The four teams of hijackers were each led by a hijacker who had training as a pilot. Mohamed Atta was the pilot-trained hijacker on American Airlines Flight 11, as well as serving as the leader of all the hijackers. He had been living in Hamburg, Germany for many years, as a graduate student at Harburg Technical University in Hamburg. There in Hamburg, he met Marwan al-Shehhi who went on to pilot United Airlines Flight 175 and Ziad Jarrah who piloted United Airlines Flight 93. Atta was also friends and a roommate of Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni who had wanted to be part of the plot, but was denied entry to the United States. Atta, al-Shehhi, and Jarrah all worked together as a "cell", all coming to Florida in 2000 for pilot training.
Hani Hanjour, the fourth pilot hijacker, took controls of American Airlines Flight 77 and crashed it into the Pentagon. He was not part of the Hamburg cell, but instead had trained as a pilot in Arizona and lived in San Diego, where fellow Flight 77 hijacker Nawaf al-Hazmi also lived for some time. In the spring of 2001, this group of hijackers came to suburban Virginia and also spent time living in New Jersey.
The "muscle" hijackers, trained to help take over the flights, all came from Saudi Arabia. Most of them came from a particular region of Saudi Arabia, located near Mecca and Medina in western Saudi Arabia. Some of these hijackers had known each other before going to Afghanistan, and some of the hijackers were even brothers. The muscle hijackers arrived in the United States in the late spring or early summer of 2001.
American Airlines Flight 11United Airlines Flight 175 |
American Airlines Flight 77United Airlines Flight 93 |
PENTTBOM (Pentagon Twin Towers Bombing) is the name used by the FBI for the investigation into the 9/11 attacks. The investigation was coordinated from the Special Information and Operations Center at FBI headquarters, with 4,000 special agents and 3,000 support staff initially involved.[1]
Authorities were quickly able to determine the identity of the hijackers, as they did not make attempts to disguise their identities. Investigators scrutinized the passenger lists and identified some that were trained at Huffman Aviation School in Venice, Florida. More key clues were found in vehicles left behind at the airports. When two of the hijackers arrived at Logan Airport, they got into an argument with another driver over a parking space. When that other driver arrived at his destination, he learned about the attacks and recalled the other driver (and passenger) were Arab. He called authorities, drawing them to the parking lot where they obtained early clues in the investigation. The vehicle was a white Mitsubishi from National Car Rental, which had inside a flight manual in Arabic and clues that led authorities to Huffman Aviation. Other critical clues were found in Mohamed Atta's luggage which did not make it onto American Airlines Flight 11.[2]
There was some initial confusion and speculation, including the possibility that the hijackers crossed into the United States from Canada. A gas station owner in Jackman, Maine saw four Arab men stop by on August 17. There was also speculation that one hijacker took the ferry from Nova Scotia to Maine, and that two crossed into the United States from Canada at Coburn Gore, Maine.[3] These speculations turned out to be unfounded.
The Boston Globe obtained a list on September 12, but there was some confusion on spelling of names and mistaken identity of some suspects. On September 14, the FBI released the names of the hijackers, with some confusion about names on this list, as well.
In addition to identification of victims, the remains of all the hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77 were found at the Pentagon and their DNA forensically identified. The remains of all the hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93 were found at the crash site near Shanksville and their DNA was forensically identified.[5] Remains of three of the hijackers were found and identified through DNA testing at the Ground Zero.[6]
This claim is based on a report by the BBC on September 23, 2001.[7] The BBC has since reported about the 19 hijackers,[8] and has issued corrections to this story.[9]
In the aftermath of the attacks, there was confusion about names on the list issued by the FBI, as well as lists obtained by the Boston Globe and other media outlets.
There was confusion regarding one name on the list -- Waleed Alshehri. In a case of mistaken identity, a different Waleed Alshehri (other than the real hijacker) was initially identified. This Waleed Alshehri came to Daytona Beach, Florida in 1996, took aviation lessons at Embry-Riddle Aeronautics University,[3] and was employed as a pilot for Saudi Arabian Airlines. He was living in Morocco at the time of the 9/11 attacks.
There was also confusion regarding Abdul al-Omari. Someone with a similar name in south Florida, Abdulrahman S. Alomari, took flight lessons at Flight Safety International. He was identified early and confused with the hijacker.[10] Abdulaziz Alomari, a 28-year old in Riyadh, said his passport was stolen while he lived in Denver in 1995, and thought his identity was stolen by one of the hijackers.
Said Hussein al-Ghamdi, a Saudi pilot living in Tunis, was also mistaken, with CNN broadcasting his picture instead of that of Flight 93 hijacker, Saeed al-Ghamdi.
The list obtained by the Boston Globe on September 12 included the name Marwan Alshehri. (name really is Marwan al-Shehhi)[11]
In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, some news reports showed a picture of Khalid Al-Mihammadi, a computer programmer from Mecca, in place of Khalid al-Mihdhar's picture. Mihammadi had been in the United States to study English in Florida, and in Indiana.[12] One story, published by the BBC on September 23, indicated that Mihdhar was possibly still alive.[13] In 2006, in response to 9/11 conspiracy theories surrounding its original news story, the BBC claimed that confusion arose with the common Arabic names, and that its later reports on the hijackers superseded its original story.[14]
Arab News explained how names and photographs of Saudi pilots trained in the U.S. were published and mistaken for the hijackers.
| “ | In the rush to reveal information, these were published without due authentication. According to a US source, the FBI committed some errors in its inquiries at the beginning of the investigation. First, it asked about pilots or trainees at airlines whose names resembled those of the hijackers. This was on the presumption that the hijackers should be pilots or experts in aviation. This led to the confusion about the names of pilots Saeed Al-Ghamdi who turned up in Tunis, Abdul Rahman Al-Amri who was in Jeddah and Waleed A. Al-Shehri, who showed up in Rabat. These three men have been cleared of any association with the alleged hijackers.[17] | ” |
Since 9/11, videos have been shown that depict Osama bin Laden meeting with some of the hijackers, or the last will and testament of some of the hijackers. In the past Al Qaeda has used couriers to deliver videos to media outlets, such as Al Jazeera. Now, Al Qaeda has the capability to produce high quality videos, through As Sahab, its production house, and deliver videos directly over the internet.
On September 19, 2008, As Sahab released a new video which includes approximately ten minutes of footage showing 9/11 hijacker Ahmed al-Ghamdi reciting his last will and testament. Ghamdi was one of the muscle hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 175.
In all, this video is nearly 1 1/2 hours. There is substantial footage of Ayman al-Zawahiri, Bin Laden's deputy. There also are a few clips of Bin Laden speaking about Palestine, which he says is a "great opportunity for mujahadeen who have been fighting in Iraq," speaking as though Al Qaeda has been doing well in Iraq lately (that is actually not the case, with foreign mujahadeen leaving in large numbers). The video also includes some old clips of Abdullah Azzam, who along with Bin Laden, established the Maktab al-Khidamat (Services Office) in 1984 for supporting the mujahadeen during the Soviet war in Afghanistan.
The video was released several days late, after technical problems with online forums and sites that Al Qaeda uses. This may mean that the organization Al Qaeda had previously with creating and disseminating videos and other material has been disrupted in some way. Adam Gadahn, a U.S. born Al Qaeda operative, has played a key role in the organizations media operations. There are unconfirmed reports that he was killed in a missile strike in North Waziristan, located in Pakistan along the Afghanistan border.
A video released in September 2007 which features Waleed al-Shehri's last will and testament. In the video, Osama bin Laden speaks for the first 15 minutes, with praises for al-Shehri. Bin Laden's statement is in the form of an audio message, with his picture shown, superimposed with 9/11 footage in the background. Waleed al-Shehri then speaks for approximately 30 minutes. Al Qaeda edited the video, so that Al-Shehri is seen speaking with an image of the World Trade Center on 9/11 as a backdrop.[18]
Al Qaeda released a video in September 2006 which showed the last will and testament of hijackers Hamza al-Ghamdi and Wail al-Shehri. Bin Laden is also seen in the video, at a camp, alongside Mohammed Atef and Ramzi Binalshibh.[19]
On October 1, 2006, The Sunday Times announced that they had obtained a video that showed hijackers Mohamed Atta and Ziad Jarrah when they were at Tarnak Farms in Afghanistan in January 2000. The video, which is unedited, does not contain any sound, but shows the two laughing and talking. Attempts to decipher the video, through lip reading, have not been successful. [20]
In May 2003, CNN and ABC aired video footage from the wedding of Said Bahaji, who was associated with the Hamburg cell. The video, recorded in October 1999, showed Ramzi Binalshibh, Ziad Jarrah, Marwan al-Shehhi, Mohamed Atta, Zakariya Essabar, Mohamed Haydar Zammar, and Mamoun Darkazanli, among others present.[21]
A video was released by Al Qaeda in September 2002, with Bin Laden speaking and showing Abdul Aziz al-Omari speaking. "We will get you. We will humiliate you. We will never stop following you," said Abdul Aziz al-Omari. Bin Laden specifically mentions four other hijackers including Marwan al-Shehhi, Ziad Jarrah, Hani Hanjour, and Mohamed Atta. Of the mastermind hijacker Mohamed Atta, who flew the first plane into the World Trade Center, bin Laden said, "He carried the pains of the nation. May God accept him as a martyr." He called Hani Hanjour, the terrorist who flew the plane into the Pentagon, "a great man."
In April 2002, a video surfaced that showed Ahmed al-Haznawi giving his last will and testament. He is seen reciting a prepared statement, which al-Jazeera described as a last will and testament.[22]
Haznawi is quoted saying:
| “ | We left our families to send a message that has the color of blood. This message says, 'Oh Allah, take from our blood today until you are satisfied.' The message says, 'The time of humiliation and subjugation are over.' It is time to kill Americans in their own homeland, among their sons, and near their forces and intelligence. | ” |
Dulles International Airport, where American Airlines Flight 77 originated, had video surveillance at security checkpoints. Video was captured, showing each of the five hijackers (Khalid al-Mihdhar, Majed Moqed, Nawaq al-Hazmi, Salem al-Hazmi and Hani Hanjour) passing through security shortly before Flight 77 departed. Portland International Jetport also had security cameras at its checkpoints, with images of Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz al-Omari captured.
These were originally obtained by Terry McDermott, the author of Perfect Soldiers, which details the background of the hijackers, and how they became involved in the 9/11 attacks.
Al Qaeda is estimated to have spent $400,000 - 500,000, including $300,000 that passed through the hijackers' bank accounts in the United States. Before the attacks, they returned approximately $26,000 to someone in the United Arab Emirates. The hijackers were not particularly adept with using the international banking system, thus they left a paper trail behind that linked the hijackers together and to Al Qaeda.[23]
A key piece of evidence that ties the hijackers to Al Qaeda were money transfers before the attacks, from the hijackers to a Bin Laden associate in the United Arab Emirates. Sheikh Saeed, also known as Mustafa Mohamed Ahmad, was a financial manager for Bin Laden when he was in Sudan, and remained a trusted associate.[24]
