Ramzi bin al-Shibh (Arabic: رمزي بن الشيبة; pronounced Shaybah, and also transliterated as Ramzi Binalshibh, Ramzi bin al-Shaibah, and several other ways; born May 1, 1972[1]), is a citizen of Yemen and according to the United States, Germany, and several other countries, a key al-Qaeda member who helped in planning the 9/11 attacks. Binalshibh was the first to be publicly identified as the "20th hijacker," of whom there were several individuals thought to have consecutively been tasked to fill out the single missing slot among the four terrorist teams.
Ramzi Binalshibh was born in 1972, in the Yemini province of Hadhramaut, where his family lived on the coastal plain.[2] His father, Mohammed, who was a merchant, moved the family to a working class neighborhood in the capital, Sana'a, when Ramzi was very young. After Ramzi's father died in 1987, Ramzi lived in Sana'a with his mother and older two brothers.[3]
Ramzi Binalshibh worked as a kattib (messenger boy) for the International Bank of Yemen, from 1987 to 1995.[3][4] Binalshibh applied for U.S. visa in 1995, but his request was denied.[4]
Binalshibh then went to Germany where he requested political asylum, claiming that he was a political refugee from Sudan, and said that he arrived as a stowaway on a ship. The story he told German immigration officials was that "as a first-year economics student in Khartoum, he had taken part in an antigovernment demonstration and been arrested. The government later broke into his apartment and stole his identify papers." He remarked, "There is no freedom in Sudan, no human rights, no respect for human beings." German authorities accepted him, provided temporary quarters while he awaited a court hearing. This was a commonly used scam, by people seeking access to Germany's generous welfare benefits.[5]
The judge ended up refusing his asylum request, finding his claims implausible. Binalshibh appealed the decision, and was sent to Kummerfeld, near Hamburg, which was a "camp" or residence for refuges. He was provided a modest stipend and encouraged to find work. He was aided in coming to Germany by another Yemeni, Mohammed bin Naser Belfas, who was devoted to Islamic causes and spent time at Al Quds Mosque.[6]
Binalshibh lived in Hamburg until 1997, when he was deported.[4] Binalshibh returned to the Hadramaut region of Yemen, but a short while later Binalshibh received a German visa under his real name.[4] While he was in Germany, Binalshibh used the name "Ramzi Omar".
When Binalshibh first came to Hamburg in 1996, he taught occasional classes and spent time at Al Quds Mosque. There he became a good friend of Mohamed Atta, and developed other acquaintances.[7] Binalshibh also worked for a computer company (where Atta also worked) as a warehouse worker.[8] For two years, Atta and Binalshibh were roommates in Germany.[9]
Upon returning to Germany, Binalshibh enrolled in various kollegs, which provided language training. But, he never took his studies seriously, and would only show up for a few classes.[10]
During the summer of 1998, Binalshibh worked alongside Atta, al-Shehhi, and Belfas, at a warehouse, packing computers in crates for shipping.[11]
After he moved to Germany, Binalshibh rarely saw his family. He visited once in 1997, and again in the summer of 2000 (a month before the USS Cole bombing). He last contacted his family in July 2001, when he called.[12]
Ramzi Binalshibh disappeared from Hamburg in the summer of 1997, and again in for a while during the winter of 1998.[13]
In late 1999, Binalshibh traveled to Kandahar in Afghanistan, where he received training at Al Qaeda camps, and met others involved in planning the 9/11 attacks.[9]
Original plans for the 9/11 attacks called for Binalshibh to be one of the hijacker pilots, along with Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, and Ziad Jarrah. From Hamburg, Germany, Binalshibh applied to take flight training in the United States. He planned to join Jarrah at FFTC, and had sent the school a deposit. At that time, he also applied to Aviation Language Services, which provides language training for student pilots.[15]
Binalshibh applied for an entry visa to the United States, four times, and was refused each time. He made visa applications in Germany on May 17, 2000, and again in June, on September 16th, and October 25, 2000.[1][15] His first applications in May and June 2000 were denied because he lacked established ties in Germany ensuring his return from a trip to the United States. He was interviewed by a consular office in Berlin on July 18, regarding both previous visa applications. Binalshibh's application was denied under INA Section 214(b), due to concerns he would overstay the visa and remain in the U.S. as an (illegal) immigrant. The consular officer noted that Binalshibh had a poor academic record in Germany, attending only sporadically, that he had no apparent source of income, no apparent job, and frequently traveled back and fourth to the Middle East. These were factors that led to his application being rejected.[16] In September, he went home to Yemen to apply for a visa from there, but was denied on grounds that he also lacked sufficient ties to Yemen.[16]
In October, he tried one last time, in Berlin, applying for a student visa to attend "aviation language school," but the prior denials were noted and this application was denied as well, as incomplete.[17] The 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. Binalshibh's application had inadequate documentation and failed to show sufficient ties to Germany. His prior denials in Berlin and Sana'a were major red flags. Consular officials wrote on this application, “Incomplete [application], refused in Sana'a and here, bad case.” A citizen of a poor, developing country, with tenuous ties to Germany, Binalshibh was considered an intending immigrant and a bad visa risk.[16] His friend, Zakariyah Essabar, also a Yemeni, was also denied visas.[17]
After he failed to enter the United States, Binalshibh 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.[18][19] During the summer of 2000, Binalshibh sent $10,000 in wire transfers to Atta and al-Shehhi. Binalshibh also provided assistance to Zacarias Moussaoui, another possible pilot.[17]
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, 19 hijackers. [20]
In Hamburg, Mohamed Atta and Ramzi Binalshibh were roommates, along with Marwan al-Shehhi for a brief time. Due to problems getting a visa to travel to the U.S., Binalshibh stayed behind in Hamburg after Atta and the others went to the U.S. Binalshibh served in a coordinator role.
Binalshibh said that Mohamed Atta had phoned him on the morning of August 29th.
He said, "A friend of mine gave me a puzzle and I want you to help me out." I said to him, "Is this the time for puzzles, Mohammed?" He said, "Yes, I know, but no one else but you could help me." He said, "Two sticks, a dash and cake with a stick down. What is it?" I said, "Did you wake me up just to tell me this?" As it turns out, two sticks is the number 11. A dash is a dash. And cake with a stick down is the number nine. And that was September 11. [21]
Ramzi Binalshibh left Germany for Pakistan, five days before September 11. From Pakistan, he sent a messenger to inform Bin Laden that "the zero hour was defined."[18]
In August 2000, Ziad Jarrah attempted to enroll Binalshibh in a Florida flight school.[1]
Binalshibh sent money wire transfer on September 25, 2000 to Marwan al-Shehhi in Florida.[1]
In August 2001, Binalshibh sent approximately $14,000 to Zacarias Moussaoui, using the alias Ahad Sabet,[22] a few days after receiving transfer of $15,000 from Hashim Abdulrahman in the United Arab Emirates.[1]
Binalshibh was the first to be publicly identified as the "20th hijacker," of whom there were several individuals, including Essabar, who were thought to have consecutively been tasked to fill out the single missing slot among the four terrorist teams. The one spot was never filled, and consequently United Airlines Flight 93 ended up short by one hijacker, which is believed to have led in part to the success of the passenger revolt, and which in turn resulted in the crash of the plane into the ground near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
After January 14, 2002 Ramzi Binalshibh was found to be among five suspected al-Qaeda members delivering what United States Attorney General John Ashcroft described as "martyrdom messages from suicide terrorists" on five discovered videos. NBC News said that the five videos had been recorded after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
In September 2002, shortly before his arrest, Binalshibh and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed granted an interview with Al Jazeera journalist, Yosri Fouda. During the interview, both admitted responsibility for the attacks, and "not only admitted, they are proud of it, they would do it again."[18]
On September 8, 2006, a video was released by al-Qaeda that shows Osama bin Laden and some of the 9/11 hijackers. The tape identifies Ramzi Binalshibh as the "coordinator of the 9/11 attacks" in its own english subtitles. [23] The video goes on to show Binalshibh and other hijackers training in kickboxing as well as disarming and concealing weapons at a terrorist training camp in or near Kandahar, Afghanistan.[23] [24]
Ramzi Binalshibh is also suspected to be involved in the attack on 2000 USS Cole bombing, and the 2002 Ghriba synagogue bombing in Tunisia.[9]
Binalshibh was captured in Pakistan on September 11, 2002, after a gunbattle in Karachi. On September 14, 2002 he was subsequently turned over to the United States, which transfered him to an undisclosed location for interrogation.[25]
Binalshibh remained a prisoner of the U.S., at an undisclosed CIA led location, until September 2006. On September 6, 2006 U.S. President George Bush announced Binalshibh and other CIA held prisoners have been transferred to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Binalshibh is also wanted by German courts where he shared a Hamburg apartment with Mohammed Atta, the suspected ringleader of the 9/11 hijackers. However, Germany has deferred a request for extradition pending resolution of Binalshibh's legal status by the United States.