Profiles of 9/11 Saudi Hijackers Revealed
(WASHINGTON DC) September 11, 2002
The following has been compiled form articles in Saudi newspapers, and hijacker’s friends.
1- Wail (Wael) Mohamed Al-Shehri: 25, a physical education teacher at an elementary school in the Kamis Mushayat airbase. He was born in Annams city and lived in Um Saraar neighborhood in Khamis Mushayet city, which is part of Aseer region. Wael frequented Al-Seqley mosque in the city where he was recruited into Ben Laden Saudi network. He left Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan via Pakistan approximately in March 2000 with his younger brother Waleed and Ahmed AlNami. A group of Saudi youth left from that mosque to join what they presumed Chechen fighters against Russian forces. In Afghanistan he trained in Al-Farooq camp in Khandhar on hand-to-hand combat, bomb making, and poison mixing. Osama Ben Laden used the camp to train his followers.
After 9 month training in Afghanistan he returned to Saudi Arabia in December 2000, then to the United States. A friend of Wael suggested on September 9th that a big surprise would emanate from Aseer region. On the 11th he proclaimed that Wael took part in the attack. He made the comments on the popular chat board www.alsaha.com, which quickly removed the comments. The Site is believed to be used by Saudi interior ministry to monitor public opinion. The surprise was that most of the 9/11 attackers came from Aseer region.
2- Wael graduated from Abha teacher’s college in1999. He was religious and spent his high school and college years frequenting government-supported religious camps, which are held across the nation. Mohamed AlShehri, the father of Wael and Waleed, a wealthy businessman was a friend of Mohamed Ben Laden, Osama’s father. He was on American Airlines #11 that crashed into North Tower of World Trade Center.
3- Waleed Al-Shehri: 21, he is the younger brother of Wael. He is from the southern city of Khamis Mushayet. He was the least religious of the two brothers, but joined his older brother in their travel to Afghanistan and USA. He is a college dropout from the teachers college in Abha, where his brother attended. He also frequented Al-Seqley mosque. Several of his brothers work in the Saudi military including one who is a military pilot. His uncle Major General Faez Al-Shehri is the director of logistics for Saudi Armed forces. He was on American Airlines #11 that crashed into North Tower of World Trade Center
4- AbdulAziz AbdulRahman AlOmari (AlZahrani) 23, married with one daughter 28 months. He was born in Hawran village at AlMakhawa County in AlBaha region (south west) one of the poorest regions in the country.
He is s a graduate of Imam Mohamed Bin Saud University, Qaseem branch, where he met and befriended several clerics such as Suliman AlAlwan who was mentioned in Osama Ben Laden’s tape. He also studied at the hand of senior official cleric Shaikh Saleh Al-Fawzan.
He left to Afghanistan in December 2000. He was trained in AlFarooq camp in Qandahar and was appointed its religious leader due to his education. During his stay in Afghanistan he joined Taliban forces in their attacks on Afghani towns, according to several of his friends.
Later he was appointed a military trainer at the same camp. He along with several hijackers left to US from Dubai. His nickname in Afghanistan was Abu AlAbbas Al-Janoubi. He was on American Airlines #11 that crashed into North Tower of World Trade Center.
5- Nawaf Al-Hazmi: 25 from Makkah. He left the Kingdom 4 years ago to Afghanistan. He is believed to be part of the recruiting group that attracted dozens of Saudi youths into Ben Laden network and the Chechnya war. He was trained in Afghanistan in AlFarooq camp in Khandhar, a camp used by Osama Ben Laden to train his followers. He was on American Airlines #77 that crashed into the Pentagon.
6- Salem (Salim) AlHazmi: 21 from the holy city of Makka, younger brother of Nawaf. He left with his brother Nawaf March 2000 to Afghanistan. He was on American Airlines #77 that crashed into the Pentagon.
7- Fayez Mohamed AlShehri (aka Fayz Ahmed) was part of an official relief agency. He left the country approximately late 2001 to what his family thought was Chechnya, but he went to Pakistan then to Afghanistan. His last call to his family was in March 2001 from undisclosed location believed to be from the United States. He was on board United Airlines #175 that crashed into South Tower of World Trade Center.
8- Mohned Mohamed AlShehri: 24 from Tanooma 100 km. north of Abha. He graduated from religious high school in Tanooma then joined the Abha branch of the main religious university Imam Mohamed Ben Saud University. Later he transferred to the main campus in Riyadh. It’s believed he was recruited into Ben Laden Saudi network from the university, which is a hotbed of religious activities and exhibitions about Chechnya and Afghanistan. The university mainly graduates religious imams and has 10 campuses around the world including Washington DC and Tokyo. Mohned called his family early March 2001 from undisclosed location to say goodbye. He was ob board United Airlines #175 that crashed into South Tower of World Trade Center.
9- Hamza Saleh AlGhamdi: 21, from the southern city of Beljurashi 25 km. south of AlBaha, the capital of AlBaha region. He graduated from the Koranic high school in Beljurashi city. He left the Kingdom approximately 19 months ago to Pakistan then to Afghanistan. He spent a year there before returning to Saudi Arabia and obtaining US visa to travel to USA. He called his parents in July to ask them for forgiveness and to pry for him. He didn’t indicate his whereabouts to the family. He was on board United Airlines #175 that crashed into South Tower of World Trade Center.
10- Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Haznawi (AlGhamdi) 24, from Beljurashi in AlBaha region. He left the kingdom in March 2000 the returned to the Kingdom December 2000, where he obtained a visa to the United States and met with his family. Ahmad called his mother in August from United States but told his mother he was in Chechnya. He was a student at the religious university Um Alqura in Makka for only two months before he was recruited to join Ben Laden’s network, and dropped out to travel to Khandhar, Afghanistan.), 24, from Beljurashi. He then returned to the kingdom before his travel to USA. He is unmarried, and belongs to the tribe of Ghamid. His father is the imam of a major mosque in Beljurashi. He is believed to be second in command. He was on board United Airlines #93 that crashed in Stony Creek Township.
11- Saeed AlGhamdi: No information is available on him yet. It’s believed that he is from Abha and friend of AlShehri brothers. He was on board United Airlines #93 that crashed in Stony Creek Township.
12- Ahmed Abdullah AlNami: 23 from Abha he left the Kingdom 15 months ago after he was recruited to fight with Chechens to drive Russians out. He was a student the Abha branch of Imam Mohamed Ben Saud University the main religious university in the country. His family received the last call from him in June 2001 at the same time Hamza AlGhamdi called his family. He was imam of the mosque in his district in the southern city of Abha. He was trained in Khandahar, Afghanistan, and was stationed at the Khandahar airport. He traveled to the USA via Dubai. He was on board United Airlines #93 that crashed in Stony Creek Township.
13- Khalid AlMihdar: Believed to be 26 Saudi from Makkah. His family is originally from Yemen. He was on American Airlines #77 that crashed into the Pentagon.
14- Majid Mishaan Moqed (Al-Oufi) AlHarbi : 22, from Madina and a student at King Saud University in the capital Riyadh. The interior ministry shut down his funeral reception held by his family late September 2001. He was on American Airlines #77 that crashed into the Pentagon.
15- Hani Saleh Hasan Hanjour 29, from Taif (the western resort city) was working as a pilot for Emirates Airlines in the United Arab Emirates. His father was a contractor for Saudi Armed forces and died December 28th, 2001. He flew American Airlines #77 that crashed into Pentagon. He was the pilot of American Airlines #77 that crashed into the Pentagon.
16- Satam M. A. Al Suqami 24 from Riyadh. He was a student at King Saud University in Riyadh where he met Majid Moqed. He was on American Airlines #11 that crashed into North Tower of World Trade Center.
Khamis Mushayet city is situated in the southwestern region of Saudi Arabia. It’s part of Aseer region. Khamis Mushyaet contains one of the main Saudi airbases. A lone gunman armed with a machine gun attacked the base August 9, 2000. He killed one Saudi guard and wounded some British workers living in the base. The attacker was a Saudi medical student who was targeting Westerners working in the base. Prince Khalid AlFaysal is the governor of Aseer.
AlShehri tribe is an Arab tribe from southern Saudi Arabia, mostly in Aseer region. They number about ¼ million people.
Alhazmi family is a large family numbering over 5000 people. They live mostly in the Hijaz region, especially in Madina, Makkah and Jeddah. The family is part of Hareb tribal alliance, which includes AlAmri and other families.
AlGhamdi tribe is one of the famous tribes in the Kingdom. It’s concentrated in the southern region of the country. They number in hundreds of thousands of people. The tribe included several branches such as Haznah.
Most if not all the suspects were trained in Khandhar, Afghanistan. Some of their training was shown in the famous Ben Laden videotape that was widely distributed in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia this summer. The tape showed masked men training on variety of military tactics used for assassinations, bombings and other non-conventional military skills. It’s believed that some of the US attackers were shown on the tape.
Most of the attackers were students in government religious schools and universities. The mostly belong to the southern regions of AlBaha and Aseer, two of the most deprived areas in Saudi Arabia. Discrimination against that region is rampant in government allocations and projects.
Ben Laden supporters in the kingdom have been arrested but released quickly because many are relatives of Saudi officials. |
