Ahmed al-Nami
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Ahmed al-Nami
Ahmed al-Nami was a hijacker on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville. Al-Nami came from Asir, which is a desert, mountainous area located in the southwestern portion of Saudi Arabia.[1] Al-Nami was the eldest son in his family. His father worked for the Saudi government, in the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.[2]
Al Nami went on a visit to Mecca, and then disappeared.[3] He had not been in contact with his family since December 2000. Al-Nami became very religious, 2 1/2 years prior to 9/11. Al Nami studied Islamic Law at King Khaled University, and led prayer at a mosque in Abha (the capital of Asir).[4]
The Shehri brothers, along with Ahmed al-Nami and Saeed al-Ghamdi, were all from the same area in Saudi Arabia. In Spring 2000, they all swore an oath to commit themselves to jihad at the Seqely Mosque in Khamis Mushayt where the al-Shehri family were members.[5]
Timeline
2000
- October 28 - Ahmed al Nami applied for and received a two-year B-1/B-2 (tourist/business) visa in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Nami’s application was incomplete. He listed his occupations as “student” but did not provide a complete address for his school. He listed his intending address in the United States as “in Los Angeles.” On his application, Nami indicated that “My friend Moshabab” would be traveling with him.[6]
2001
- April 21 - Ahmed al Nami acquired a new Saudi passport, #C505363, replacing the one (#C115007) he had used to acquire a visa on October 28, 2000, in Jeddah, a visa he never used. He may have acquired this new passport because there was evidence of travel to Afghanistan in his previous one.[6]
- April 23 - Al-Nami applied for and received a B-1/B-2 (tourist/business) visa in Jeddah with his new passport. There is evidence from a handwritten note on his application that Nami was interviewed briefly, either by a consular officer or by a consular staff member, to clarify an entry on his application. The words “My friend Mosh” are crossed out under the question asking the “names and relationships of people traveling with you.” This is probably a reference to Mushabib al Hamlan, another potential 9/11 hijacker who applied for a visa with Nami on October 28, 2000. Nami also crossed out a box checked “no” under the question asking if he had ever applied for a U.S. visa previously, changing his answer to “yes.” It is not clear what prompted this change—possibly his brief interaction with a consular official—but it is accurate. However, he failed to complete his response and state where and when he had previously applied for a U.S. visa. Doing so would have revealed that he was applying for a new visa long before the expiration of the two-year visa he acquired the previous October. Nami’s action could have raised questions, had it been coupled with the fact that he was applying with a new passport. But it would not have been noticed by the consular officer who issued the visa, because Saudis were not required to fill in their applications fully, Saudis were rarely interviewed, and State’s name check system did not automatically call up prior visa issuances; it called up only prior refusals.[6]
- May 28 - Hamza al-Ghamdi, Mohand al-Shehri and Ahmed al-Nami, all Saudis, arrived together in Miami from Dubai.[7] They were all admitted as tourists for six months by different primary inspectors.[6]
- June 29 - Ahmed al Nami obtained a Florida state identification card.[6]
- August - Lived in a condo at Delray Racquet Club in Delray Beach, Florida, with Ahmed al-Haznawi.[8]
At some point after al-Nami arrived in the U.S., he called his father, saying he was in Mecca looking for a job.[2]
Family reaction
A year after first seeing his son's photograph in the newspapers, Mr Al-Nami still refuses to believe that he was involved, "If he had so much mercy in his heart for animals how could he have been involved in killing thousands of people?" he asked. "He was the kind of boy who would come home on cold winter nights without his coat because he had given it to a poor person he had seen outside the mosque."[2]
Documents
Ahmed al Nami’s April 23, 2001 visa application |
Page 2 of Nami’s visa application |
References
- ↑ "Some Light Shed On Saudi Suspects; Many Raised in Area of Religious Dissent", The Washington Post, September 25, 2001.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lamb, Christina. "The six sons of Asir No one seems able to explain how six 'ordinary guys' from the same area became suicide hijackers", The Sunday Telegraph, September 15, 2002.
- ↑ "Forty Lives, One Destiny: Fighting Back in the Face of Terror", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 28, 2001.
- ↑ "Some Light Shed On Saudi Suspects; Many Raised in Area of Religious Dissent", The Washington Post, September 25, 2001.
- ↑ Sageman, Marc (2004). Understanding Terror Networks. University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 50.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Staff Monograph on 9/11 and Terrorist Travel. 9/11 Commission (2004).
- ↑ http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Notes.htm
- ↑ Tobin, Thomas C.. "Florida: terror's launching pad", St. Petersburg Times, September 1, 2002.
External links
- Sennott, Charles M.. "Before oath to jihad, drifting and boredom", Boston Globe, March 3, 2002.
- Understanding Terror Networks