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Ahmed al-Ghamdi

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Ahmed al-Ghamdi (b. July 2, 1979) was a hijacker on United Airlines Flight 175. The son of Ibrahim Almussallam Alghamdi, Ahmed came from Baljurshi in Baha Province of Saudi Arabia, which is the same town that Hamza al-Ghamdi and Ahmed al-Haznawi were from.[1][2]

A local official with the Red Crescent Society told the Boston Globe that Ahmed may have used a connection to the charity, to get support for his journey to jihad. The official said that it was "never clear if that would take Ahmed to Chechnya or to Afghanistan - it was all kept secret."[3] Ahmed's mother says that he called her two months prior to the attacks, and that he had visited during the previous Ramadan (December 2000).[2]

Timeline

2000

  • August 21, 2000 - Saudi passport issued to al-Ghamdi.
  • September 3 - Ahmed al Ghamdi, a Saudi, applied for and received a two-year B-1/B-2 (tourist/business) visa in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He presented a new Saudi passport only 13 days old.[4]

2001

  • May 2 - Arrived at Dulles Airport, with Majed Moqed, on a flight from London originating in Dubai.[5] Both were admitted as tourists for six months by different immigration inspectors. Ghamdi’s Customs declaration indicated that he had more than $10,000 with him upon entry, but the Customs inspector who processed him did not fill out the required additional electronic forms when money in excess of $10,000 is brought into the United States.[4]
  • May - Al Ghamdi and Moqed moved into an apartment with Nawaf al-Hazmi and Hani Hanjour.[6]
  • August - Ahmed al Ghamdi and Moqed obtained USA identification cards.[4]
  • August 2 - Ahmed al Ghamdi, Moqed, Salem al Hazmi, and Omari acquired Virginia identification cards, with help of Mihdhar and Hanjour. All of these identifications were obtained fraudulently.[4]

Video

On September 19, 2008, As Sahab released a new video which includes approximately ten minutes of footage showing 9/11 hijacker Ahmed al-Ghamdi reciting his last will and testament. Ghamdi was one of the muscle hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 175

In all, this video is nearly 1 1/2 hours. There is substantial footage of Ayman al-Zawahiri, Bin Laden's deputy. There also are a few clips of Bin Laden speaking about Palestine, which he says is a "great opportunity for mujahadeen who have been fighting in Iraq," speaking as though Al Qaeda has been doing well in Iraq lately (that is actually not the case, with foreign mujahadeen leaving in large numbers). The video also includes some old clips of Abdullah Azzam, who along with Bin Laden, established the Maktab al-Khidamat (Services Office) in 1984 for supporting the mujahadeen during the Soviet war in Afghanistan.

The video was released several days late, after technical problems with online forums and sites that Al Qaeda uses. This may mean that the organization Al Qaeda had previously with creating and disseminating videos and other material has been disrupted in some way. Adam Gadahn, a U.S. born Al Qaeda operative, has played a key role in the organizations media operations. There are unconfirmed reports that he was killed in a missile strike in North Waziristan, located in Pakistan along the Afghanistan border.

References

  1. "Some Light Shed On Saudi Suspects; Many Raised in Area of Religious Dissent", The Washington Post (September 25, 2001). 
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Another Saudi 'hijacker' turns up in Tunis", Arab News (October 1, 2001). 
  3. "Driving a Wedge - Bin Laden, the US and Saudi Arabia (Part 1)", The Boston Globe (March 3, 2002). 
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Staff Monograph on 9/11 and Terrorist Travel". 9/11 Commission (2004).
  5. http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Notes.htm
  6. http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Notes.htm
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