2001-09-15: FBI FD-302, Interrogation of Anwar Aulaqi

Last week, the Washington Post reported that the FBI "now" believes radical imam Anwar Aulaqi -- who befriended 9/11 hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi -- knowingly aided Al Qaeda. The investigative background for this belief was substantial and isn't exactly new. INTELWIRE has obtained several FBI investigative documents related to Aulaqi, including the document linked below:

9/15/2001: FBI FD-302, Interrogation of Anwar Aulaqi

Labels: 9-11, Anwar-Aulaqi, Bayoumi, Dar-El-Hijra, Hazmi, Hijackers, INTELFILES, Midhar

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

2001-10-03: FBI Communication, PENTBOMB, Omar Al Bayoumi

Last week, the Washington Post reported that the FBI "now" believes radical imam Anwar Aulaqi -- who befriended 9/11 hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi -- knowingly aided Al Qaeda. The investigative background for this belief was substantial and isn't exactly new. INTELWIRE has obtained several FBI investigative documents related to Aulaqi, including the document linked below:

10/3/2001: FBI Communication, PENTBOMB, Omar Al Bayoumi

Labels: 9-11, Anwar-Aulaqi, Bayoumi, Hazmi, Hijackers, INTELFILES, Midhar

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

2001-10-23: FBI Communication, Anwar Aulaqi, Dar El Hijra mosque

Last week, the Washington Post reported that the FBI "now" believes radical imam Anwar Aulaqi -- who befriended 9/11 hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi -- knowingly aided Al Qaeda. The investigative background for this belief was substantial and isn't exactly new. INTELWIRE has obtained several FBI investigative documents related to Aulaqi, including the document linked below:

10/23/2001: FBI Communication, Anwar Aulaqi, Dar El Hijra mosque

Labels: 9-11, Anwar-Aulaqi, Dar-El-Hijra, Hazmi, Hijackers, INTELFILES, Midhar

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

2001-10-03: FBI Status of Investigation, Omar Al Bayoumi

Last week, the Washington Post reported that the FBI "now" believes radical imam Anwar Aulaqi -- who befriended 9/11 hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi -- knowingly aided Al Qaeda. The investigative background for this belief was substantial and isn't exactly new. INTELWIRE has obtained several FBI investigative documents related to Aulaqi, including the document linked below:

10/3/2001: FBI Status of Investigation, Omar Al Bayoumi

Labels: 9-11, Anwar-Aulaqi, Bayoumi, Hazmi, Hijackers, INTELFILES, Midhar

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

2001-09-26: FBI Letterhead Memorandum, Anwar Aulaqi

Last week, the Washington Post reported that the FBI "now" believes radical imam Anwar Aulaqi -- who befriended 9/11 hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi -- knowingly aided Al Qaeda. The investigative background for this belief was substantial and isn't exactly new. INTELWIRE has obtained several FBI investigative documents related to Aulaqi, including the document linked below:

9/26/2001: FBI Letterhead Memorandum, Anwar Aulaqi

Labels: 9-11, Anwar-Aulaqi, Bayoumi, Dar-El-Hijra, Hazmi, Hijackers, INTELFILES, Midhar

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

2002-04-15: FBI Letterhead Memorandum, Omar Al Bayoumi Contacts With Saudi Government

This FBI memo details the phone records of Omar Al Bayoumi, a Saudi citizen who assisted hijackers Khalid Al-Midhar and Nawaf Al-Hazmi in relocating to San Diego in early 2000. Bayoumi helped them find an apartment and pay their rent and introduced them to people in the local community.

Bayoumi also kept in close contact with his apparent employer, the Saudi government. The exact nature of Bayoumi's employment has remained unclear, but his close associates suspected him of being a Saudi intelligence officer.

According to the memo, local mosque members "believed there was always a covert employee of the Saudi Arabian government stationed at the mosque," and that Bayoumi may have been that person.

Bayoumi was "employed by the Saudi government to monitor the activities of Saudi dissidents that resided in the U.S.," the memo states, according to "a prominent Islamic leader in San Diego."

Other FBI interviewees said Bayoumi was "an employee of the Saudi Arabian Government (who) traveled to mosques throughout the world to monitor and observe Saudi citizens for signs of dissident behavior."

Another source said Bayoumi "was connected with a Saudi Arabian company that is equivalent to the Federal Aviation Administration," and said he was paid $5,000 a month to be a student.

The memo below details Bayoumi's phone contacts with the Saudi government over slightly less than two months in 2000, around the time the hijackers arrived in San Diego. Phone records revealed Bayoumi called local Saudi officials, including the consulate in San Diego, 34 times. He called Saudi officials in Washington D.C. 141 times in the same period, according to the memo -- more than twice a day on average.

Calls appear to be directed to the Saudi Cultural Mission, the Saudi Education Mission, the Saudi Embassy in Washington, the Saudi Consulate in San Diego, the Saudi National Guard, and the Saudi Islamic Affairs Department.

Although the notation is unclear due to FBI redactions, it also appears Bayoumi called a U.S. Department of State diplomat.

Extensive portions of the document were redacted by the FBI, including substantial portions of FBI interviews with Saudi government officials who had contact with Bayoumi.

2002-04-15: FBI Letterhead Memorandum, Omar Al Bayoumi Contacts With Saudi Government

Labels: 9-11, Bayoumi, Hazmi, INTELFILES, Midhar, Saudi-Arabia

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

2001-10-03: FBI Communication, associates of Omar Al-Bayoumi

The San Diego field office's investigation of Omar Al-Bayoumi yielded a great deal of data on his time at the Parkwood Apartment complex, where hijackers Al-Midhar and Al-Hazmi moved after arriving in San Diego. Telephone connections put Bayoumi within three degrees of separation of the bin Laden family on one hand and blind Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman on the other, but the FBI's redactions of this document make the number of degrees and their intensity unclear.

Among other things, this document states:

One resident of the complex, linked to al-Bayoumi, was a Saudi citizen who hosted a party for "The Blind Sheikh" Omar Abdel Rahman in October 1992. The same resident was "determined to have known Osama Bin Laden's family in Saudi Arabia and to have telephonic contact with members of Bin Laden's family who are currently in the U.S."

A telephone link also connected a resident with Anwar Aulaqi, then-leader of the Dar El-Hijra mosque in
Falls Church, Virginia and "determined... to have been the spiritual leader for hijacker Nawaf Al-Hazmi."

Al-Midhar and Al-Hazmi briefly lived with Bayoumi before moving into the nearby Parkwood Apartment complex, where Bayoumi also moved.

"According to the apartment manager of the Parkwood Apartments, Al-Bayoumi occasionally paid rent for Al-Hazmi and Al-Mihdhar."

Evidence was found supporting the possibility that Bayoumi was affiliated with the Saudi intelligence service. The FBI redacted details of that evidence.

Another individual who apparently moved into the Parkwood complex may have "succeeded Omar AI-Bayoumi and may be undertaking activities on behalf of the Government of Saudi Arabia."

Bayoumi or one of his associates "has had telephonic contact with Anwar N. Aulaqi," the memo reads. "Aulaqi is the Imam of a mosque in Falls Church, Virginia and is believed to have been the spiritual leader of hijacker Nawaf AI-Hazmi."

Two versions of the document were released. Each has slightly different redactions by the FBI.

FBI Communication, associates of Omar Al-Bayoumi Version 1

FBI Communication, associates of Omar Al-Bayoumi Version 2

Labels: 9-11, Bayoumi, Hazmi, INTELFILES, Midhar, Saudi-Arabia

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

2001-10-08: FBI FD-302, Interrogation of Isamu Dyson, aka Cayson Bin Don

Record of interrogation for an associate of Omar Al-Bayoumi, a Saudi who assisted 9/11 hijackers Khalid Al-Midhar and Nawaf Al-Hazmi in relocating to San Diego. Associates of Bayoumi speculated that he worked for the Saudi intellgience service.

Bayoumi and an associate (Dyson, whose name has been redacted) visited the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles (on Feb. 1, 2000), just before meeting Al-Midhar and Al-Hazmi for the first time (a meeting Bayoumi claimed was accidental).

"Soon a man came out and greeted [Bayoumi]. [The associate] described the man as being in his 40s, approximately 5' 8" in height with a black/grey beard down to his chest, who was wearing a suit. It appeared that [Bayoumi] and the man from the consulate knew each other. It was obvious they had met before." The two met behind closed doors for about 30 minutes.

Bayoumi picked the restaurant where he "accidentally" met the hijackers. Bayoumi told his traveling companion he had dined there before, but he incorrectly took them to a cafe with a similar name (that did not serve food). Eventually they found the right place down the street.

The hijackers entered the restaurant. The associate described his impression of the meeting as "coincidental" and said he could not recall who intiated the conversation. Some of the conversation was in Arabic, which the associate did not understand. Bayoumi offered to help the hijackers "if they liked San Diego." The hijackers drank chai tea.

A party was held at the apartment Bayoumi helped Al-Midhar and Al-Hazmi secure. The party was videotaped, the associate said, although "some attendees were sensitive about not being filmed." (The party is further discussed in subsequent documents.)

Bayoumi "spent a lot of time at Al-Hazmi and Al-Mihdhar's apartment."

2001-10-08: FBI FD-302, Interrogation of Isamu Dyson, aka Cayson Bin Don

Labels: 9-11, Bayoumi, Hazmi, Hijackers, INTELFILES, Midhar, Saudi-Arabia

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

2001-10-21: FBI FD-302, Interrogation of Samir Abdoun

Abdoun was at his apartment with Yazeed al Salmi on September 15, 2001. Salmi told Abdoun "I knew they were going to do something, that is why I got married." According to the document, "AL-SALMI told ABDOUN he was joking, then he left the room."

Salmi had been a housemate to Nawaf Al-Hazmi in July 2000. According to the 9/11 Commission report, Chapter 7, "Salmi purchased $4,000 in traveler's checks at a bank in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. On September 5, Hazmi deposited $1,900 of the traveler's checks into his bank account, after withdrawing the same amount in cash. It is possible that Hazmi was simply cashing the traveler's checks for a friend. We do not know; Salmi claims not to remember the transaction. After 9/11, Salmi reportedly confided to Mohdar Abdullah that he had previously known terrorist pilot Hani Hanjour. After living in the same house with Hazmi for about a month, Salmi moved to the La Mesa apartment shared by Abdullah and others."

2001-10-21: FBI FD-302, Interrogation of Samir Abdoun

Labels: 9-11, Hazmi, Hijackers, INTELFILES

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink