Complete 911 Timeline

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed

Project: Complete=20 911 Timeline
Open-Content project managed by Paul=20 Thompson

1993: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed Has Ties with ISI =

US agents uncover photographs showing Khalid Shaikh Mohammed = with close=20 associates of future Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The = Financial=20 Times later notes that Mohammed and his allies =E2=80=9Cmust have = felt confident=20 that their ties to senior Pakistani Islamists, whose power had = been=20 cemented within the country=E2=80=99s intelligence service [the = ISI], would prove=20 invaluable.=E2=80=9D [Financial Times. 15 February.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Financial = Times,=20 2/15/2003] Also this year, Mohammed is involved in an = operation to=20 assassinate Benazir Bhutto, then prime minister of Pakistan (and = an=20 opponent of Sharif and the ISI). [Slate. 21 = September.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()" = href=3D"http://slate.msn.com/id/1008335/"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Slate, 9/21/2001; Guardian. 3 March.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,12469,906442,00.html"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Guardian, 3/3/2003] The Los Angeles Times = later=20 reports that Mohammed =E2=80=9Cspent most of the 1990s in = Pakistan. Pakistani=20 leadership through the 1990s sympathized with Osama bin = Laden=E2=80=99s=20 fundamentalist rhetoric. This sympathy allowed Mohammed to operate = as he=20 pleased in Pakistan.=E2=80=9D [Los Angeles Times. 24 June.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Los Angeles = Times,=20 6/24/2002]

People and organizations involved: Pakistan=20 Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, Osama=20 bin Laden, Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed, Benazir=20 Bhutto, Nawaz=20 Sharif

Early 1994-January 1995: Khalid Shaikh = Mohammed=20 Receives Financial Support in the Philippines

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in a 1998 FBI = wanted=20 poster. [Source: FBI]

9/11=20 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed lives in the Philippines for a = year,=20 planning Operation Bojinka until the plot is exposed in January = 1995 and=20 he has to flee (see January=20 6, 1995). Police later say he lives a very expensive and = non-religious=20 lifestyle. He goes to karaoke bars and go-go clubs, dates go-go = dancers,=20 stays in four-star hotels, and takes scuba diving lessons. Once he = rents a=20 helicopter just to fly it past the window of a = girlfriend=E2=80=99s office in an=20 attempt to impress her. This appears to be a pattern; for = instance, he has=20 a big drinking party in 1998. [Los Angeles Times. 24 June.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Los Angeles = Times,=20 6/24/2002] Officials believe his obvious access to large sums = of money=20 indicate that some larger network is backing him by this time. [Los Angeles Times. 6 June.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://web.archive.org/web/20020616125504/http://meadev.nic.in/in= d-ter/for-med/latimes6june2002.htm"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Los Angeles Times, 6/6/2002] It has been = suggested=20 that Mohammed, a Pakistani, is able =E2=80=9Cto operate as he = please[s] in=20 Pakistan=E2=80=9D during the 1990s [Los Angeles Times. 24 June.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Los Angeles = Times,=20 6/24/2002] , and he is linked to the Pakistani ISI. His = hedonistic=20 time in the Philippines resembles reports of hijackers Mohamed = Atta and=20 Marwan Alshehhi in the Philippines in 1998-2000 (see 1998-2000).=20 Mohammed returns to the Philippines occasionally, and he is even = spotted=20 there after 9/11. [Knight Ridder. 9 September.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://web.archive.org/web/20021019214757/http://www.philly.com/m= ld/philly/news/special_packages/attack_on_america/4020169.htm"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Knight Ridder, 9/9/2002] He is almost = caught while=20 visiting an old girlfriend there in 1999, and fails in a second = plot to=20 kill the Pope when the Pope cancels his visit to the Philippines = that=20 year. [Los Angeles Times. 1 September.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Los Angeles = Times,=20 9/1/2002; London = Times. 10 November.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">London = Times,=20 11/10/2002]

People and organizations involved: Operation=20 Bojinka, Mohamed=20 Atta, Marwan=20 Alshehhi, Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed

January 6, 1995: Pope Assassination and = Bojinka Plot to=20 Bomb a Dozen Airplanes Is Foiled

Responding to an apartment fire, Philippine investigators = uncover an=20 al-Qaeda plot to assassinate the Pope that is scheduled to take = place when=20 he visits the Philippines one week later. While investigating that = scheme,=20 they also uncover Operation Bojinka, planned by the same people: = 1993 WTC=20 bomber Ramzi Yousef and 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. = [Independent. 6 June.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article130507.ece"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Independent, 6/6/2002; Los Angeles Times. 24 June.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Los Angeles = Times,=20 6/24/2002; Los Angeles Times. 1 September.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Los Angeles = Times,=20 9/1/2002] The first phase of the plan is to explode 11 or 12 = passenger=20 planes over the Pacific Ocean. [Agence France-Presse. = 2001. =E2=80=9CWestern Intel Knew bin Laden\'s Plan Since 1995 - German = Paper.=E2=80=9D 8 December.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Agence = France-Presse,=20 12/8/2001] Had this plot been successful, up to 4,000 people = would=20 have been killed in planes flying to Los Angeles, San Francisco, = Honolulu,=20 and New York. [Insight. 2002. = =E2=80=9CThe Cell.=E2=80=9D 27 May.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 href=3D"http://www.timmerman2000.com/news/insight_bluemarlin.htm"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Insight, 5/27/2002] All the bombs would = be planted=20 at about the same time, but some would be timed to go off weeks or = even=20 months later. Presumably worldwide air travel could be interrupted = for=20 months. [1000 Years = For Revenge: International Terrorism and the FBI--the Untold Story. = New York, NY: Regan Books.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006054354X/centerforcoop-2= 0"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Lance, 2003, pp. 260-61] This phase of = Operation=20 Bojinka was scheduled to go forward just two weeks later on = January 21.=20 [Insight. 2002. = =E2=80=9CThe Cell.=E2=80=9D 27 May.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 href=3D"http://www.timmerman2000.com/news/insight_bluemarlin.htm"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Insight, 5/27/2002]

People and organizations involved: Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed, al-Qaeda,=20 Operation=20 Bojinka, Ramzi=20 Yousef, World=20 Trade Center

January 20, 1995: First Hints of Bojinka = Second=20 Wave Revealed

Abdul Hakim Murad. [Source: Justice=20 Department]

3D"
Abdul
Philippine=20 and US investigators learn that Ramzi Yousef, Khalid Shaikh = Mohammed, and=20 their fellow plotters were actually planning three different = attacks when=20 they were foiled in early January. In addition to the planned=20 assassination of the Pope, and the first phase of Operation = Bojinka=20 previously discovered, they also planned to crash about a dozen = passenger=20 planes into prominent US buildings. It is often mistakenly = believed that=20 there is one Bojinka plan to blow up some planes and crash others = into=20 buildings, but in fact these different forms of attack are to take = place=20 in two separate phases. [1000 Years = For Revenge: International Terrorism and the FBI--the Untold Story. = New York, NY: Regan Books.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006054354X/centerforcoop-2= 0"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Lance, 2003, pp. 259] Philippine = investigator=20 Colonel Rodolfo Mendoza learns about this second phase through the = examination of recently captured Bojinka plotter Abdul Hakim = Murad. On=20 January 20, Mendoza writes a memo about Murad=E2=80=99s latest = confession, saying,=20 =E2=80=9CWith regards to their plan to dive-crash a commercial = aircraft at the CIA=20 headquarters, subject alleged that the idea of doing same came out = during=20 his casual conversation with [Yousef ] and there is no specific = plan yet=20 for its execution. What the subject [has] in his mind is that he = will=20 board any American commercial aircraft pretending to be an = ordinary=20 passenger. Then he will hijack said aircraft, control its cockpit, = and=20 dive it at the CIA headquarters. He will use no bomb or = explosives. It is=20 simply a suicidal mission that he is very much willing to = execute.=E2=80=9D [1000 Years = For Revenge: International Terrorism and the FBI--the Untold Story. = New York, NY: Regan Books.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006054354X/centerforcoop-2= 0"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Lance, 2003, pp. 277-78; Insight. 2002. = =E2=80=9CThe Cell.=E2=80=9D 27 May.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 href=3D"http://www.timmerman2000.com/news/insight_bluemarlin.htm"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Insight, 5/27/2002]

People and organizations involved: Abdul=20 Hakim Murad, Operation=20 Bojinka, Rodolfo=20 Mendoza, Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed, Ramzi=20 Yousef

February-April 1995: Bojinka Second Wave = Fully=20 Revealed to Philippines Investigators; Information Given to US =

As Colonel Mendoza, the Philippines investigator, continues to=20 interrogate Operation Bojinka plotter Abdul Hakim Murad, details = of a=20 post-Bojinka =E2=80=9Csecond wave=E2=80=9D emerge. Author Peter = Lance calls this phase =E2=80=9Ca=20 virtual blueprint of the 9/11 attacks.=E2=80=9D Murad reveals a = plan to hijack=20 commercial airliners at some point after the effect of Bojinka = dies down.=20 Murad himself had been training in the US for this plot. He names = the=20 buildings that would be targeted for attack: CIA headquarters, the = Pentagon, an unidentified nuclear power plant, the Transamerica = Tower in=20 San Francisco, the Sears Tower, and the World Trade Center. Murad=20 continues to reveal more information about this plot until he is = handed=20 over to the FBI in April. [1000 Years = For Revenge: International Terrorism and the FBI--the Untold Story. = New York, NY: Regan Books.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006054354X/centerforcoop-2= 0"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Lance, 2003, pp. 278-80] He identifies=20 approximately ten other men who met him at the flight schools or = were=20 getting similar training. They came from Sudan, United Arab = Emirates,=20 Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. Apparently none of these pilots match = the=20 names of any of the 9/11 hijackers. However, he also gives = information=20 pointing to the al-Qaeda operative Hambali through a front company = named=20 Konsonjaya. Hambali will host an important al-Qaeda meeting = attended by=20 two of the 9/11 hijackers (see January=20 5-8, 2000). [Associated = Press. 5 March.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 href=3D"http://www.seacoastonline.com/2002news/3_5_w2.htm"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Associated Press, 3/5/2002] Colonel = Mendoza even=20 makes a flow chart connecting many key players together, including = bin=20 Laden, bin Laden=E2=80=99s brother-in-law Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, = Ramzi Yousef,=20 and 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (named as Salem Ali = a.k.a.=20 Mohmad). Philippine authorities later claim that they provide all = of this=20 information to US authorities, but the US fails to follow up on = any of it.=20 [1000 Years = For Revenge: International Terrorism and the FBI--the Untold Story. = New York, NY: Regan Books.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006054354X/centerforcoop-2= 0"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Lance, 2003, pp. 303-4] Khalifa is in US = custody=20 and released even after the Philippine authorities provide this=20 information about him.

People and organizations involved: Operation=20 Bojinka, Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed, Ramzi=20 Yousef, Sears=20 Tower, Rodolfo=20 Mendoza, Abdul=20 Hakim Murad, al-Qaeda,=20 Federal=20 Bureau of Investigation, Pentagon,=20 Mohammed=20 Jamal Khalifa, World=20 Trade Center, Nurjaman=20 Riduan Isamuddin

February 7, 1995: Yousef Is Arrested and = Talks, but=20 Hides Operation Bojinka Second Wave and bin Laden Ties

Ramzi Yousef. [Source: Justice=20 Department]

3D"
Ramzi
Ramzi=20 Yousef is arrested in Pakistan. At the time, Khalid Shaikh = Mohammed is=20 staying in the same building, and brazenly gives an interview to = Time=20 magazine as =E2=80=9CKhalid Sheikh,=E2=80=9D describing = Yousef=E2=80=99s capture. [1000 Years = For Revenge: International Terrorism and the FBI--the Untold Story. = New York, NY: Regan Books.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006054354X/centerforcoop-2= 0"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Lance, 2003, pp. 328] Yousef had = recruited Istaique=20 Parker to implement a limited version of Operation Bojinka. Parker = was to=20 place bombs on board two flights bound from Bangkok to the US, but = got=20 cold feet and instead turned in Yousef. [1000 Years = For Revenge: International Terrorism and the FBI--the Untold Story. = New York, NY: Regan Books.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006054354X/centerforcoop-2= 0"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Lance, 2003, pp. 284-85] The next day, as = Yousef is=20 flying over New York City on his way to a prison cell, an FBI = agent says=20 to him, =E2=80=9CYou see the Trade Centers down there, = they=E2=80=99re still standing,=20 aren=E2=80=99t they?=E2=80=9D Yousef responds, =E2=80=9CThey = wouldn=E2=80=99t be if I had enough money and=20 enough explosives.=E2=80=9D [MSNBC. 23 September.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">MSNBC, = 9/23/2001;=20 The Cell: Inside the 9/11 Plot, And Why the = FBI and CIA Failed to Stop It. New York, NY: Hyperion.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786869003/centerforcoop-2= 0"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Miller, Stone, and Mitchell, 2002, pp. = 135] Yousef=20 also soon admits to ties with Wali Khan Shah, who fought with bin = Laden in=20 Afghanistan, and Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, one of bin = Laden=E2=80=99s=20 brothers-in-law, who is being held by the US at the time. Despite = Yousef=E2=80=99s=20 confession, Khalifa is released later in the year. Although Yousef = talks=20 freely, he makes no direct mention of bin Laden, or the planned = second=20 wave of Operation Bojinka that closely parallels the later 9/11 = plot. [1000 Years = For Revenge: International Terrorism and the FBI--the Untold Story. = New York, NY: Regan Books.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006054354X/centerforcoop-2= 0"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Lance, 2003, pp. 297-98]

People and organizations involved: Ramzi=20 Yousef, Mohammed=20 Jamal Khalifa, Federal=20 Bureau of Investigation, Wali=20 Khan Amin Shah, Operation=20 Bojinka, Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed

After February 7, 1995-January 1996: Ramzi = Yousef=20 Arrest Points Investigators to Khalid Shaikh Mohammed

Shortly after bomber Ramzi Yousef is arrested, investigators = discover a=20 computer file of a letter on his laptop that is signed by = =E2=80=9CKhalid Sheikh,=20 and Bojinka.=E2=80=9D An eyewitness account of the arrest is given = to Time=20 magazine by a =E2=80=9CKhalid Sheikh,=E2=80=9D who is also staying = in the same building.=20 [Perfect = Soldiers The 9/11 Hijackers: Who They Were, Why They Did It. New = York, NY: HarperCollins.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060584696/centerforcoop-2= 0"=20 target=3D__newwindow>McDermott, 2005, pp. 154, 162] = Investigators also=20 discover that he had frequently visited Yousef=E2=80=99s apartment = in Manila,=20 Philippines, where the bombs for the Bojinka plot were being made. = [PBS Frontline. 2002. = =E2=80=9CAl-Qaeda\'s Global Context.=E2=80=9D 3 October.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/knew/etc/cron.html"= =20 target=3D__newwindow>PBS Frontline, 10/3/2002] They also find = Yousef had=20 written down a phone number for =E2=80=9CKhalid Doha.=E2=80=9D = Doha is the capital of=20 Qatar. Shortly after being apprehended, Yousef calls this number = in Qatar=20 and asks to speak to a =E2=80=9CKhalid.=E2=80=9D Further = intelligence this year connects=20 him to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing when records are found = of money=20 wired from a "Khaled Shaykh" in Doha, Qatar, to one of the bombing = suspects several days before the bombing. [Final Report, Part Three-Topics-The Attacks Of = September 11, 2001. 108th Cong., 1st sess.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">US = Congress,=20 7/24/2003] At first, investigators don=E2=80=99t know exactly = who this person=20 is. But there is an entry in Yousef=E2=80=99s seized telephone = directory for a=20 Zahed Sheikh Mohammed, Yousef=E2=80=99s uncle and Khalid Shaikh = Mohammed=E2=80=99s=20 brother. Not long after this discovery is made, Pakistani = investigators=20 raid Zahed=E2=80=99s offices in Peshawar, Pakistan, but Zahed has = already fled.=20 Nevertheless, apparently by the end of 1995 investigators make the = connection between Zahed and Khalid, and they begin to build a = case=20 against Khalid. [Perfect = Soldiers The 9/11 Hijackers: Who They Were, Why They Did It. New = York, NY: HarperCollins.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060584696/centerforcoop-2= 0"=20 target=3D__newwindow>McDermott, 2005, pp. 154, 162] The FBI = successfully=20 arranges for a photograph to be taken of Mohammed. He is = positively=20 identified from the photo in December 1995. This results in his = indictment=20 in January 1996 for his role in the 1993 WTC bombing. US = intelligence=20 labels him a =E2=80=9Ctop priority,=E2=80=9D according the 9/11 = Congressional Inquiry. [Final Report, Part Three-Topics-The Attacks Of = September 11, 2001. 108th Cong., 1st sess.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">US = Congress,=20 7/24/2003; Los Angeles Times. 22 December.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Los Angeles = Times,=20 12/22/2002]

People and organizations involved: Federal=20 Bureau of Investigation, Zahed=20 Sheikh Mohammed, Ramzi=20 Yousef, Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed

1996: US Intelligence Learns that = Mohammed and bin=20 Laden Have Traveled Together

Prior to this year, US intelligence is uncertain whether Khalid = Shaikh=20 Mohammed is connected to al-Qaeda. But this changes when a foreign = government shares information that bin Laden and Mohammed had = traveled=20 together to a foreign country the previous year. [Final Report, Part Three-Topics-The Attacks Of = September 11, 2001. 108th Cong., 1st sess.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">US = Congress,=20 7/24/2003]

People and organizations involved: al-Qaeda,=20 Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed, Osama=20 bin Laden

January-May 1996: US Fails to Capture Mohammed = Living Openly=20 in Qatar

Since Operation Bojinka was uncovered in the Philippines (see = January=20 6, 1995), nearly all of the plot=E2=80=99s major planners, = including Ramzi=20 Yousef, are found and arrested. The one exception is 9/11 = mastermind=20 Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. He flees to Qatar in the Persian Gulf, = where he=20 lives openly using his real name, enjoying the patronage of = Abdallah bin=20 Khalid al-Thani, Qatar=E2=80=99s Interior Minister and a member of = the royal=20 family. [ABC News. 7 February.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://web.archive.org/web/20030209235027/http://abcnews.go.com/s= ections/wnt/DailyNews/qatar_alqaeda030207.html"=20 target=3D__newwindow>ABC News, 2/7/2003] In January 1996, he = is indicted=20 in the US for his role in the 1993 WTC bombing, and in the same = month, the=20 US determines his location in Qatar. FBI Director Louis Freeh = sends a=20 letter to the Qatari government asking for permission to send a = team after=20 him. [Los Angeles Times. 22 December.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Los Angeles = Times,=20 12/22/2002] One of Freeh=E2=80=99s diplomatic notes states = that Mohammed was=20 involved in a conspiracy to =E2=80=9Cbomb US airliners=E2=80=9D = and is believed to be =E2=80=9Cin=20 the process of manufacturing an explosive device.=E2=80=9D [New Yorker. 27 May.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 href=3D"http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?020603fa_FACT"=20 target=3D__newwindow>New Yorker, 5/27/2002] Qatar confirms = that Mohammed=20 is there and is making explosives, but they delay handing him = over. After=20 waiting several months, a high-level meeting takes place in = Washington to=20 consider a commando raid to seize him. However, the raid is deemed = too=20 risky, and another letter is sent to the Qatari government = instead. One=20 person at the meeting later states, =E2=80=9CIf we had gone in and = nabbed this=20 guy, or just cut his head off, the Qatari government would not = have=20 complained a bit. Everyone around the table for their own reasons = refused=20 to go after someone who fundamentally threatened American = interests...=E2=80=9D=20 [Los Angeles Times. 22 December.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Los Angeles = Times,=20 12/22/2002] Around May 1996, Mohammed=E2=80=99s patron, = Abdallah bin Khalid=20 al-Thani, makes sure that Mohammed and four others are given blank = passports and a chance to escape. Qatar=E2=80=99s police chief = later says the=20 other men include Ayman al-Zawahiri and Mohammed Atef, = al-Qaeda=E2=80=99s number=20 two and number three leaders, respectively. [Los Angeles Times. 1 September.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Los Angeles = Times,=20 9/1/2002; ABC News. 7 February.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://web.archive.org/web/20030209235027/http://abcnews.go.com/s= ections/wnt/DailyNews/qatar_alqaeda030207.html"=20 target=3D__newwindow>ABC News, 2/7/2003] Bin Laden twice = visits al-Thani=20 in Qatar. [New York Times. 8 June.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/3427746.htm"=20 target=3D__newwindow>New York Times, 6/8/2002; ABC News. 7 February.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://web.archive.org/web/20030209235027/http://abcnews.go.com/s= ections/wnt/DailyNews/qatar_alqaeda030207.html"=20 target=3D__newwindow>ABC News, 2/7/2003]

People and organizations involved: Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed, Louis=20 J. Freeh, Ramzi=20 Yousef, Mohammed=20 Atef, Osama=20 bin Laden, Ayman=20 al-Zawahiri, Abdallah=20 bin Khalid al-Thani

June 1996: Informant=E2=80=99s Clues Point = to Khalid Shaikh=20 Mohammed

Wali Khan Shah. [Source: Peter=20 Lance]

3D"
Wali
While=20 al-Qaeda operative Jamal al-Fadl gives a treasure trove of useful=20 information on al-Qaeda to US intelligence (see June=20 1996), one person he describes in detail is Wali Khan Amin = Shah. Shah=20 was one of the plotters of the Operation Bojinka plot (see February=20 7, 1995). Al-Fadl reveals that Shah has al-Qaeda ties. Author = Peter=20 Lance notes that US intelligence should have concluded that = Shah=E2=80=99s fellow=20 Operation Bojinka plotter, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, also has = al-Qaeda ties.=20 However, there is no new effort to find Mohammed, and he later = goes on to=20 mastermind the 9/11 attacks. [1000 Years = For Revenge: International Terrorism and the FBI--the Untold Story. = New York, NY: Regan Books.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006054354X/centerforcoop-2= 0"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Lance, 2003, pp. 330-31]

People and organizations involved: al-Qaeda,=20 Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed, Jamal=20 al-Fadl, Wali=20 Khan Amin Shah

Mid-1996-September 11, 2001: Mohammed = Travels World;=20 Involved in Many Al-Qaeda Operations

After fleeing Qatar, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed travels the world = and plans=20 many al-Qaeda operationss. He previously was involved in the 1993 = WTC=20 bombing, and the Operation Bojinka plot. [Time. 20 January.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 href=3D"http://www.time.com/time/asia/covers/1030127/ksm.html"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Time, 1/20/2003] And now, he is = apparently involved=20 in the 1998 US embassy bombings (see August=20 7, 1998), the 2000 USS Cole bombing (see October=20 12, 2000), and other attacks. One US official says, = =E2=80=9CThere is a clear=20 operational link between him and the execution of most, if not = all, of the=20 al-Qaeda plots over the past five years.=E2=80=9D [Los Angeles Times. 22 December.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Los Angeles = Times,=20 12/22/2002] He lives in Prague, Czech Republic, through much = of 1997.=20 [Los Angeles Times. 1 September.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Los Angeles = Times,=20 9/1/2002] By 1999, he is living in Germany and visiting with = the=20 hijackers there. [New York Times. = 22 September.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 href=3D"http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/23/national/23INTE.html"=20 target=3D__newwindow>New York Times, 9/22/2002; New = York Times. 8 June.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=3DF30614FB39590C7= B8CDDAF0894DA404482&n=3DTop%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fY= %2fYousef%2c%20Ramzi%20Ahmed"=20 target=3D__newwindow>New York Times, 6/8/2002] Using 60 = aliases and as=20 many passports, he travels through Europe, Africa, the Persian = Gulf,=20 Southeast Asia and South America, personally setting up al-Qaeda = cells.=20 [Los Angeles Times. 22 December.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Los Angeles = Times,=20 12/22/2002; Time. 20 January.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 href=3D"http://www.time.com/time/asia/covers/1030127/ksm.html"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Time, 1/20/2003]

People and organizations involved: USS=20 Cole, Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed, al-Qaeda

Early 1998: Prosecutors Turn Down Deal That = Could=20 Reveal Bojinka Third Plot

Abdul Hakim Murad, a conspirator in the 1995 Bojinka plot with = Ramzi=20 Yousef, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and others, was convicted in 1996 = of his=20 role in the Bojinka plot (see January=20 6, 1995). He is about to be sentenced for that crime. He = offers to=20 cooperate with federal prosecutors in return for a reduction in = his=20 sentence, but prosecutors turn down his offer. Dietrich Snell, the = prosecutor who convicted Murad, will say after 9/11 that he does = not=20 remember any such offer. But court papers and others familiar with = the=20 case later confirm that Murad does offer to cooperate at this = time. Snell=20 will claim he only remembers hearing that Murad had described an = intention=20 to hijack a plane and fly it into CIA headquarters. However, in = 1995 Murad=20 had confessed to Philippine investigators that this would have = been only=20 one part of a larger plot to crash a number of airplanes into = prominent US=20 buildings, including the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a = plot that=20 Khalid Shaikh Mohammed later will adjust and turn into the 9/11 = plot (see=20 January=20 20, 1995) (see February-April=20 1995). While Philippine investigators claim this information = was=20 passed on to US intelligence, it=E2=80=99s not clear just which US = officials may=20 have learned this information and what they did with it, if = anything. [New York Daily News. = 25 September.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">New York = Daily News,=20 9/25/2001] Murad is sentenced in May 1998 and given life in = prison=20 plus 60 years. [Albany = Times-Union. 22 September.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=3D57896&am= p;category=3DFRONTPG&BCCode=3DHOME&newsdate=3D9/22/2002"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Albany Times-Union, 9/22/2002] After = 9/11, Snell=20 will go on to become Senior Counsel and a team leader for the 9/11 = Commission. Author Peter Lance later calls Snell =E2=80=9Cone of = the fixers, hired=20 early on to sanitize the Commission=E2=80=99s final = report.=E2=80=9D Lance says Snell=20 ignored evidence presented to the Commission that shows direct = ties=20 between the Bojinka plot and 9/11, and in so doing covers up = Snell=E2=80=99s own=20 role in the failure to make more use of evidence learned from = Murad and=20 other Bojinka plotters. [FrontPage Magazine. 27 January.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=3D16795" = target=3D__newwindow>FrontPage Magazine, 1/27/2005]

People and organizations involved: Pentagon,=20 Operation=20 Bojinka, 9/11=20 Congressional Inquiry, Abdul=20 Hakim Murad, Dietrich=20 Snell, Ramzi=20 Yousef, Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed, World=20 Trade Center

Early 1998: CIA Ignores Ex-Agent=E2=80=99s = Warning 9/11 Mastermind=20 Is =E2=80=98Going to Hijack Some Planes,=E2=80=99 Visiting Germany =

Robert Baer. [Source: Publicity=20 photo]

3D"
Robert
in December 1997, CIA agent = Robert Baer,=20 newly retired from the CIA and working as a terrorism consultant, = meets a=20 former police chief from the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar. He = learns that=20 Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was being sheltered by then Qatari Interior = Minister Abdallah bin Khalid al-Thani in 1996 (see January-May=20 1996). However, the ex-police chief knows other details, based = on what=20 Qatari police and intelligence learned when Mohammed was in the = country.=20 Mohammed was leading an al-Qaeda cell in Qatar together with = Shawqui=20 Islambuli, the brother of the Egyptian who had killed Anwar Sadat. = They=20 also were linked to bomber Ramzi Yousef. But what worries the = former=20 police chief is that Mohammed and Islambuli are experts in = hijacking=20 commercial planes. He tells Baer that Mohammed =E2=80=9Cis going = to hijack some=20 planes.=E2=80=9D Further, he is told that Mohammed has moved to = the Czech=20 Republic, and has also travelled to Germany to meet bin Laden = associates=20 there. In early 1998 Baer sends this information to a friend in = the CIA=20 Counterterrorist Center, who forwards the information to his = superiors.=20 Baer doesn=E2=80=99t hear back. He says, =E2=80=9CThere was no = interest.=E2=80=9D [United Press = International. 30 September.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=3D20020930-052952-9407r"=20 target=3D__newwindow>United Press International, 9/30/2002; Vanity Fair. February.')" = style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Vanity = Fair,=20 2/2002; See No = Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA\'s War on = Terrorism. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/140004684X/centerforcoop-2= 0"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Baer, 2002, pp. 270-71] Baer also tries = to interest=20 reporter Daniel Pearl in a story about Mohammed before 9/11, but = Pearl is=20 still working on it when he is kidnapped and later murdered in = early 2002.=20 [United Press International. 10 April.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040409-012600-9218r.htm= "=20 target=3D__newwindow>United Press International, 4/10/2004] = Baer=E2=80=99s=20 source later disappears, presumably kidnapped in Qatar. It has = been=20 speculated that the CIA turned on the source to protect its = relationship=20 with the Qatari government. [Breakdown: = How America\'s Intelligence Failures Led to September 11. = Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0895261480/centerforcoop-2= 0"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Gertz, 2002, pp. 55-58] It appears bin = Laden visits=20 al-Thani in Qatar between the years 1996 and 2000. [ABC News. 7 February.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://web.archive.org/web/20030209235027/http://abcnews.go.com/s= ections/wnt/DailyNews/qatar_alqaeda030207.html"=20 target=3D__newwindow>ABC News, 2/7/2003] Al-Thani continues to = support=20 al-Qaeda, providing Qatari passports and more than $1 million in = funds to=20 al-Qaeda. Even after 9/11, Mohammed is provided shelter in Qatar = for two=20 weeks in late 2001. [New York Times. 6 February.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/06/international/middleeast/06QAED= .html?pagewanted=3Dall&position=3Dtop"=20 target=3D__newwindow>New York Times, 2/6/2003] Yet the US = still has not=20 frozen al-Thani=E2=80=99s assets or taken other action.

People and organizations involved: Qatar,=20 Counterterrorist=20 Center, Shawqui=20 Islambuli, Ramzi=20 Yousef, Anwar=20 Sadat, Daniel=20 Pearl, Osama=20 bin Laden, Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed, Robert=20 Baer, al-Qaeda,=20 Abdallah=20 bin Khalid al-Thani, Central=20 Intelligence Agency, Persian=20 Gulf

January 8, 1998: Mohammed Revealed as Major = Al-Qaeda=20 Operative at Yousef Sentencing

FBI reward notice for Khalid Shaikh = Mohammed.=20 [Source: FBI]

Islamic=20 militant Ramzi Yousef is sentenced to 240 years for his role in = the 1993=20 WTC bombing. At the same time, prosecutors unseal an indictment = against=20 Khalid Shaikh Mohammed for participating with Yousef in the 1995 = Operation=20 Bojinka plot (see January=20 6, 1995). In unsealing this, US Attorney Mary Jo White calls = Mohammed=20 a =E2=80=9Cmajor player=E2=80=9D and says he is believed to be a = relative of Yousef. [Washington Post. 9 = January.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Washington = Post,=20 1/9/1998] The US announces a $2 million reward for his capture = in 1998=20 and wanted posters with his picture are distributed. [New York = Times. 5 June.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 href=3D"http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/05/national/05TERR.html"=20 target=3D__newwindow>New York Times, 6/5/2002] This = contradicts the=20 FBI=E2=80=99s claim after 9/11 that they did not realize he was a = major terrorist=20 before 9/11. [Final Report of the Joint = Inquiry into Intelligence Community, Part 1. 107th Cong., 2nd = sess.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 href=3D"http://intelligence.house.gov/jis_findings.htm"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Government Printing Office, 12/11/2002] = For=20 instance, a senior FBI official later says, =E2=80=9CHe was under = everybody=E2=80=99s=20 radar. We don=E2=80=99t know how he did it. We wish we knew. ... = He=E2=80=99s the guy=20 nobody ever heard of.=E2=80=9D [Los Angeles Times. 22 December.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Los Angeles = Times,=20 12/22/2002] However, another official says, =E2=80=9CWe have = been after him=20 for years, and to say that we weren=E2=80=99t is just wrong. We = had identified him=20 as a major al-Qaeda operative before September 11.=E2=80=9D [New York Times. = 22 September.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 href=3D"http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/23/national/23INTE.html"=20 target=3D__newwindow>New York Times, 9/22/2002] Yet strangely, = despite=20 knowing Mohammed is a major al-Qaeda operations planner and = putting out a=20 large reward for his capture at this time, there is no worldwide = public=20 manhunt for him as there successfully was for his nephew Ramzi = Yousef.=20 Mohammed=E2=80=99s name remains obscure and he isn=E2=80=99t even = put on the FBI=E2=80=99s Most=20 Wanted Terrorists list until one month after 9/11. [1000 Years = For Revenge: International Terrorism and the FBI--the Untold Story. = New York, NY: Regan Books.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006054354X/centerforcoop-2= 0"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Lance, 2003, pp. 327-30]

People and organizations involved: Federal=20 Bureau of Investigation, Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed, Ramzi=20 Yousef, Mary=20 Jo White

Late August 1998: CIA Learns That Mohammed = Was=20 Involved in the African Embassy Bombings

A foreign government sends the CIA a list of the names of = individuals=20 who flew into Nairobi before the al-Qaeda attack on the US embassy = there=20 (see August=20 7, 1998). Based on information from another agency, the CIA = recognizes=20 one of the passenger=E2=80=99s names as an alias for Khalid Shaikh = Mohammed. The=20 other agency also describes Mohammed as being close to bin Laden. = This=20 information is given to the FBI and other US intelligence = agencies.=20 However, the 9/11 Commission claims that such information does not = generate an aggressive investigative response. [Final Report, Part Three-Topics-The Attacks Of = September 11, 2001. 108th Cong., 1st sess.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">US = Congress,=20 7/24/2003]

People and organizations involved: Osama=20 bin Laden, Federal=20 Bureau of Investigation, Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed, al-Qaeda,=20 Central=20 Intelligence Agency, 9/11=20 Commission

1999: Mohammed Repeatedly Visits Atta, Others = in=20 al-Qaeda=E2=80=99s Hamburg Cell

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed =E2=80=9Crepeatedly=E2=80=9D visits = Mohamed Atta and others in=20 the Hamburg al-Qaeda cell. [Associated = Press. 24 August.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Associated = Press,=20 8/24/2002] US and German officials say a number of sources = place=20 Mohammed at Atta=E2=80=99s Hamburg apartment, although when he = visits, or who he=20 visits while he is there, is unclear. [Los Angeles Times. 6 June.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://web.archive.org/web/20020616125504/http://meadev.nic.in/in= d-ter/for-med/latimes6june2002.htm"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Los Angeles Times, 6/6/2002; New = York Times. 4 November.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/04/international/europe/04GERM.htm= l"=20 target=3D__newwindow>New York Times, 11/4/2002] However, it = would be=20 logical to conclude that he visits Atta=E2=80=99s housemate Ramzi = Bin al-Shibh,=20 since investigators believe he is the =E2=80=9Ckey contact between = the pilots=E2=80=9D and=20 Mohammed. [Los Angeles Times. 27 = January.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Los Angeles = Times,=20 1/27/2003] Mohammed is living elsewhere in Germany at the = time. [New York Times. = 22 September.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 href=3D"http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/23/national/23INTE.html"=20 target=3D__newwindow>New York Times, 9/22/2002] German = intelligence=20 monitors the apartment in 1999 but apparently does not notice = Mohammed. US=20 investigators have been searching for Mohammed since 1996, but = apparently=20 never tell the Germans what they know about him. [New = York Times. 4 November.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/04/international/europe/04GERM.htm= l"=20 target=3D__newwindow>New York Times, 11/4/2002] Even after = 9/11, German=20 investigators complain that US investigators do not tell them what = they=20 know about Mohammed living in Germany until they read it in the = newspapers=20 in June 2002. [New York = Times. 11 June.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">New York = Times,=20 6/11/2002]

People and organizations involved: Ramzi=20 Bin al-Shibh, Mohamed=20 Atta, Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed

January 5-8, 2000: Al-Qaeda Summit = in Malaysia=20 Monitored by Authorities; Information Passed to US

Attendees of the Malaysian meeting. From = left to=20 right top row: Nawaf Alhazmi, Khalid Almihdhar, Khalid Shaikh = Mohammed,=20 Khallad bin Atash. Left to right bottom row: Hambali, Yazid = Sufaat,=20 Ramzi bin al-Shibh, and Fahad al-Quso. [Source: = FBI]

About=20 a dozen of bin Laden=E2=80=99s trusted followers hold a secret, = =E2=80=9Ctop-level=20 al-Qaeda summit=E2=80=9D in the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. = [CNN. 30 August.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/07/30/seasia.sta= te/"=20 target=3D__newwindow>CNN, 8/30/2002; San Diego = Union-Tribune. 27 September.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/terror/20020927-9999_1n= 27hijack.html"=20 target=3D__newwindow>San Diego Union-Tribune, 9/27/2002] Plans = for the=20 October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole (see October=20 12, 2000) and the 9/11 attacks are discussed. [USA Today. 12 February.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">USA Today,=20 2/12/2002; CNN. 30 August.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/07/30/seasia.sta= te/"=20 target=3D__newwindow>CNN, 8/30/2002] At the request of the = CIA, the=20 Malaysian Secret Service monitors the meeting and then passes the=20 information on to the US. Attendees of the meeting include:=20
Hijackers Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar - The CIA = and FBI=20 will later miss many opportunities to foil the 9/11 plot through = Alhazmi=20 and Almihdhar and the knowledge of their presence at this meeting. = The CIA=20 already knows many details about these two by the time the meeting = begins.=20
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed - A top al-Qaeda leader and the = alleged=20 =E2=80=9Cmastermind=E2=80=9D of the 9/11 attacks. The US has known = Mohammed is an Islamic=20 militant since the exposure of Operation Bojinka in January 1995 = (see January=20 6, 1995), and knows what he looks like. US officials have = stated that=20 they only realized the meeting was important in the summer of = 2001, but=20 the presence of Mohammed should have proved the meeting=E2=80=99s = importance. [Los Angeles Times. 2 = February.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Los Angeles = Times,=20 2/2/2002] Although the possible presence of Mohammed at this = meeting=20 is highly disputed by US officials, one terrorism expert testifies = before=20 the 9/11 Commission in 2003 that he has access to transcripts of=20 Mohammed=E2=80=99s interrogations since his capture, and that = Mohammed admits=20 leading this meeting. [Newsweek. 9 July.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://72.14.207.104/search?q=3Dcache:kzdNNB1RpKEJ:nanotica.com/h= tm/1849.html+%22Terror+Tort+Reform%22&hl=3Den&gl=3Dus&ct=3Dcl= nk&cd=3D8&client=3Dfirefox-a"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Newsweek, 7/9/2003; New York Post. 10 = July.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">New York = Post,=20 7/10/2003] Many media reports identify him there as well [Independent. 6 June.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article130507.ece"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Independent, 6/6/2002; CNN. 30 August.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/07/30/seasia.sta= te/"=20 target=3D__newwindow>CNN, 8/30/2002; CNN. 7 November.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/10/29/asia.ji= had.1/"=20 target=3D__newwindow>CNN, 11/7/2002; Canadian = Broadcasting Corporation Fifth Estate. 29 October.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 href=3D"http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/conspiracytheories/index.html"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, = 10/29/2003] (for=20 instance, according to Newsweek, =E2=80=9CMohammed=E2=80=99s = presence would make the=20 intelligence failure of the CIA even greater. It would mean the = agency=20 literally watched as the 9/11 scheme was hatched=E2=80=94and had = photographs of=20 the attack=E2=80=99s mastermind ... doing the plotting.=E2=80=9D = [Newsweek. 9 July.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://72.14.207.104/search?q=3Dcache:kzdNNB1RpKEJ:nanotica.com/h= tm/1849.html+%22Terror+Tort+Reform%22&hl=3Den&gl=3Dus&ct=3Dcl= nk&cd=3D8&client=3Dfirefox-a"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Newsweek, 7/9/2003]
=20 Riduan Isamuddin, an Indonesian militant better known as Hambali. = [BBC. 2003. = =E2=80=9CHambali: \'Asia\'s Bin Laden.\'=E2=80=9D. 15 August.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 href=3D"http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2346225.stm" = target=3D__newwindow>BBC, 8/15/2003] He was the main financier = of=20 Operation Bojinka. [CNN. 30 August.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/07/30/seasia.sta= te/"=20 target=3D__newwindow>CNN, 8/30/2002; CNN. 14 = March.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/03/14/philippines= .yousef.plot/"=20 target=3D__newwindow>CNN, 3/14/2002] Philippine intelligence = officials=20 learned of Hambali=E2=80=99s importance in 1995, but did not track = him down or=20 share information about him. He will be arrested by Thai = authorities in=20 August 2003. [CNN. 2003. = =E2=80=9CAsia\'s Most Wanted in US Hands.=E2=80=9D 14 August.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/08/15/hambali.cap= ture/"=20 target=3D__newwindow>CNN, 8/14/2003; CBS News. 2003. = =E2=80=9CUS Lauds Qaeda Big\'s Arrest.=E2=80=9D 15 August.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/08/15/attack/main568452.shtml= "=20 target=3D__newwindow>CBS News, 8/15/2003]
Yazid = Sufaat, - A=20 Malaysian man who owned the condominium where the meeting was = held. [New York = Times. 31 January.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">New York = Times,=20 1/31/2002; Newsweek. 2 June.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/bulletin/eddesk.nsf/All/710930A347= F9C31DCA256BCD00142568?OpenDocument"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Newsweek, 6/2/2002] A possibility to = expose the=20 9/11 plot through Sufaat=E2=80=99s presence at this meeting is = later missed in=20 September. Sufaat will travel to Afghanistan in June 2001 and be = arrested=20 by Malaysian authorities when he returns to Malaysia in late 2001. = [Australian. 24 = December.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Australian, = 12/24/2002]
Fahad al-Quso - A top al-Qaeda = operative. [Newsweek. 20 September.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()" = href=3D"http://www.msnbc.com/news/631818.asp?cp1=3D1"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Newsweek, 9/20/2001] Al-Quso will be = arrested by=20 Yemeni authorities in December 2000, but the FBI is not given a = chance to=20 interrogate him before 9/11. He will escape from prison in 2003. = [CNN. 2003. =E2=80=9CYemeni = Pair Charged in USS Cole Bombing.=E2=80=9D 15 May.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 href=3D"http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/05/15/cole.bombing.charges/"=20 target=3D__newwindow>CNN, 5/15/2003]
Tawifiq bin = Attash -=20 Better known by his alias =E2=80=9CKhallad.=E2=80=9D Bin Attash, a = =E2=80=9Ctrusted member of bin=20 Laden=E2=80=99s inner circle,=E2=80=9D was in charge of bin = Laden=E2=80=99s bodyguards, and served=20 as bin Laden=E2=80=99s personal intermediary at least for the USS = Cole attack. [Newsweek. 20 September.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()" = href=3D"http://www.msnbc.com/news/631818.asp?cp1=3D1"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Newsweek, 9/20/2001] He is also thought = to be a=20 =E2=80=9Cmastermind=E2=80=9D of that attack. Attash is reportedly = planning to be one of=20 the hijackers, but will be unable to get a US visa. [9/11 = Commission Staff Statement No. 16: Text as submitted to Natl. Commission = on Terrorist Attacks Upon United States.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()" = href=3D"http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5224099/"=20 target=3D__newwindow>9/11 Commission, 6/16/2004] US = intelligence had=20 been aware of his identity as early as 1995 [Joint Inquiry Staff Statement, Part I. = 107th Cong., 2nd sess.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 href=3D"http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2002_hr/091802hill.html"=20 target=3D__newwindow>US Congress, 9/18/2002] A possibility to = expose the=20 9/11 plot through bin Attash=E2=80=99s presence at this meeting is = later missed in=20 January 2001. Bin Attash had been previously arrested in Yemen for = suspected terror ties, but let go. [Contemporary Southeast Asia. 1 December.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return = nd()">Contemporary Southeast=20 Asia, 12/1/2002] He will be captured in Pakistan by the US in = April=20 2003. [New York = Times. 1 May.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/01/international/worldspecial2/01T= ERR.html"=20 target=3D__newwindow>New York Times, 5/1/2003]
Ramzi = Bin=20 al-Shibh - Investigators believe he wanted to be the twentieth = hijacker. His presence at the meeting may not have been realized = until=20 after 9/11, despite the fact that US intelligence had a picture of = him=20 next to bin Attash, and had video footage of him. [Washington Post. 14 July.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=3Darticle&n= ode=3D&contentId=3DA1503-2002Jul13&notFound=3Dtrue"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Washington Post, 7/14/2002; Time. 15 September.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Time, = 9/15/2002; Die Zeit (Hamburg). 1 = October.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 href=3D"http://www.antiwar.com/article.php?articleid=3D2305"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Die Zeit (Hamburg), 10/1/2002; Newsweek. 26 = November.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Newsweek,=20 11/26/2001; CNN. 7 November.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/10/29/asia.ji= had.1/"=20 target=3D__newwindow>CNN, 11/7/2002] German police have credit = card=20 receipts indicating bin al-Shibh is in Malaysia at the same time. = [Los Angeles Times. 1 September.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Los Angeles = Times,=20 9/1/2002] Another account noting he was photographed at the = meeting=20 further notes that he entered and left Thailand three times in the = first=20 three weeks of January 2000. [Los Angeles = Times. 17 October.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-101701probe,1,5= 057995.story"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Los Angeles Times, 10/17/2001] Anonymous = Malaysian=20 officials claim he is there, but US officials deny it. [Associated = Press. 20 September.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Associated = Press,=20 9/20/2002] One account says he is recognized at the time of = the=20 meeting, which makes it hard to understand why he is not tracked = back to=20 Germany and the Hamburg cell with Mohamed Atta and other = hijackers. [Der Spiegel = (Hamburg). 1 October.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Der Spiegel = (Hamburg),=20 10/1/2002] Another opportunity to expose the 9/11 plot through = bin=20 al-Shibh=E2=80=99s presence at this meeting will be missed in = June. It appears bin=20 al-Shibh and Almihdhar are directly involved in the attack on the = USS Cole=20 in October 2000 [Newsweek. 4 September.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()" = href=3D"http://www.msnbc.com/news/801470.asp"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Newsweek, 9/4/2002; Washington Post. 14 July.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=3Darticle&n= ode=3D&contentId=3DA1503-2002Jul13&notFound=3Dtrue"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Washington Post, 7/14/2002; Guardian. 15 October.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4277367,00.html"= =20 target=3D__newwindow>Guardian, 10/15/2001] , so better = surveillance or=20 follow-up from this meeting could have prevented that attack as = well.=20
Ahmad Hikmat Shakir - An al-Qaeda agent of Iraqi = nationality,=20 may have attended this meeting, according to some documents [Newsweek. 7 October.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Newsweek,=20 10/7/2002; Australian. 24 = December.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Australian, = 12/24/2002] , but his presence at the meeting is uncertain. = [Associated Press. 2002. = =E2=80=9CUS: Top al-Qaeda Operative Recently in Baghdad.=E2=80=9D 2 = October.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Associated = Press,=20 10/2/2002] After 9/11, he will be linked to the 1993 World = Trade=20 Center bombing and 1995 Bojinka plot. Jordan will arrest him and = let him=20 go after the US says they don=E2=80=99t want to take custody of = him (see September=20 17, 2001).
Salem Alhazmi - He is possibly at the = meeting,=20 although very few accounts mention it. [Australian. 24 = December.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Australian, = 12/24/2002] US intelligence intercepts from before the meeting = indicate that he had plans to attend the meeting. [Report Of The Joint Inquiry Into The Terrorist = Attacks Of September 11, 2001. 108th Cong., 1st sess.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">US = Congress,=20 7/24/2003]
Abu Bara al Taizi - A Yemeni al-Qaeda = agent, is=20 also said to attend. He is reportedly meant to be one of the = hijackers,=20 but will be unable to enter the US due to greater scrutiny for = Yemenis.=20 [9/11 = Commission Staff Statement No. 16: Text as submitted to Natl. Commission = on Terrorist Attacks Upon United States.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()" = href=3D"http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5224099/"=20 target=3D__newwindow>9/11 Commission, 6/16/2004] =
More? -=20 Unnamed members of the Egyptian-based Islamic Jihad are also known = to have=20 been at the meeting. [Cox News Service. 21 October.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Cox News = Service,=20 10/21/2001] (The Islamic Jihad had merged with al-Qaeda in = February=20 1998. [ABC News. 17 November.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/strike_atef011116.= html"=20 target=3D__newwindow>ABC News, 11/17/2001]

People and organizations involved: Nawaf=20 Alhazmi, al-Qaeda,=20 Ramzi=20 Bin al-Shibh, Salem=20 Alhazmi, Fahad=20 al-Quso, Malaysian=20 Secret Service, Federal=20 Bureau of Investigation, Central=20 Intelligence Agency, Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed, Nurjaman=20 Riduan Isamuddin, Yazid=20 Sufaat, Mohamed=20 Atta, Ahmad=20 Hikmat Shakir, Khalid=20 Almihdhar, Abu=20 Bara al Taizi, Nurjaman=20 Riduan Isamuddin, Egyptian=20 Islamic Jihad

April 24, 2000: Mohammed and Other = Al-Qaeda Put=20 on New Domestic =E2=80=99No-Fly=E2=80=99 List

TIPOFF is a US no-fly list of individuals who should be = detained if=20 they attempt to leave or enter the US. There are about 60,000 = names on=20 this list by 9/11 (see December=20 11, 1999). Apparently there had been no prohibition of travel = inside=20 the US, but on this day a FAA security directive puts six names on = a newly=20 created domestic no-fly list. All six are said to be associates of = bomber=20 Ramzi Yousef, including his uncle, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. On = August 28,=20 2001, six more names will be added to this list. Apparently all 12 = names=20 are associated with al-Qaeda or other Islamic extremist groups. = 9/11=20 Commissioner Bob Kerrey will later note the discrepancy of the = 60,000-name=20 list with the 12-name list and comment, =E2=80=9Cseems to me, = particularly with=20 what was going on at the time, that some effort would have been = made to=20 make=E2=80=94to produce a larger list than [only 12 = names].=E2=80=9D [Public Hearing.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.9-11commission.gov/archive/hearing7/9-11Commission_Hea= ring_2004-01-27.htm"=20 target=3D__newwindow>9/11 Commission, 1/27/2004] On the day of = 9/11, two=20 of the 9/11 hijackers will be on the 60,000-name TIPOFF list but = not the=20 12-name domestic list, so airport security does not know to stop = them from=20 boarding the planes they hijack that day (see August=20 23, 2001).

People and organizations involved: Bob=20 Kerrey, TIPOFF,=20 Federal=20 Aviation Administration, Ramzi=20 Yousef, Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed

Summer 2001: NSA Fails to Share = Intercepted=20 Information About Calls Between Atta and Mohammed

Around this time, the NSA intercepts telephone conversations = between=20 Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Mohamed Atta, but apparently does not = share the=20 information with any other agencies. The FBI has a $2 million = reward for=20 Mohammed at the time, while Atta is in charge of operations inside = the US.=20 [Knight Ridder. 6 June.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://web.archive.org/web/20020806083614/http://www.bayarea.com/= mld/bayarea/3416632.htm"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Knight Ridder, 6/6/2002; Independent. 6 June.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article130507.ece"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Independent, 6/6/2002] The NSA either = fails to=20 translate these messages in a timely fashion or fails to = understand the=20 significance of what was translated. [Knight Ridder. 6 June.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://web.archive.org/web/20020806083614/http://www.bayarea.com/= mld/bayarea/3416632.htm"=20 target=3D__newwindow>Knight Ridder, 6/6/2002]

People and organizations involved: Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed, Mohamed=20 Atta, National=20 Security Agency, Federal=20 Bureau of Investigation

June 12, 2001: CIA Learns Khalid Shaikh = Mohammed Is=20 Sending Operatives to US to Meet Up With Operatives Already Living = There=20

A CIA report says that a man named =E2=80=9CKhaled=E2=80=9D is = actively recruiting=20 people to travel to various countries, including the US, to stage = attacks.=20 CIA headquarters presume from the details of this report that = Khaled is=20 Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. On July 11, the individual source for this = report=20 is shown a series of photographs and identifies Mohammed as the = person he=20 called =E2=80=9CKhaled.=E2=80=9D [Final = Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United = States.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://web.archive.org/web/20041020144854/http://www.decloah.com/= mirrors/9-11/911_Report.txt"=20 target=3D__newwindow>9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004; USA = Today. 12 December.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2002-12-11-intell-panel-r= eport_x.htm"=20 target=3D__newwindow>USA Today, 12/12/2002] This report also = reveals=20 that
=20 al-Qaeda operatives heading to the US would be =E2=80=9Cexpected = to establish=20 contact with colleagues already living there.=E2=80=9D
=20 Mohammed himself had traveled to the US frequently, and as = recently as May=20 2001.
He=20 is a relative of bomber Ramzi Yousef.
He=20 appears to be one of bin Laden=E2=80=99s most trusted leaders. =
He=20 routinely tells others that he can arrange their entry into the US = as=20 well. However, the CIA doesn=E2=80=99t find this report credible = because they=20 think it is unlikely that he would come to the US. Nevertheless, = they=20 consider it worth pursuing. One agent replies, =E2=80=9CIf it is = KSM, we have both=20 a significant threat and an opportunity to pick him up.=E2=80=9D = The CIA=20 disseminates the report to all other US intelligence agencies, = military=20 commanders, and parts of the Treasury and Justice Departments. The = 9/11=20 Congressional Inquiry will later request that the CIA inform them = how CIA=20 agents and other agencies reacted to this information, but the CIA = does=20 not respond to this. [Final Report, Part Three-Topics-The Attacks Of = September 11, 2001. 108th Cong., 1st sess.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">US = Congress,=20 7/24/2003] On July 23, 2001, the US consulate in Jeddah, Saudi = Arabia=20 will give Mohammed a US visa (he uses an alias but his actual = photo=20 appears on his application) (see July=20 23, 2001). Also, during this summer and as late as September = 10, 2001,=20 the NSA will intercept phone calls between Mohammed and Mohamed = Atta, but=20 the NSA will not share this information with any other agencies = (see Summer=20 2001).

People and organizations involved: US=20 Consulate, Jedda, Saudi Arabia Office, US=20 Department of the Treasury, Ramzi=20 Yousef, Osama=20 bin Laden, US=20 Department of Justice, Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed, Central=20 Intelligence Agency

Between July 9 and July 16, 2001: Atta = and bin=20 al-Shibh Discuss Targeting a Nuclear Plant

Indian Point nuclear power plant. = [Source: New=20 York Power Authority]

According=20 to the 9/11 Commission, during their meeting in Spain where they = discuss=20 the looming attacks (see July=20 8-19, 2001), Mohamed Atta tells Ramzi Bin al-Shibh he has = considered=20 targeting a nuclear facility he saw during familiarization flights = near=20 New York. This is presumably Indian Point, which is about 30 miles = north=20 of NYC. [New York Times. 4 April.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()" = href=3D"http://nci.org/02/04f/04-04.htm"=20 target=3D__newwindow>New York Times, 4/4/2002] Flight 11, = which Atta=20 pilots on 9/11, passes directly over Indian Point minutes before = hitting=20 the WTC (see 8:39=20 a.m.). However, =E2=80=9Cthe other pilots did not like the = idea. They thought=20 a nuclear target would be difficult because the airspace around it = was=20 restricted, making reconnaissance flights impossible and = increasing the=20 likelihood that any plane would be shot down before impact. ... = Nor would=20 a nuclear facility have particular symbolic value.=E2=80=9D [Final = Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United = States.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://web.archive.org/web/20041020144854/http://www.decloah.com/= mirrors/9-11/911_Report.txt"=20 target=3D__newwindow>9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 245] = Also, Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed, the 9/11 =E2=80=9Cmastermind,=E2=80=9D supposedly = later tells his US=20 interrogators he originally planned ten hijackings, with the = additional=20 targets including nuclear power plants. [Final = Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United = States.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://web.archive.org/web/20041020144854/http://www.decloah.com/= mirrors/9-11/911_Report.txt"=20 target=3D__newwindow>9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 154] In = 2002,=20 Mohammed will reportedly tell an Al Jazeera reporter he=E2=80=99d = thought of=20 hitting a couple of nuclear facilities on 9/11, but decided not = to, =E2=80=9Cfor=20 fear it would go out of control.=E2=80=9D(see April,=20 June, or August 2002) Although the 9/11 hijackers had = dismissed the=20 idea, in January 2002 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will send = a memo=20 to power plants around the US, based upon information from the = FBI,=20 warning that al-Qaeda has planned a second airline attack, which = would=20 involve flying a commercial aircraft into a nuclear plant. [CNN. 2002. =E2=80=9CNRC = Memo Warns Of Attacks On Nuclear Plants.=E2=80=9D 31 January.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 href=3D"http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/01/31/ret.terror.threats/" = target=3D__newwindow>CNN, 1/31/2002] Also that month, in his = State of=20 the Union speech, President Bush will say US soldiers in = Afghanistan have=20 discovered diagrams of American nuclear power plants there. [Weekly Compilation of = Presidential Documents 38, no. 5. 4 February: 133-139.')"=20 onmouseout=3D"return nd()"=20 = href=3D"http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020129-11.html"= =20 target=3D__newwindow>US President, 2/4/2002]

People and organizations involved: Mohamed=20 Atta, Ramzi=20 Bin al-Shibh

July 23, 2001: Mohammed Given US Visa =

The photograph of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed = on his=20 2001 US visa application. [Source: 9/11 = Commission]

Khalid=20 Shaikh Mohammed is granted a visa to enter the US, despite being = under a=20 federal terrorism indictment, having a $2 million reward on his = head, and=20 being one of only a dozen people in the world on a US domestic = no-fly list=20 (see April=20 24, 2000). There is no evidence that he actually uses his visa = to=20 travel to the US. Investigators speculate that he may have = considered a=20 trip to shepherd some aspect of the 9/11 plot. He applied for the = visa=20 using a Saudi passport and an alias (Abdulrahman al Ghamdi), but = the photo=20 he submitted is really of him. He uses the new, controversial Visa = Express=20 program that allows Saudis to apply for US visas without having to = appear=20 in person at any point during the application process (see May=20 2001). [Los Angeles = Times. 27 January.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Los Angeles = Times,=20 1/27/2004] Just a month earlier, the CIA passed a warning to = all US=20 intelligence agencies, certain military commanders, and parts of = the=20 Justice and Treasury Departments saying that Mohammed may be = attempting to=20 enter the US (see June=20 12, 2001). However, either this warning isn=E2=80=99t given to = immigration=20 officials or else they fail to notice his application. [Los Angeles = Times. 27 January.')"=20 style=3D"CURSOR: crosshair" onmouseout=3D"return nd()">Los Angeles = Times,=20 1/27/2004]