Saeed al-Ghamdi
| Saeed al-Ghamdi | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | Unknown al Bahah Province, Saudi Arabia |
| Died | September 11, 2001 Shanksville, Pennsylvania, United States |
Saeed al-Ghamdi (Arabic: سعيد الغامدي) was named by the FBI as one of the hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93 as part of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack. The FBI listed his other aliases as Abdul Rahman Saed Alghamdi; Ali S Alghamdi; Al- Gamdi; Saad M.S. Al Ghamdi; Sadda Al Ghamdi; Saheed Al-Ghamdi; and Seed Al Ghamdi.
History
Al-Ghamdi was from the al Bahah province of Saudi Arabia, an isolated and underdeveloped area, and shared the same tribal affiliation with fellow hijackers Ahmed al-Ghamdi, Hamza al-Ghamdi, and Ahmed al-Haznawi. This group is noted as being some of the more religiously observant of the hijackers. Al-Ghamdi is said to have come from a town called Abha. He did not have a college degree. He may have been in contact with other future hijackers as early as 1999. Al Ghamdi spent time in al Qasim province, Saudi Arabia where he transferred to college but soon dropped out and ceased contact with his family. While there, he probably associated with the radical Saudi cleric named Sulayman al Alwan as several other future hijackers did.
Saeed headed to Chechnya to participate in the conflict against the Russians. At this time, Chechen fighters were turning away additional foreigners, many of whom ended up in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan to train and await entry to Chechnya. Saeed ended up at the Al Farouq training camp, where he met Ahmed al-Nami, and the brothers Wail and Waleed al-Shehri. The four reportedly pledge themselves to Jihad in the Spring of 2000, in a ceremony presided over by Wail - who had dubbed himself Abu Mossaeb al-Janubi after one of Mohammad's companions. [1]
Saeed was known to Tawfiq bin Attash who is thought to have convinced him to become a martyr. Saeed was at that time working as a security guard at Kandahar airport along with Waleed al-Shehri.
Some time late in 2000, Saeed traveled to the United Arab Emirates, where he purchased traveler's cheques presumed to have been paid for by Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi. Five other hijackers also passed through the UAE and purchased travellers cheques, including Majed Moqed, Wail al-Shehri, Hamza Alghamdi, Ahmed al-Haznawi and Ahmed al-Nami.
On November 13 2000, another Saeed al-Ghamdi tried to obtain a Visa to enter the United States, but was declined. Although the 9/11 Commission makes mention of him, there is no evidence he was associated with the hijackers.
In March of 2001, Saeed was filmed in a farewell video that was aired on al-Jazeera. In the video, many future 9/11 hijackers swear to become martyrs, although no details of the plot are revealed. Saeed referred to America as "the enemy", and is seen studying maps and flight manuals. [2]
In the U.S.
Saeed arrived in the U.S. in June 2001 through a controversial immigration procedure called Visa Express. He shared an apartment with Ahmed al-Nami in Delray Beach, Florida. Oddly, he listed the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida as his permanent address on his driver's license. He was one of 9 hijackers to open a SunTrust bank account with a cash deposit around June of 2001. Saeed occasionally trained on simulators at the FlightSafety Aviation School in Vero Beach, Florida together with Mohand al-Shehri and Abdulaziz al-Omari.
According to al-Jazeera reporter Yosri Fouda's documentary Top Secret: The Road to September 11, three weeks prior to the attacks Saeed is believed to have used the name 'Abdul Rahman' to send a message to Ramzi Binalshibh (who was posing as a girlfriend) online, in which he wrote The first semester commences in three weeks. Two high schools and two universities. ... This summer will surely be hot ...19 certificates for private education and four exams. Regards to the professor. Goodbye. This was said to be a reference to two military targets and two civilian, nineteen hijackers. [3]
On September 7 all four of Flight 93 hijackers flew from Fort Lauderdale to Newark International Airport aboard Spirit Airlines. Jarrah and al-Haznawi both received their one-way tickets on September 5. [4]
The attack
On the morning of September 11, 2001, al-Ghamdi boarded United Airlines Flight 93 without incident. Due to the flight's delay, the pilot and crew were notified of the previous hijackings that day, and were told to be on the alert. Within minutes, Flight 93 was hijacked as well.
At least two of the cellphone calls made by passengers indicate that all the hijackers they saw were wearing red bandanas. The calls also indicated that one of the men had tied a box around his torso, and claimed there was a bomb inside - it is not known which hijacker this was.
Passengers on the plane heard through phone calls the fates of the other hijacked planes. A passenger uprising resulted in the plane crashing into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing everyone aboard.
Mistaken identity
On 23 September 2001, before the FBI had released the pictures of the hijackers, the BBC and The Daily Telegraph reported that a Saudi Airlines pilot named Saeed al-Ghamdi was furious that a name on the hijacker's list released by the FBI matched his own. CNN also mistakingly showed a picture of the "living" Al-Ghamdi as the hijacker. The man claimed CNN likely got his picture from a Flight Safety flying school in Florida he attended. [5] [6] Der Spiegel later investigated the claims of "living" hijackers by the BBC and discovered them to be cases of mistaken identities. [7]
According to immigration records in the Philippines, someone named Saeed al-Ghamdi visited that country on at least 15 occasions in 2001, entering as a tourist. The last visit ended on August 6. This may have been a different person with the same name, as no other information is available. It is also possible that the same Saeed al-Ghamdi visited the Philippines during this period. [citation needed]
In June of 2005 the Saudi government released a list (see al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) of 36 wanted (and alive) terrorists, one of whom was Salih Sa'id Al Batih al-Ghamdi. 9/11 conspiracy theorists quickly confused him with the hijacker Saeed al-Ghamdi.[8]
References
- ^ Before oath to jihad, drifting and boredom, Boston Globe, Charles M. Sennott, Globe Staff, 3/3/2002
- ^ Cooperative Research
- ^ Al-Jazeera offers accounts of 9/11 planning, CNN, September 12, 2002 Posted: 10:42 PM EDT (0242 GMT)
- ^ STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD, FBI DIRECTOR ROBERT S. MUELLER III, JOINT INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE INQUIRY, September 26, 2002
- ^ Hijack 'suspects' alive and well, BBC News, Sunday, 23 September, 2001, 12:30 GMT 13:30 UK
- ^ Revealed: the men with stolen identities, The Telegraph, By David Harrison,(Filed: 23/09/2001)
- ^ Panoply of the Absurd (2), Spiegel Online, September 8, 2003
- ^ Saudi Arabia issues New list of wanted ”terrorist” suspects, Asharq Al-Awsat Exclusive: Al Qaedas in Saudi Arabias new leader is a Moroccan National, Asharq Al-Awsat, 29/06/2005