgan Air Flight 5930 from Portland International Jetport in Portland, Maine to Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts.
Khalid al-Mihdhar
Khalid Muhammad Abdallah al-Mihdhar (, ; also transliterated as Almihdhar) (May 16, 1975 – September 11, 2001) was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, which was flown into the Pentagon as part of the September 11 attacks.
Responsibility for the September 11 attacks
CNN and other news outlets reported in September and October 2001 that $100,000 was wired from the United Arab Emirates to lead hijacker Mohamed Atta prior to the attacks, by Ahmed Omar Saeed (Syed) Sheikh, a long time Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence asset.
Mohammed Atef
In the 1999 Returnees from Albania, he was tried "in absentia" by an Egyptian court which sentenced him to seven years' imprisonment for his associated with the EIJ. That year, he met repeatedly with bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed at the Al-Matar complex to discuss possible targets for the 9/11 attacks. It was accepted that Atef was the one responsible for organizing the hijackers for the attacks. Near the end of the year, he met with Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Mohamed Atta and Ziad Jarrah and explained they would be undertaking a highly secret operation, in cooperation with Nawaf al-Hazmi whom he named as "Rabia al-Makki".
Timeline for the day of the September 11 attacks
8:14: Flight 11 is hijacked when hijackers Waleed and Wail al-Shehri rise from seats 2A and 2B and stab two flight attendants. Atta rises from seat 8D and approaches the cockpit. Within minutes, he is at the controls.
Muhammad al-Jawad
Muhammad ibn ‘Alī ibn Mūsā (Arabic: محمد ابن علی ابن موسی ) (circa April 12, 811 - c. November 29, 835) was the ninth of the Twelve Imams and a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. He was also called Abu Ja'far, Ibn al-Ridha ("the son of al-Ridha); al-Jawād ("the generous") and al-Taqī ("the pious"). His role is celebrated by the largest branch of Shia Islam, the Twelver or "Athnā‘ashariyyah" branch. According to Shiite accounts, he was poisoned by his wife and died at age 25, the shortest-lived of the Twelve.
Mohamed Atta
In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the names of the hijackers were released. There was some confusion regarding who Mohamed Atta was, and cases of mistaken identity. Initially, Mohamed Atta's identity was confused with that of a native Jordanian, Mahmoud Mahmoud Atta, who bombed an Israeli bus in the West Bank in 1986, killing one and severely injuring three. Mahmoud Atta was 14 years older than Atta. Mahmoud Atta, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was subsequently deported from Venezuela to the United States, extradited to Israel, tried and sentenced to life in prison. The Israeli Supreme Court later overturned his extradition and set him free. After 9/11, there also were reports stating that Mohamed Atta had attended International Officers School at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. "The Washington Post" quoted a United States Air Force official who explained, "discrepancies in their biographical data, such as birth dates 20 years off, indicate we are probably not talking about the same people."
Mahmoud Mahmoud Atta
Following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States it was initially thought that Mahmoud Mahmoud Atta was one of the hijackers on board the first plane to hit the World Trade Center. This led to the harsh questioning of US immigration authorities and the intelligence community, because it was felt that they had failed to stop a known terrorist from entering the country under his true name. However, his identity was confused with the Egyptian militant leader Mohamed Atta who was actually on board the flight.
Suicide attack
Studies have attempted to learn the history and motivation of suicide attackers.
Analysis of the 9/11 Al Qaeda attackers found almost all had joined the group with someone else. About 70 percent joined with friends, 20 percent with kin. Interviews with friends of the 9/11 pilots reveal they weren't "recruited" into Qaeda. They were Middle Eastern Arabs isolated even among the Moroccan and Turkish Muslims who predominate in Germany. Seeking friendship, they began hanging out after services at the Masjad al-Quds and other nearby mosques in Hamburg, in local restaurants and in the dormitory of the Technical University in the suburb of Harburg. Three (Mohamed Atta, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Marwan al-Shehhi) wound up living together as they self-radicalized. They wanted to go to Chechnya, then Kosovo.Hamas's most sustained suicide bombing campaign in 2003–04 involved several members of Hebron's Masjad (mosque) al-Jihad soccer team. Most lived in the Wad Abu Katila neighborhood and belonged to the al-Qawasmeh hamula (clan); several were classmates in the neighborhood's local branch of the Palestinian Polytechnic College. Their ages ranged from 18 to 22. At least eight team members were dispatched to suicide shooting and bombing operations by the Hamas military leader in Hebron, Abdullah al-Qawasmeh (killed by Israeli forces in June 2003 and succeeded by his relatives Basel al-Qawasmeh, killed in September 2003, and Imad al-Qawasmeh, captured on October 13, 2004). In retaliation for the assassinations of Hamas leaders Sheikh Ahmed Yassin (March 22, 2004) and Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi (April 17, 2004), Imad al-Qawasmeh dispatched Ahmed al-Qawasmeh and Nasim al-Ja'abri for a suicide attack on two buses in Beer Sheva (August 31, 2004). In December 2004, Hamas declared a halt to suicide attacks.
Trials related to the September 11 attacks
Mounir El Motassadeq, a Moroccan living in Germany who belonged to the Hamburg cell apartment owned by Mohamed Atta and lived in by many other people who would later go on to lead the September 11, 2001 attacks, in February 2003 was convicted in Germany of over 3,000 counts of accessory to murder in direct relation to the September 11 attacks, but the conviction was rejected on appeal. Though the German Justice Ministry pressed the United States to allow Ramzi bin al-Shibh to testify, the US refused, and the verdict and sentence were set aside.
Planning of the September 11 attacks
Al-Qaeda's origins date back to 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Soon after the invasion, Osama bin Laden traveled to Afghanistan and helped organize Arab mujahideen. Together with Abdullah Azzam, a Palestinian-Jordanian who influenced bin Laden, they formed Maktab al-Khidamat (MAK) in 1984, to provide support for Arab mujahideen who came to join the jihad in Afghanistan.
Mohamed Atta
In late 1999, Atta, Shehhi, Jarrah, Bahaji, and bin al-Shibh decided to travel to Chechnya to fight against the Russians, but were convinced by Khalid al-Masri and Mohamedou Ould Slahi at the last minute to change their plans. They instead traveled to Afghanistan over a two-week period in late November. On November 29, 1999, Mohamed Atta boarded Turkish Airlines Flight TK1662 from Hamburg to Istanbul, where he changed to flight TK1056 to Karachi, Pakistan. After they arrived, they were selected by Al Qaeda leader Mohammed Atef as suitable candidates for the "planes operation" plot. They were all well-educated, had experience of living in western society, along with some English skills, and would be able to obtain visas. Even before bin al-Shibh had arrived, Atta, Shehhi, and Jarrah were sent to the House of Ghamdi near bin Laden's home in Kandahar, where he was waiting to meet them. Bin Laden asked them to pledge loyalty and commit to suicide missions, which Atta and the other three Hamburg men all accepted. Bin Laden sent them to see Atef to get a general overview of the mission, and then they were sent to Karachi to see Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to go over specifics.
Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah
Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah (; born June 6, 1963), also known as Abu Mohammed al-Masri, is an Egyptian high-ranking member of al-Qaeda. He is wanted by the United States for his alleged role in the 1998 American embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya. He has been described as al-Qaeda’s most experienced operational planner.
Karim el-Mejjati
El-Mejjati, as well as his 11-year-old son, Adam, and the leader of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia Saud Hamoud 'Abid al-Qatini al-'Otaibi, were among those killed in April 2005 in a series of Ar Rass raids by Saudi authorities. Saudi security forces had not known el-Mejjati would be present when they surrounded their first target, a house with approximately eight occupants. When shooting began, the occupants fled to a nearby construction site where the battle lasted until the following morning. A columnist later suggested that el-Mejjati had shot his son after he was captured by Saudi forces. Saudi authorities also alleged that el-Mejjati had killed a foreigner living in the Kingdom, and attacked a police patrol in Al-Ghat "with the support of his son", despite being only 11 years old.
Mohammed Haydar Zammar
Mohammed Haydar Zammar ( "Muḥammad Ḥaydar Zammār") (born 1961 in Aleppo, Syria) is a German Muslim jihadist who served as an important al-Qaida recruiter, and is currently a member of the Islamic State. He claims to have recruited many of the organizers of the September 11, 2001, attacks. He was detained in Far'Falastin. A video believed to be taken in early 2014 places him listening to a speech by Abu Ali al-Anbari, the number two in the Islamic State, in Aleppo, Syria.
Mustafa al-Hawsawi
Mustafa al-Hawsawi (, "Muṣṭafā al-Ḥawsāwī"; born August 5, 1968) is a Saudi Arabian citizen of African descent. He is alleged to have acted as one of many financial facilitators of the September 11 attacks in the United States. However, the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture which was publicly released on December 9, 2014, disclosed an internal CIA cable between the chief of interrogations and the CIA Headquarters wherein he expressed reservations regarding al-Hawsawi's alleged role and involvement in the plot. The report reveals "following al-Hawsawi's first interrogation session, Chief of Interrogations asked CIA Headquarters for information on what al-Hawsawi actually "knows," saying: "he does not appear to the [sic] be a person that is a financial mastermind."
American Airlines Flight 11
At 08:46:30, Mohamed Atta intentionally crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into the northern facade of the North Tower (Tower 1) of the World Trade Center. The aircraft, traveling at about and carrying about of jet fuel, hit between the 93rd and 99th floors of the North Tower.
Witnesses saw the plane flying at low altitude over Manhattan and thought the aircraft was in distress. Lieutenant William Walsh of the FDNY (who appears in the documentary film "9/11") witnessed the aircraft:
Planning of the September 11 attacks
In March 2000, Mohamed Atta contacted the Academy of Lakeland in Florida, via e-mail, inquiring about flight training, "Dear sir, we are a small group of young men from different Arab countries. Now we are living in Germany since a while for study purposes. We would like to start training for the career of airline professional pilots. In this field we haven't yet any knowledge but we are ready to undergo an intensive training program (up to ATP and eventually higher)." He sent 50–60 similar e-mails to other flight training schools in the United States.
Omar bin Laden
Omar said that his father felt that he was just trying to defend the Islamic world, and that his father was not a terrorist "because history tells you he's not". In an interview with ABC News, he said, "My father is a very kind man. And he very sorry when he did something like 11th September." Osama ordered the attacks "Because he believes if he put two buildings down, maybe some people, little will die, but millions other will (be) save(d). He believed that. ... I believe he did wrong". In a January 21, 2008, CNN interview, he said "I try and say to my father: 'Try to find another way to help or find your goal. This bomb, these weapons, it's not good to use them on anybody". Regarding the September 11 attacks, he said, "I don't think 9/11 was right personally, but it happened. I don't think ... [the war] in Vietnam was right. I don't think what's going on in Palestine is right. I don't think what's going on in Iraq is right. If we make what is right and not right, we will make a very big list."
Mohand al-Shehri
Mohand Muhammed Fayiz al-Shehri (, ; also transliterated as Alshehri) (May 7, 1979 – September 11, 2001) was one of five hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 175 as part of the September 11 attacks.
Responsibility for the September 11 attacks
Two weeks after the September 11 attacks, the Federal Bureau of Investigation connected the hijackers to al-Qaeda, a global, decentralized terrorist network. In a number of video, audio, interview and printed statements, senior members of al-Qaeda have also asserted responsibility for organizing the September 11 attacks. It is believed that Osama bin Laden, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and Mohammed Atef were the ones who plotted the attacks after meeting together in 1999. It is also believed Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was the one who planned the attacks and that Atef was the one who organized the hijackers.
Outline of the September 11 attacks
On the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners, intentionally crashing two into the World Trade Center in New York City. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 victims and the 19 hijackers died in the attacks.
The leader of al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, eventually claimed responsibility for the attacks.The United States launched the War on Terror, invading Afghanistan.The US enacted the USA PATRIOT Act. Many other countries also strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded law enforcement powers.Some American stock exchanges stayed closed for the rest of the week following the attack and posted enormous losses on reopening, especially in the airline and insurance industries. The destruction of billions of dollars' worth of office space caused serious damage to the economy of Lower Manhattan.The Pentagon Memorial was built adjacent to the building. The rebuilding process has started on the World Trade Center site. In 2006, a new office tower was completed on the site of 7 World Trade Center. The new One World Trade Center was later built and was completed in 2014. Three more towers were originally expected to be built between 2007 and 2012 on the site, but are now delayed to 2018. Ground was broken for the Flight 93 National Memorial on November 8, 2009, and the first phase of construction is expected to be ready for the 10th anniversary of the attacks on September 11, 2011.
Salman al-Ouda
Al-Ouda is known not only for criticizing the September 11 attacks, but also for directly criticizing Osama bin Laden. In 2007, around the sixth anniversary of September 11, he addressed Al Qaeda's leader on MBC, a widely watched Middle Eastern television network, asking him: 
My brother Osama, how much blood has been spilled? How many innocent people, children, elderly, and women have been killed ... in the name of Al Qaeda? Will you be happy to meet God Almighty carrying the burden of these hundreds of thousands or millions of victims on your back?
Saif al-Adel
In a letter from "'Abd-al-Halim Adl'" to "'Mukhtar'", dated 13 June 2002, the author strongly criticises the leadership of Osama bin Laden, blaming the defeats of the preceding six months for al-Qaeda on bin Laden's recklessness and unwillingness to listen to advice:
From the following section, the 2002 addressee, "'Mukhtar'" appears to be Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the commander of the September 11, 2001 attacks:
Responsibility for the September 11 attacks
Khalid Mohammed had provided funding to his nephew Ramzi Yousef for the World Trade Center bombing in 1993. In addition, he collaborated on "Oplan Bojinka" which called for ten or more airliners to be bombed in mid-air or hijacked for use as missiles. Planning for Oplan Bojinka began in 1994, and was funded in part by Osama bin Laden, but was thwarted by an accidental fire in 1995.
Michael Morell
Most of Morell's early work in the agency was devoted to Asian projects. Later in his career, he managed the staff that produced the President's Daily Brief and he was the Executive Assistant to DCI George Tenet. Morell was also Bush's briefer during the September 11, 2001, attacks, and, when asked by Bush who was responsible, Morell said "I would bet my children's future that the trail would lead to the doorstep of Osama bin Ladin and al Qa'ida". Later, as deputy director, Morell would be a trusted advisor to President Barack Obama in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011. Before his 2010 nomination as Deputy Director, he served as Director for Intelligence, a position he had held since 2008. He served as the CIA's Associate Deputy Director from 2006 to 2008.
2017 Halamish stabbing attack
The Assailant was Omar al-Abed, aged 19, from Kobar, near Ramallah. Two hours before the attack, Omar Al-Abed al-Jalil had called for the defense of the Al-Aqsa Mosque located on the Temple Mount on his Facebook page, writing: "Take your weapons and resist... I only have a knife and it will answer the call of Al-Aqsa... I know I am going and will not return." Al-Jalil carried a Quran and a bottle of water to the attack, and is believed to have ritually purified himself prior to entering the house and attacking.
Abdulaziz al-Omari
In the early hours of September 11, they boarded a commuter flight back to Boston to connect to American Airlines Flight 11. American 11 was hijacked 15 minutes after the flight departed by Omari and four other hijackers, which allowed trained pilot Mohamed Atta to crash the Boeing 767 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of an attack that killed thousands of people.
Abduwali Muse
When initially captured, U.S. officials reported Muse as being 16 to 20 years old, and that his name was Abduhl Wali-i-Musi. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates asserted that all four pirate suspects were between the ages of 17 and 19. On 20 April 2009, CBC News reported that U.S. officials indicated that investigators had confirmed Muse was over 18, which removed additional steps that would be required to prosecute him had it been determined that he was a minor.
Manchester Arena bombing
Abedi's father was a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a Salafi jihadist organisation proscribed by the United Nations, and father and son fought for the group in Libya in 2011 as part of the movement to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi. Abedi's parents, both born in Tripoli, remained in Libya in 2011, while 17-year-old Abedi returned to live in the United Kingdom. He took a gap year in 2014, where he returned with his brother Hashem to Libya to live with his parents. Abedi was injured in Ajdabiya that year while fighting for an Islamist group. The brothers were rescued by the Royal Navy from Tripoli in August 2014 as part of a group of 110 British citizens aboard survey ship HMS Enterprise as the Libyan civil war erupted, taken to Malta and flown back to the UK. According to a retired European intelligence officer, Abedi met with members of the ISIS Battar brigade in Sabratha, Libya and continued to be in contact with the group upon his return to the UK. An imam at Didsbury mosque recalled that Abedi looked at him "with hate" after he preached against ISIS and Ansar al-Sharia in 2015.
Planning of the September 11 attacks
Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who also went under the name "Ramzi Omar", was a citizen of Yemen. In 1995, he came to Germany seeking asylum, claiming to be a political refugee from Sudan. The judge refused the asylum request, and bin al-Shibh returned to the Hadramawt region of Yemen. Bin al-Shibh later got a German visa under his real name, and came to Germany in 1997. There, he met Mohamed Atta, the leader of the Hamburg cell, at a mosque. For two years, Atta and bin al-Shibh were roommates in Germany. In late 1999, bin al-Shibh traveled to Kandahar in Afghanistan, where he received training at Al-Qaeda training camps, and met others involved in planning the 9/11 attacks. Original plans for the 9/11 attacks called for bin al-Shibh to be one of the hijacker pilots, along with Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, and Ziad Jarrah. From Hamburg, Germany, bin al-Shibh applied to take flight training in the United States. At that time, he also applied to Aviation Language Services, which provides language training for student pilots. Bin al-Shibh applied for an entry visa to the U.S. four times and was refused each time. He made visa applications in Germany on May 17, 2000, and again in June, on September 16, and October 25, 2000. According to the 9/11 Commission, this refusal of a visa was out of general concern by U.S. officials that people from Yemen would illegally overstay their visit and seek work in the United States. His friend, Zakariyah Essabar, was also denied visas. After he failed to enter the United States, bin al-Shibh took on more of a "coordinator" role in the plot, and a link between Atta in the United States and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in Afghanistan.
American Airlines Flight 11
Mohamed Atta, the ringleader of the attacks, and a fellow hijacker, Abdulaziz al-Omari, arrived at Portland International Jetport at 05:41 Eastern Daylight Time on September 11, 2001. They boarded Colgan Air Flight 5930, which was scheduled to depart at 06:00 from Portland, Maine, and fly to Boston. Both hijackers had first class tickets with a connecting flight to Los Angeles; Atta checked in two bags, Omari none. When they checked in, the Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS) selected Atta for extra luggage scrutiny, but he boarded without incident. The flight from Portland departed on time and arrived in Boston at 06:45. Three other hijackers, Waleed al-Shehri, Wail al-Shehri, and Satam al-Suqami, arrived at Logan Airport at 06:45, having left their rental car in the airport parking facility. At 06:52, Marwan al-Shehhi, the hijacker pilot of United Airlines Flight 175, made a call from a pay phone in Logan Airport to Atta's cell phone.
Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden
He fathered a total of 56 children by 22 wives. Mohammed never had more than four wives at a time—divorcing older wives and marrying new ones as needed to limit the number of current wives to four and stay within the letter of Sunni Islam marriage law. According to Carmen bin Ladin, Mohammed was planning to wed a 23rd wife the night he died, and was heading there when his plane crashed. His best known son is Osama bin Laden, the founder of al-Qaeda, the Sunni militant Islamist organization. Osama bin Ladin’s mother, Hamida al-Attas, was born and raised in Syria before marrying Bin Laden and moving to Saudi Arabia. She was Mohammed’s 11th wife.
Mohamed Atta
During the Spain meetings, Atta and bin al-Shibh had coordinated the details of the attacks. The 9/11 Commission obtained details about the meeting, based on interrogations of bin al-Shibh in the weeks after his arrest in September 2002. Bin al-Shibh explained that he passed along instructions from Osama bin Laden, including his desire for the attacks to be carried out as soon as possible. Bin Laden was concerned about having so many operatives in the United States. Atta confirmed that all the muscle hijackers had arrived in the United States, without any problems, but said that he needed five to six more weeks to work out details. Bin Laden also asked that other operatives not be informed of the specific data until the last minute. During the meeting, Atta and bin al-Shibh also decided on the targets to be hit, ruling out a strike on a nuclear plant. Bin al-Shibh passed along bin Laden's list of targets; bin Laden wanted the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, and the World Trade Center to be attacked, as they were deemed "symbols of America." If any of the hijackers could not reach their intended targets, Atta said, they were to crash the plane. They also discussed the personal difficulties Atta was having with fellow hijacker Ziad Jarrah. Bin al-Shibh was worried that Jarrah might even abandon the plan. The 9/11 Commission Report speculated that the now-convicted terrorist conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui was being trained as a possible replacement for Jarrah.
Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh
On 6 October 2001, a senior-level US government official, told CNN that US investigators had discovered Saeed (Sheik Syed), using the alias "Mustafa Muhammad Ahmad" had sent about $100,000 from the United Arab Emirates to Mohamed Atta. "Investigators said Atta then distributed the funds to conspirators in Florida in the weeks before the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil that destroyed the World Trade Center, heavily damaged the Pentagon and left thousands dead. In addition, sources have said Atta sent thousands of dollars — believed to be excess funds from the operation — back to Syed in the United Arab Emirates in the days before September 11." CNN later confirmed this.
Mahmud Ahmed
In 2001, Lt-Gen. Ahmad regularly visited the United States where he consulted with The Pentagon and CIA officials in the Bush administration in the weeks before and after terrorist attacks took place in New York on 11 September 2001. In fact, he was with U.S. Republican Congressman Porter Goss and U.S. Democratic Senator Bob Graham in Washington D.C., discussing Osama bin Laden over breakfast, when the attacks of September 11, 2001 took place in New York, United States.
Mohammed Abdullah Saleh al-Asad
Mohammed Assad (a/k/a "al-Assad", "al-Asaad" and "al-Asad"; 1960–2016) was a citizen of Yemen who, according to Amnesty International, was subjected to extraordinary rendition by the CIA, and held in the CIA's network of black sites—secret interrogation centers. Assad had been living and working in Tanzania. Amnesty International reports he was captured on December 26, 2003, and held by the CIA until May 2005.
Waleed al-Shehri
Waleed Mohammed al-Shehri (, , also transliterated as Alshehri) (December 20, 1978 – September 11, 2001) was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11, which was crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the September 11 attacks in 2001.
September 11 attacks
In late 1998 or early 1999, bin Laden gave approval for Mohammed to go forward with organizing the plot. A series of meetings occurred in early 1999, involving Mohammed, bin Laden, and his deputy Mohammed Atef. Atef provided operational support for the plot, including target selections and helping arrange travel for the hijackers. Bin Laden overruled Mohammed, rejecting some potential targets such as the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles because "there was not enough time to prepare for such an operation".
Bin Laden provided leadership and financial support for the plot, and was involved in selecting participants. Bin Laden initially selected Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, both experienced jihadists who had fought in Bosnia. Hazmi and Mihdhar arrived in the United States in mid-January 2000. In spring 2000, Hazmi and Mihdhar took flying lessons in San Diego, California, but both spoke little English, performed poorly with flying lessons, and eventually served as secondary – or "muscle" – hijackers.
Hijackers in the September 11 attacks
Hijackers: Mohamed Atta (Egyptian), Abdulaziz al-Omari (Saudi Arabian), Wail al-Shehri (Saudi Arabian), Waleed al-Shehri (Saudi Arabian), Satam al-Suqami (Saudi Arabian).
Mohamed Atta
There are multiple, conflicting explanations for Atta's behavior and motivation. Political psychologist Jerrold Post has suggested that Atta and his fellow hijackers were just following orders from al-Qaeda leadership, "and whatever their destructive, charismatic leader Osama bin Laden said was the right thing to do for the sake of the cause was what they would do." In turn, political scientist, Robert Pape, has claimed that Atta was motivated by his commitment to the political cause, that he was psychologically normal, and that he was "not readily characterized as depressed, not unable to enjoy life, not detached from friends and society." By contrast, criminal justice professor, Adam Lankford, has found evidence that indicated Atta was suicidal, and that his struggles with social isolation, depression, guilt, shame, hopelessness, and rage were extraordinarily similar to the struggles of those who commit conventional suicide and murder-suicide. By this view, Atta's political and religious beliefs affected the method of his suicide and his choice of target, but they were not the underlying causes of his behavior.
Planning of the September 11 attacks
A series of meetings occurred in spring of 1999, involving Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Osama bin Laden, and his deputy Mohammed Atef. Bin Laden recommended four individuals for the plot, including Nawaf al-Hazmi, Khalid al-Mihdhar, Walid Muhammad Salih Bin 'Attash (Khallad), and Abu Bara al-Taizi. Al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar were both Saudi citizens, thus making it simple for them to obtain U.S. visas. Khallad and al-Taizi were both Yemeni citizens, thus not able to easily obtain visas to the United States. The two Yemenis were assigned for the Asia component of the plot. When Mohamed Atta and other members of the Hamburg cell arrived in Afghanistan, bin Laden was involved in selecting them for the plot, and assigning Atta to be the leader.
Mohammed al-Qahtani
After ten months, U.S. Border and Immigration Authorities took a fingerprint sample and discovered that he was the same person who had tried to enter the United States just before the September 11 attacks. Seizing the airports CCTV surveillance recrodings, the FBI claimed they were able to identify the car of Mohamed Atta at the airport, believed there to pick up Qahtani.
Another military account stated that Qahtani was identified as someone who had previously been turned away due to visa problems – by fingerprints "taken in Southwest Asia".
Omar Mateen
Mateen began his secondary education at Martin County High School in 2000, and at the age of 14 was expelled after being in a fight in math class, where he was briefly arrested without being handcuffed and charged with battery and disrupting school, though the charges were later dropped. While a sophomore attending Spectrum, an alternative high school for students with behavioral issues, classmates told "The Washington Post" that Mateen cheered in support of the hijackers during the September 11 attacks and that he stated that Osama bin Laden was his uncle who taught him how to shoot AK-47s, all of this before knowing that bin Laden was the mastermind of the attacks. After his outburst, Mateen's father arrived at the school to pick him up and slapped him in the face, with Mateen later being suspended for five days after the incident. Soon after the September 11 attacks, "he shocked other students on his school bus by imitating an exploding plane", reported "The New York Times".
Mohamed Atta
In July 2001, Atta again left for Spain in order to meet with bin al-Shibh for the last time. On July 7, 2001, Atta flew on Swissair Flight 117 from Miami to Zürich, where he had a stopover. On July 8, Atta was recorded on surveillance video when he withddrew 1700 Swiss francs from an ATM. He used his credit card to purchase two Swiss Army knives and some chocolate in a shop at the Zürich Airport. After the stopover in Zürich, he arrived in Madrid at 4:45 pm on Swissair Flight 656, and spent several hours at the airport. Then at 8:50 pm, he checked into the Hotel Diana Cazadora in Barajas, a town near the airport. That night and twice the next morning, he called Bashar Ahmad Ali Musleh, a Jordanian student in Hamburg who served as a liaison for bin al-Shibh.
September 11 attacks
In an April 2002 interview, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who are believed to have organized the attacks, said Flight 93's intended target was the United States Capitol, not the White House. During the planning stage of the attacks, Mohamed Atta, the hijacker and pilot of Flight 11, thought the White House might be too tough a target and sought an assessment from Hani Hanjour (who hijacked and piloted Flight 77). Mohammed said al-Qaeda initially planned to target nuclear installations rather than the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but decided against it, fearing things could "get out of control". Final decisions on targets, according to Mohammed, were left in the hands of the pilots.
Waleed al-Shehri
By 7:40 a.m., all five hijackers were aboard the flight, which was scheduled to depart at 7:45 a.m. Wail and Waleed al-Shehri sat together in first class in seats 2A and 2B respectively. The aircraft taxied away from Gate 26 and departed Logan International Airport at 7:59 a.m. from runway 4R after a 14-minute delay. The hijacking of Flight 11 began at approximately 08:14, which is when the pilot stopped responding to air traffic control. Once the hijacking began, the brothers are suspected of having stabbed two flight attendants. At 08:46:40, Mohamed Atta deliberately crashed Flight 11 into the northern facade of the North Tower (Tower 1) of the World Trade Center. The damage caused to the North Tower destroyed any means of escape from above the impact zone, trapping 1,344 people. The North Tower collapsed at 10:28, after burning for 102 minutes.
Majed Moqed
A Saudi, Moqed was studying law at a university in Saudi Arabia before joining Al-Qaeda in 1999 and being chosen to participate in the 9/11 attacks. He arrived in the United States in May 2001 and helped with the planning of how the attacks would be carried out.
Ahmed al-Nami
Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Nami (Arabic: أحمد بن عبد الله النعمي, ; also transliterated as Alnami; August 17, 1977 – September 11, 2001) was one of four hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93 as part of the September 11 attacks.
Mohamed Ibrahim Mostafa
Mohamed Ibrahim Mostafa (, other transliterations include: "Mohammad, Muhammad, Ibraheem, Mustafa, Mustapha") (born 2 July 1979) is an Egyptian Internet activist and IT consultant with an interest in political reform, human rights, and social media. Mohamed Ibrahim ran the international arm of the "We are all Khaled Said" campaign. The campaign was in support of Khaled Said's case, a young Egyptian man who was killed by two Egyptian police officers in his home town Alexandria, Egypt. Khaled Said later became a symbol in the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. Mohamed Ibrahim focused his efforts on rallying international supporters and coordinating with activists worldwide to support Egyptians struggle for freedom, end of police brutality and dictatorship using his English Facebook page "We are all khaled Said" and the English Website of the campaign. Mohamed Ibrahim was part of the 25 January protests preparation (which later became the Egyptian Revolution of 2011) and was a focal point for spreading awareness to the international community and international media during the revolution and afterwards.
Mohamed Atta
Atta's father, Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta, a retired lawyer in Egypt, vehemently rejected allegations his son was involved in the September 11 attacks, and instead accused the Mossad and the United States government of having a hand in framing his son. Atta Sr. rejected media reports that stated his son was drinking wildly, and instead described his son as a quiet boy uninvolved with politics, shy and devoted to studying architecture. The elder Mr. Atta said he had spoken with Mohamed by phone the day after on September 12, 2001. He held interviews with the German news magazine "Bild am Sonntag" in late 2002, saying his son was alive and hiding in fear for his life, and that American Christians were responsible for the attacks. In a subsequent interview in 2005, Atta Sr. stated, "My son is gone. He is now with God. The Mossad killed him."
Responsibility for the September 11 attacks
Although al-Awlaki was covered as relatively minor figure in the 9/11 attacks, his involvement was noted again in 2009 after the Fort Hood shooting where the suspect had been found to be communicating by e-mail to Awlaki in Yemen, he was later linked to several terror plots and attacks in the US, Canada and UK, including the Northwest Airlines Flight 253 attack by his former student Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
Meir Amit
As Director, he orchestrated some of the Mossad's greatest successes, including the spy Eli Cohen who penetrated the highest levels of the Syrian government. It was also during his time that the Mossad engineered the defection of an Assyrian Iraqi pilot who flew the then new Mig-21 from Iraq to Israel. Amit is particularly known for his success in expanding Israel's human intelligence (HUMINT), especially in the Arab world. During the lead up to the Six-Day War in 1967, Amit had a network of informants that permeated the entire Egyptian military, providing key details for Israel's pre-emptive strike on Egyptian air bases and subsequent ground offensive. Meir Amit Slutsky also built strong personal relationships within the CIA and was a very close ally of the Americans, he was deployed on several special projects with the CIA across the globe and brought many people to justice with his creative techniques of espionage. One of the most notable examples was in the mid 1980s when he personally recruited and help train what turned out to be one of Mossad's most successful agents. The recruit was an American from a southern Illinois town near St. Louis, Missouri. He met Amit after transferring from Kansas University to Columbia University in New York. His code name was Ranan, and under Amit's mentoring the nineteen-year-old American became the youngest team leader of its most prolific Kidon unit, Israel's elite espionage and assassination outfit.
Mohamed Atta
On April 11, 1996, Atta signed his last will and testament at the mosque, officially declaring his Muslim beliefs and giving 18 instructions regarding his burial. This was the day that Israel attacked Lebanon in Operation Grapes of Wrath, which outraged Atta. Signing the will, "offering his life" was Atta's response. The instructions in his last will and testament reflect both Sunni funeral practices, along with some more puritanical demands from Salafism, including asking people not "to weep and cry" or show emotion. The will was signed by el-Motassadeq and a second individual at the mosque.
Ziad Jarrah
Shortly after the September 11 attacks, family and friends claimed that Jarrah did not exhibit the same "smoldering political resentments" or "cultural conservatism" as Mohamed Atta. He was not raised with a background of religious conviction and did not hold to an obviously conservative lifestyle. Personnel at the flight school Jarrah attended described him as "a normal person". Jarrah called his family two days, and his girlfriend Aysel Sengün three hours, before boarding United Airlines Flight 93; Sengün described the conversation as "pleasant" and "normal". She also claimed that he never mentioned any names of the other hijackers. In his call two days before the attack, Jarrah told his family he would be coming home for a cousin's wedding. "It makes no sense," his uncle Jamal claimed. "He said he had even bought a new suit for the occasion." Jarrah's family in Lebanon claimed in September 2001 that he was an innocent passenger on the plane. His uncle, Jamal Jarrah, is currently a deputy in the Lebanese parliament and was appointed minister on December 18, 2016, and a member of the Future Movement, a pro-Saudi Arabian political party led by Saad Hariri. On January 2, 2012, on a televised interview on Future TV, MP Jarrah denied his nephew's involvement in the 9-11 attacks, alluding to a conspiracy.
Abdulrahman al-Awlaki
Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki (born al-Aulaqi; 26 August 1995 – 14 October 2011) was a 16-year-old American of Yemeni descent who was killed while eating dinner at an outdoor restaurant in Yemen by a drone airstrike ordered by U.S. President Barack Obama on 14 October 2011. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki's father, Anwar al-Awlaki, was alleged to be an operational leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Anwar was killed by a CIA drone strike also ordered by President Barack Obama two weeks prior to the killing of his son.
Richard Reid
Richard Colvin Reid (born 12 August 1973), also known as the Shoe Bomber, is a British terrorist who attempted to detonate an explosive device packed into his shoes while on American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami in 2001. Born to a father who was a career criminal, Reid converted to Islam as a young man in prison after years as a petty criminal. Later he became radicalized and went to Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he trained and became a member of al-Qaeda.
Osama bin Laden (disambiguation)
Osama bin Laden (1957–2011) was the founder of al-Qaeda, the militant Islamist organization that claimed responsibility for the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Youssef Nada
Youssef Moustafa Nada (born 17 May 1931, in Egypt) is a noted businessman and Muslim Brotherhood financial strategist. Nada is most famous for raising successful European human rights legal cases to defend himself against accusations of terrorism by the United States. The U.S. accusations, made directly after the 9/11 attacks, resulted in his placement on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267 terror blacklist.
Saudi list of most-wanted suspected terrorists
An article published in "Asharq Alawsat" on February 6, 2009, noted the range in age among the suspects—from seventeen to fifty-two.
This article named Abdullah El Qarawi, who it described as the "most dangerous" individual on the list, as the leader of Al Qaeda operations in the Persian Gulf.
According to the article Abdullah El Qarawi is just 26 years old, and most of the individuals on the list are between 25 and 25.
The article listed the names and ages of fifteen other individuals.
Responsibility for the September 11 attacks
In May 2002, former FBI Agent Robert Wright, Jr. delivered a tearful press conference apologizing to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11. He described how his superiors intentionally obstructed his investigation into al-Qaeda financing. Agent Wright would later tell ABC's Brian Ross that "September 11th is a direct result of the incompetence of the FBI's International Terrorism Unit," specifically referring to the Bureau's hindering of his investigation into Yasin al-Qadi, who Ross described as a powerful Saudi Arabian businessman with extensive financial ties in Chicago. One month after the attacks, the US government officially identified al-Qadi as one of Osama bin Laden's primary financiers, through his Muwafaq Foundation, and they declared him to be a global terrorist. A former FBI Counter Terrorism Agent commented that for someone like al-Qadi to be involved in 9/11 is "of grave concern."
History of the United States (1991–2008)
On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners and attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the September 11 attacks, killing nearly 3,000 and injuring over 6,000 people. Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the attacks. President Bush ordered all flights grounded and U.S. airspace remained closed for the rest of the week. An emergency bailout package for the airline industry was passed, and stocks fell dramatically when markets re-opened the following week. In response to the attacks, the Bush administration and Congress passed the controversial USA PATRIOT Act, aimed at enhancing security, and established the Department of Homeland Security, a mass consolidation of many federal agencies charged with investigation, intelligence, and emergency management. A new Terrorist Finance Tracking Program monitored the movements of terrorists' financial resources but was discontinued after being revealed by "The New York Times". Telecommunication usage by known and suspected terrorists was studied through the NSA electronic surveillance program. On October 7, 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan as part of a global War on Terrorism, aimed at rooting out al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and other terrorist organizations.
Abdullah Khadr
Khadr said that when he was about 14 years old, his father had purchased two pairs of walkie talkies from Abdullah Almalki. His lawyers later argued that he made the statement due to mistreatment by Pakistani officials. He was also questioned about Amer el-Maati, who he said had worked as a carpet salesman after al-Qaeda had refused to grant him a pension following a brain injury stemming from a 1992 car accident. Asked about Mahmoud Jaballah, Khadr said he knew him only as an Arabic tutor in Peshawar who went by the patronymic "Abu Ahmed". Asked about the Toronto Imam Aly Hindy, Khadr said that Hindy's son Ibrahim had briefly attended the "Musab al-Surri" Afghan training camp several years prior to 9/11. Hindy has discussed this himself. The RCMP later concluded that it was unlikely they could prosecute Khadr under Canadian law, since any statements made following "mistreatment" by Pakistani officials would not be considered valid in Canadian courts.
Mohammed Adel (youth leader)
Mohammed Adel (  ; August 8, 1988) is an Egyptian political activist and a founder of the April 6 Youth Movement in Egypt. He has been active with the Kefaya movement since 2005 and is one of activists who called for a general strike on April 6, 2008. In 2009, Mohammed Adel became the April 6 movement's media spokesman. Between the time of the 2008 strike in Mahalla al-Kubra and the onset of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, Mohemmad Adel enrolled in a training program directed by the Center for Non-Violent Action and Strategies, an entity founded by the Serbian pro-democracy youth movement Otpor!.
Muhammad al-Zawahiri
Muhammad Rabee al-Zawahiri (born 1953) is an Egyptian Islamist who was a member of Egyptian Islamic Jihad and one of 14 people subjected to extraordinary rendition by the CIA prior to the 2001 War on Terror. He is the younger brother of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Muhsin al-Fadhli
According to the U.S. Department of Treasury, al-Fadhli fought with the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan as the second-in-command to an unnamed al-Qaeda leader. In Chechnya, Al-Fadhli fought against Russian forces and received military training. According to media reports, al-Fadhli was a close confidant of Osama bin Laden, and one of a few people to be informed of the September 11 attacks, before they were launched. He was born in Kuwait and used the aliases Abu Majid Samiyah, Abu Samia, Dawud al-Asadi, Muhsin Fadhil Ayyid al-Fadhli and Muhsin Fadil Ayid Ashur al-Fadhli.
Abu Qatada
According to the indictment of the Madrid al-Qaeda cell prepared by Spanish prosecutors in 2001, Abu Qatada was "considered the spiritual leader" of al-Qaeda in Europe and other groups including the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), and the Tunisian Combat Group. Abu Qatada has been called by "The Times" a preacher or advisor to al-Qaeda terrorists Zacarias Moussaoui and Richard Reid. According to "The Independent", videos of Abu Qatada's sermons were found in the Hamburg apartment of Mohamed Atta when it was searched after the 11 September 2001 attacks, which Atta led.
Mohamed Atta
In early September 2001, Atta traveled to Prince George's County, Maryland, where fellow hijacker Hani Hanjour was at the time. Atta then traveled to Boston. On September 10 (the day before the attacks), he traveled with Abdulaziz al-Omari to Portland, Maine. They spent the night at the Comfort Inn in South Portland. On the morning of September 11, Atta and Omari flew on Colgan Air back to Boston, where they boarded American Airlines Flight 11. Fifteen minutes into the flight, the team of hijackers stormed the cockpit and Atta took over control of the aircraft. At 8:46 a.m., Atta crashed the Boeing 767 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The crash led to the collapse of the tower 102 minutes later at 10:28 a.m., ultimately causing the deaths of over 1,600 civilians and first responders.
James Lore Murray
September 11, 2001, General Murray was 82 years of age. General Murray, a true patriot watching the aftermath of the attacks unfold on the television, told his youngest son, "If I weren't 82 years old, I would re-enlist and go fight!
Mohamed Atta
On August 6, Atta and Shehhi rented a white, four door 1995 Ford Escort from Warrick's Rent-A-Car, which was returned on August 13. On August 6, Atta booked a flight on Spirit Airlines from Fort Lauderdale to Newark, leaving on August 7 and returning on August 9. The reservation was not used and canceled on August 9 with the reason "Family Medical Emergency". Instead, he went to Central Office & Travel in Pompano Beach to purchase a ticket for a flight to Newark, leaving on the evening of August 7 and schedule to return in the evening on August 9. Atta did not take the return flight. On August 7, Atta checked into the Wayne Inn in Wayne, New Jersey and checked out on August 9. The same day, he booked a one-way first class ticket via the Internet on America West Flight 244 from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to Las Vegas. Atta traveled twice to Las Vegas on "surveillance flights" rehearsing how the 9/11 attacks would be carried out. Other hijackers traveled to Las Vegas at different times in the summer of 2001.
Marwan al-Shehhi
Al-Shehhi was a student from the United Arab Emirates who moved to Germany in 1996 and soon became close friends with Mohamed Atta, Ziad Jarrah and Ramzi bin al-Shibh, forming the Hamburg cell. Together, after pledging their lives to martyrdom, they became the leaders of the September 11 attacks. In late 1999, al-Shehhi, Atta, Jarrah, and bin al-Shibh traveled to terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and met with Osama bin Laden who recruited the four Hamburg cell members for the attacks in the United States. He arrived in the United States in May 2000, one month before Atta. They both trained in Florida at Huffman Aviation, receiving their commercial pilot licenses in December 2000 from the FAA.
Al-Qaeda
Before the 9/11 attacks and the US invasion of Afghanistan, westerners who had been recruits at al-Qaeda training camps were sought after by al-Qaeda's military wing. Language skills and knowledge of Western culture were generally found among recruits from Europe, such was the case with Mohamed Atta, an Egyptian national studying in Germany at the time of his training, and other members of the Hamburg Cell. Osama bin Laden and Mohammed Atef would later designate Atta as the ringleader of the 9/11 hijackers. Following the attacks, Western intelligence agencies determined that al-Qaeda cells operating in Europe had aided the hijackers with financing and communications with the central leadership based in Afghanistan.
Ziad Jarrah
After a wealthy and secularist upbringing, Jarrah moved to Germany in 1996. He became involved in the planning of the September 11 attacks while attending Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW) in the late 1990s, meeting Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi and Ramzi bin al-Shibh, forming in 1998 what is now known as the Hamburg cell. Jarrah was recruited by Osama bin Laden for the attacks in 1999. Unique among the hijackers, he was close to his family and girlfriend. He was reportedly the only hijacker who had any significant apprehensions about carrying out the attacks.
Able Danger
Kevin Drum, writing for "The Washington Monthly" notes that reports of the precise date at which the information was allegedly passed to the FBI vary considerably. It is most unlikely that Able Danger would have identified a terrorist called "Mohamed Atta" before May 2000.
Since 9/11, of course, we have retrieved every scrap of information ever known about Mohamed Atta, so we know what information would have been available to the Able Danger data mining operation. And what we know is that Mohamed Atta sent his first email to friends in the U.S. in March 2000 and received his first U.S. visa on May 18, 2000. Moreover, that was the first time he had ever gone by the name "Mohamed Atta." His full name is "Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta", and prior to 2000 he went by "Mohamed el-Amir".
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter held a hearing on September 21, 2005, looking into the facts about Able Danger. However, Lt. Col. Shaffer and the other four members of Able Danger were ordered not to testify by the Department of Defense. Senator Specter decided to go forward with the hearings anyway.
Mahmoud Mahmoud Atta
Mahmoud Mahmoud Atta () (born 1954) is (or was) an American and alleged militant from Palestine Liberation Organization who was suspected to be responsible for bombing a bus in 1986, on the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank, killing one and severely injuring three.
Scott Phillpott
A US Naval captain, Scott Phillpott came to prominence after informing the 2004 9/11 Commission that a data-mining project named Able Danger had identified hijack leader Mohamed Atta as a threat tied to al-Qaeda and living in Brooklyn as early as January 2000, many months before his attack in September 2001.
Salem al-Hazmi
On September 11, 2001, Hazmi boarded American Airlines Flight 77 and helped subdue the passengers and crew for Hani Hanjour, the pilot among the hijackers, to crash the plane into west facade of the Pentagon. His older brother, Nawaf al-Hazmi, was another hijacker aboard the same flight. At the age of 20 years and 221 days, he was the youngest hijacker who participated in the attacks.
Ahmad Mohammad Ali al-Hada
Al-Hada's son-in-law, Khalid al-Mihdhar, was one of the hijackers that flew American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon as part of the September 11 attacks. Another son-in-law, Mustafa Abdulkader, has been listed on FBI terror alerts. In February 2002, Al-Hada's son, Sameer al-Hada, committed suicide using a hand grenade, to avoid questioning by security forces about the Cole bombing. Two of Ahmed Al-Hada’s brothers were killed in Afghanistan during operation “Absolute Justice” and a third brother, Abdullah Al-Hada, is wanted by the Yemen authorities for terror charges.