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==Selection==
==Selection==
[[Khalid al-Mihdhar]] and [[Nawaf al-Hazmi]] were both experienced and respected [[jihad]]ists in the eyes of al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden. Mihdhar and Hazmi both had previous experience fighting on [[Bosnia]], and had trained during the 1990s at camps in Afghanistan.<ref>McDermott (2005), p. 191</ref> When Bin Laden committed to the September 11 attacks plot idea, he assigned both Mihdhar and Hazmi to the plot.<ref name="911-ch5">9/11 Commission Report, Chapter 5.2, pp. 153–159</ref> Both were so eager to participate in operations within the United States, that they obtained visas in April 1999.<ref name="travel">9/11 and Terrorist Travel, pp. 9–10</ref> Once selected, Mihdhar and Hazmi were sent to the [[Mes Aynak]] training camp in Afghanistan. In late 1999, Hazmi, Attash and Yemeni went to [[Karachi]], [[Pakistan]] to see Mohammed, who instructed them on [[Western culture]] and travel; however, Mihdhar did not go to Karachi, instead returning to Yemen.<ref name="911-ch5"/>
[[Khalid al-Mihdhar]] and [[Nawaf al-Hazmi]] were both experienced and respected [[jihad]]ists in the eyes of al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden. Mihdhar and Hazmi both had previous experience fighting In [[Bosnia]], and had trained during the 1990s at camps in Afghanistan.<ref>McDermott (2005), p. 191</ref> When Bin Laden committed to the September 11 attacks plot idea, he assigned both Mihdhar and Hazmi to the plot.<ref name="911-ch5">9/11 Commission Report, Chapter 5.2, pp. 153–159</ref> Both were so eager to participate in operations within the United States, that they obtained visas in April 1999.<ref name="travel">9/11 and Terrorist Travel, pp. 9–10</ref> Once selected, Mihdhar and Hazmi were sent to the [[Mes Aynak]] training camp in Afghanistan. In late 1999, Hazmi, Attash and Yemeni went to [[Karachi]], [[Pakistan]] to see Mohammed, who instructed them on [[Western culture]] and travel; however, Mihdhar did not go to Karachi, instead returning to Yemen.<ref name="911-ch5"/>


===Pilot hijackers===
===Pilot hijackers===

Revision as of 16:42, 5 December 2008

The September 11 attacks were carried out by 19 hijackers, with planning and organization of the attacks involving numerous additional members of al-Qaeda. The first hijackers to arrive in the United States were Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, who settled in the San Diego area in January 2000. They were followed by Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, and Ziad Jarrah, who all arrived early in the summer of 2000, in order to undertake flight training in south Florida. The fourth pilot, Hani Hanjour, arrived in San Diego in December 2000. The other muscle hijackers, who were trained to help overpower and take over the aircraft, all arrived in the spring and early summer of 2001.

Background

The idea for the September 11 attacks plot originated with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who had been active in the Philippines in the mid-1990s, and was an uncle of Ramzi Yousef, who was involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Mohammed first presented the idea September 11 attacks idea to Osama bin Laden in 1996, shortly after Bin Laden relocated from the Sudan back to Afghanistan. Bin Laden was not yet interested in the idea, but in Spring 1999, he called Khalid Sheikh Mohammed back and agreed to support the plot.

Selection

Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi were both experienced and respected jihadists in the eyes of al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden. Mihdhar and Hazmi both had previous experience fighting In Bosnia, and had trained during the 1990s at camps in Afghanistan.[1] When Bin Laden committed to the September 11 attacks plot idea, he assigned both Mihdhar and Hazmi to the plot.[2] Both were so eager to participate in operations within the United States, that they obtained visas in April 1999.[3] Once selected, Mihdhar and Hazmi were sent to the Mes Aynak training camp in Afghanistan. In late 1999, Hazmi, Attash and Yemeni went to Karachi, Pakistan to see Mohammed, who instructed them on Western culture and travel; however, Mihdhar did not go to Karachi, instead returning to Yemen.[2]

Pilot hijackers

Hamburg cell members, Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, Ziad Jarrah, and Ramzi Binalshibh were selected in fall 1999 for the September 11 attacks. They were instructed to obtain pilot training, with Atta serving as a coordinator. When Binalshibh, a Yemeni, was unable to obtain a United States visa, al-Qaeda leaders needed to find a replacement. Hani Hanjour showed up in 2000 in Afghanistan, and as an already-trained pilot, he was selected as a pilot hijacker.

Muscle hijackers

Mihdhar and Hazmi were also potential pilot hijackers, but did not do well in their initial pilot lessons in San Diego. Both were kept on as "muscle" hijackers, who would help overpower the passengers and crew, and allow the pilot hijackers to take control of the flights. In addition to Mihdhar and Hazmi, thirteen other muscle hijackers were selected in late 2000 or early 2001. All were from Saudi Arabia, with the exception of Fayez Banihammad, who was from the United Arab Emirates.

The attacks

American Airlines Flight 11

Main article: American Airlines Flight 11

Hijackers: Mohamed Atta al Sayed (Egyptian), Waleed al-Shehri (Saudi Arabian), Wail al-Shehri (Saudi Arabian), Abdulaziz al-Omari (Saudi Arabian), Satam al-Suqami (Saudi Arabian). There was only one other passenger with an Arabic name who was ruled out as having any role.

Two flight attendants called the American Airlines reservation desk during the hijacking. Betty Ong reported that "the four hijackers had come from first-class seats: 2A, 2B, 9A, and 9B."[4] Flight attendant Amy Sweeney called a flight services manager at Logan Airport and described them as Middle Eastern.[4] She gave the staff the seat numbers and they pulled up the ticket and credit card info of the hijackers, identifying Mohamed Atta al-Sayed.[5]

Mohamed Atta was heard speaking over the air traffic control system, broadcasting messages he intended for the passengers.[6]

We have some planes. Just stay quiet and you'll be okay. We are returning to the airport, nobody move. Everything will be okay. If you try to make any moves, you'll endanger yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet. Nobody move please. We are going back to the airport, don't try to make any stupid moves.

United Airlines Flight 175

Main article: United Airlines Flight 175

A United mechanic was called by a flight attendant who stated the crew had been murdered and the plane hijacked.[7]

Hijackers: Marwan al-Shehhi (from the United Arab Emirates), Fayez Banihammad (from the United Arab Emirates), Mohand al-Shehri (Saudi Arabian), Hamza al-Ghamdi (Saudi Arabian), Ahmed al-Ghamdi (Saudi Arabian). They were the only people with Arabic names on the flight.

American Airlines Flight 77

Main article: American Airlines Flight 77

Hijackers: Hani Hanjour (Saudi Arabian), Khalid al-Mihdhar (Saudi Arabian), Majed Moqed (Saudi Arabian), Nawaf al-Hazmi (Saudi Arabian), Salem al-Hazmi (Saudi Arabian). There was one other passenger with an Arabic name who was ruled out as having any role.

Two hijackers, Hani Hanjour and Majed Moqed were identified by clerks as having bought single, first-class tickets for Flight 77 from Advance Travel Service in Totowa, NJ with $1,842.25 in cash.[4] Renee May, a flight attendant on Flight 77, used a cell phone to call her mother in Las Vegas. She said her flight was being hijacked by six individuals who had moved them to the rear of the plane.[8] Passenger Barbara Olson called her husband, Ted Olson, the solicitor general of the United States, stating the flight had been hijacked and the hijackers had knives and box cutters.[9] Two of the passengers had been on the FBI's terrorist-alert list: Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi.

Forensic remains of the five hijackers were found at the Pentagon, along with remains of the victims.[10]

United Airlines Flight 93

Main article: United Airlines Flight 93

Hijackers: Ziad Jarrah (Lebanese), Ahmed al-Haznawi (Saudi Arabian), Ahmed al-Nami (Saudi Arabian), Saeed al-Ghamdi (Saudi Arabian). They were the only people with Arabic names on the flight.

Jeremy Glick stated that the hijackers were Arabic-looking, wearing red headbands, carrying knives.[11][12]

Hijacker Ziad Jarrah also mistakenly broadcast messages intended for passengers over the air traffic control system:

Keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board.

[...]

Uh, this is the captain. Would like you all to remain seated. There is a bomb aboard and are going back to the airport, and to have our demands [unintelligible]. Please remain quiet.[13]

Jarrah is also heard on the cockpit voice recorder.[14]

Investigation

Within minutes of the attacks, the Federal Bureau of Investigation opened the largest FBI investigation in United States history, operation PENTTBOM. The suspects were identified within 72 hours because few made any attempt to disguise their names on flight and credit card records and they were among the few non-U.S. citizens and nearly the only passengers with Arabic names on their flights, enabling the FBI to identify their jihads and in many cases such details as dates of birth, known, and/or possible residences, visa status, and specific identification of the suspected pilots within hours.[15] On September 27, 2001 the FBI released photos of the 19 hijackers, along with information about many of their possible nationalities and aliases.[16] All the suspected hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon or Egypt.

The passport of Satam al Suqami was recovered near the World Trade Center site, reportedly a few blocks from where the World Trade Center's twin towers once stood. [17][18]; a passerby picked it up and gave it to a NYPD detective shortly before the World Trade Center towers collapsed. The passports of two other suspected hijackers, Ziad Jarrah and Saeed al Ghamdi, were recovered from the crash site of United Airlines flight 93 in Pennsylvania, and a fourth passport, that of Abdul Aziz al Omari was recovered from luggage that did not make it onto American Airlines Flight 11[19].

According to the 9/11 Commission Report, 26 al-Qaeda terrorist conspirators sought to enter the United States to carry out a suicide mission. In the end, the FBI reported that there were 19 hijackers in all: five on three of the flights, and four on the fourth. On September 14th, three days after the attacks, the FBI announced the names of 19 persons.[15]

The Hamburg cell and other conspirators

According to the 9/11 Commission Report, the terrorist attack itself was planned by Khalid Sheik Mohammed and approved by Osama bin Laden, with Mohammed personally choosing the hijackers, and bin Laden approving of the decision[citation needed]. Sheik Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah became the organizers of the plot. Investigators say that Mohammed Haydar Zammar acted as the "travel agent" to Afghanistan.

Three of the hijackers, along with Ramzi Binalshibh, Said Bahaji, and Zakariyah Essabar were members of the Hamburg cell. After Atta, al-Shehhi, and Jarrah left for the United States, Binalshibh provided money to the conspirators. Riduan Isamuddin, aka Hambali, met with two of the hijackers in Kuala Lumpur during the 2000 Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit. Hambali also gave money to alleged 20th hijacker Zacarias Moussaoui. The members of the cell fled Germany before the terrorist attacks.

Some of the money that financed the terrorist attack seems to have originated from Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mohammed Yousef Mohamed Alqusaidi, who may be Marwan al-Shehhi's brother. Another conspirator is Abu Abdul Rahman. Tawfiq bin Attash, also known as Khallad, assisted the hijackers in many ways, and unsuccessfully sought a visa to enter the United States and participate in the attacks.

Interviews with detained al Qaida members have identified ten hijacker candidates who did not participate in the attacks for various reasons. These people were identified as Mohamed Mani Ahmad al Kahtani, Khalid Saeed Ahmad al Zahrani, Ali Abd al Rahman al Faqasi al Ghamdi, Saeed al Baluchi, Qutaybah al Najdi, Zuhair al Thubaiti, Saeed Abdullah al-Ghamdi, Saud al Rashid, and Mushabib al Hamlan, and Abderraouf Jdey.[20]

Cases of mistaken identities

Shortly after the attacks and before the FBI had released the pictures of all the hijackers, several reports appeared claiming that some of the men named as hijackers on 9/11 were alive, and were feared to have been victims of identity theft.[21][22][23] These cases, however, turned out to be instances of mistaken identities.[24][25]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ McDermott (2005), p. 191
  2. ^ a b 9/11 Commission Report, Chapter 5.2, pp. 153–159
  3. ^ 9/11 and Terrorist Travel, pp. 9–10
  4. ^ a b c Glen Johnson (2001-09-23). "Probe reconstructs horror, assumed attacks on planes". Boston Globe.
  5. ^ "Calm Before the Crash". ABC News. 2002-07-18.
  6. ^ "ATC Report - American Airlines Flight 11" (PDF). NTSB.
  7. ^ Boston.com / Fighting Terrorism
  8. ^ "Investigating 9-11 -- The doomed flights". San Francisco Chronicle. 2004-07-23.
  9. ^ "Transcript: America's New War: Recovering From Tragedy". 2001-09-14.
  10. ^ "Remains Of 9 Sept. 11 Hijackers Held". CBS News. 2002-08-17.
  11. ^ Flight 93: Forty lives, one destiny
  12. ^ Context of '(9:37 a.m.) September 11, 2001: Flight 93 Passenger Jeremy Glick Describes Hijackers, Bomb'
  13. ^ The 9/11 Commission Report, pp. 12, 29.
  14. ^ "Cockpit Voice Recorder transcript" (PDF). FindLaw.
  15. ^ a b FBI Announces List of 19 Hijackers, FBI, national Press Release September 14, 2001
  16. ^ The FBI releases 19 photographs of individuals believed to be the hijackers of the four airliners that crashed on September 11, 01FBI, national Press Release September 27, 2001
  17. ^ [http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2001/Sep-16-Sun-2001/news/17011253.html Las Vegas Review Journal], September 16, 2001.
  18. ^ BBC, September 16, 2001
  19. ^ National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
  20. ^ National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (2004). 9-11 Commission Report. Government Printing Office.
  21. ^ BBC News - Hijack 'suspects' alive and well
  22. ^ Islam Online - Saudi Suspects in U.S. Attacks Were Not in the U.S.
  23. ^ LA Times - FBI Chief Raises New Doubts Over Hijackers' Identities
  24. ^ Der Spiegel - Panoply of the Absurd
  25. ^ BBC News - 9/11 conspiracy theory

References

  • "9/11 Commission Report" (PDF). National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. 2004. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
  • "9/11 and Terror Travel" (PDF). National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. 2004. Retrieved 2008-09-30. {{cite web}}: |chapter= ignored (help)
  • Aust, Stefan (2002). Inside 9-11: What Really Happened. Schnibben, Cordt. MacMillan. ISBN 031298748X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Burke, Jason (2004). Al-Qaeda: The True Story of Radical Islam. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1850436665.
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation (2008-02-04). "Hijackers' Timeline" (PDF). NEFA Foundation. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
  • Fouda, Yosri (2003). Masterminds of Terror: The Truth Behind the Most Devastating Terrorist Attack the World Has Ever Seen. Arcade. ISBN 1559707089. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • McDermott, Terry (2005). Perfect Soldiers: The Hijackers: Who They Were, Why They Did It. HarperCollins. ISBN 0060584696.
  • Smith, Paul J. (2005). Terrorism and Violence in Southeast Asia: Transnational Challenges to States and Regional Stability. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 0765614332.
  • Wright, Lawrence (2006). The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 037541486X.


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