Marwan al-Shehhi

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Marwan al-Shehhi

Marwan al-Shehhi
Marwan al-Shehhi
American Airlines
Flight 11
Mohamed Atta
Abdul Aziz al-Omari
Wail M. al-Shehri
Waleed M. al-Shehri
Satam M. A. al-Suqami
United Airlines
Flight 175
Marwan al-Shehhi
Fayez Banihammad
Ahmed al-Ghamdi
Hamza al-Ghamdi
Mohand al-Shehri
American Airlines
Flight 77
Hani Hanjour
Salem al-Hazmi
Nawaf al-Hazmi
Majed Moqed
Khalid al-Mihdhar
United Airlines
Flight 93
Ziad Jarrah
Saeed al Ghamdi
Ahmed al-Haznawi
Ahmed al-Nami

Marwan al-Shehhi (b. May 9, 1978) was the pilot-trained hijacker on United Airlines Flight 175, which crashed into the World Trade Center's South Tower at 9:03 a.m.

Background

Al-Shehhi (b. May 9, 1978) was born in Ras al Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates.[1] He was the son of Emirate clergyman, Youssef Al-Shehhi, and his mother was from Egypt.[2]

Before leaving for Germany, al-Shehhi was experiencing strife and conflict with his family. After Youssef died, Marwan's mother left to return to Egypt. Marwan remained, living with his half-brother, Mohammed al-Shehhi who became the patriarch of the family and often bullied Marwan.[3] The Mirror in London reported "Two weeks after his half-brother forced Marwan to marry a young woman named Fawzeya, Marwan fled, telling his family, 'You will never see me again.'"[3]

Neighbors in the United Arab Emirates described Marwan as "a quiet, religious boy, but could explode when angered over small things, such as overhearing gossip or seeing a male friend looking at a woman. Dealing with banks was very wrong to him. He thought they were evil."[4]

Germany

Al-Shehhi first came to Bonn, Germany in 1996, on scholarship from the UAE Army to study marine engineering.[5] The UAE Army provided a generous stipend to al-Shehhi, allowing him to indulge and be "relatively better off" than his friends in Germany. Nonetheless, al-Shehhi came from a modest family in a less affluent part of UAE, approximately 70 miles from Dubai.

He started out in a German-language program and preparatory studies (kolleg) at the University of Bonn, using the name Marwan Lekrab.[6] In spring 1997, his father died and al-Shehhi requested leave from school. Though the army declined his request, al-Shehhi left anyway. He came back and retook his course and passed.[7]

As the son of a religiously trained father, al-Shehhi was very religious, well-educated in Islam, and adhered to a strict form of Islam.[8] While in Bonn, al-Shehhi strictly adhered to the tenets of Islam, avoiding alcohol and even restaurants that served alcohol, and not dating women. Al-Shehhi even avoided McDonalds because "he heard they used pork fat to make their french fries."[7]

Hamburg

In the winter of 1997, al-Shehhi made a request at the embassy, "out of the blue" to transfer to Hamburg. Terry McDermott explains this in The Perfect Soldiers:

“ There is little in the investigative record that sheds light on Shehhi's desire to move. Most simply, he could easily have gleaned enough information from the Islamist grapevine to conclude Hamburg offered a more hospitable climate for him. It also would not have been at all far-fetched for him to have met some of the Hamburg men. Omar (Ramzi Binalshibh), for example traveled often to Bonn and attended services at the same mosque Shehhi attended. ”

Al-Shehhi came to Hamburg in early 1998, and was immediately welcomed into the group, with Ramzi Binalshibh and Mohamed Atta.[9] In the summer of 1998, al-Shehhi began living together with Ramzi Binalshibh and Mohamed Atta, in an apartment in Wilhelmsburg.[10] That summer (of 1998), al-Shehhi worked alongside Atta, Binalshibh, and Belfas, at a warehouse, packing computers in crates for shipping.[11]

The group did not stay in Wilhelmsburg for long; The next winter, they moved into an apartment at Marienstrasse 54, near the university in Harburg.[12] Men moved in and out frequently; Al-Shehhi left after a month, and took his own apartment nearby.[12] In 1999, Marwan enrolled at Hamburg's Technical University.[13]

In contrast to Atta, al-Shehhi was described by Shahid Nickels as "dreamy, lumbering, slow, docile, slightly spoiled, an easygoing bon vivant and romantic. He was friendly, always in a good mood, well-educated, humorous, and sometimes a little clumsy... He also had this certain sense of irony, saying stuff never directly, but just hinting it verbally or with his gestures. He never spoke negatively about others and never used a negative word. He never looked stressed.... He radiated a sense of calm".[14]

Afghanistan

Marwan al-Shehhi disappeared from Hamburg in the fall of 1997 and early winter. There is no evidence of his whereabouts, such as cash withdrawals or credit card transactions from September 3 to December 1997, though he withdrew $5,000 in cash before he left.[15]

Timeline

1999

November / early December - Al-Shehhi traveled from Hamburg to Karachi.[16]

2000

  • January 18 - Al-Shehhi was issued a ten-year B-1/B-2 (tourist/business) visa in Dubai. He submitted a new passport with his visa application.[17]
  • February 23 - Al-Shehhi travelled from Hamburg, Germany to Karachi, Pakistan?
  • May 29 - Al-Shehhi arrived in the United States (for the first time) from Brussels, Belgium, arriving at Newark International Airport. He was admitted by immigration authorities as a tourist for six months. However, he was pulled aside by a “roving” Customs inspector who conducted a secondary inspection. He was admitted after this two-minute examination, during which his bags were x-rayed but he was not personally searched and was admitted. The Customs inspector was trained to look for drug couriers, not terrorists.[17]
  • June 23 - Received $1,803.19 in New York via wire transfer from Ramzi Binalshibh. (see Copy of MoneyGram application)
  • July 1 - Al-Shehhi and Mohamed Atta arrived in Venice, Florida, and visited Huffman Aviation "to check out the facility, they stated to my student co-ordinator that they came from a flight school in the area, they were not happy and they were looking for another flight school".[18]
  • July 3 - Atta and al-Shehhi return to Huffman, where they enrolled to take flight lessons. In doing so, they did not violate their immigration status, because they sought to change their status before their allotted time on the visa expired in late November and early December.[17]
  • July 3 - Atta and al-Shehhi rented a room from and stayed with Charlie Voss, a bookkeeper at Huffman Aviation. Voss described them, "al-Shehhi seemed nice, but Atta did not, the Vosses say. The men refused to recognize Mrs. Voss and rarely spoke, ... After a week, the couple asked them to leave."[19]
  • July - Atta and al-Shehhi then rented a house in Nokomis, near Venice, from Stephen Kona.[19]
  • July - By the end of July, he and Atta both took solo flights.[20]
  • August 14 - Al-Shehhi (and Atta) passed the private pilot test at Huffman. Al-Shehhi received a score of 83 (out of 100) in 73 minutes.[17] The mean score for this test is 84.9 and the minimum score for passing is 70.[21]
  • September 15 - Atta and Shehhi applied to change their immigration status from tourist to student, stating their intention to study at Huffman until September 1, 2001.[20] Huffman Aviation’s Student Coordinator assisted them in filling out the student school form I-20M. His I-539 application to change immigration status from tourist (B-1/B-2) to vocational student (M1) was mailed to the INS.[17]
  • September 19 - Atta and Shehhi’s I-539 applications were received by the INS.[17]
  • Late September - Atta and al-Shehhi decided to enroll at Jones Aviation in Sarasota, Florida, about 20 miles north of Venice. According to the instructor at Jones, the two were aggressive, rude, and sometimes even fought with him to take over the controls during their training flights.[20]
  • Early October - They took the Stage I exam for instruments rating at Jones Aviation and failed. Very upset, they said they were in a hurry because jobs awaited them at home. Atta and Shehhi then returned to Huffman.[20]
  • November 6 - Atta and Shehhi took their instrument rating airplane test at Huffman Aviation. Al-Shehhi received a score of 75 in 89 minutes. After passing this test, Atta and Shehhi were able to sign out planes. They did so on a number of occasions, often returning at 2:00 and 3:00 A.M. after logging four or five hours of flying time.[17]
  • December 19 - Atta and Shehhi took their commercial pilot license tests at Huffman Aviation, completing their schooling. Atta received a score of 93 in 116 minutes and Shehhi received a score of 73 in 99 minutes.[17]
  • December - Atta and al-Shehhi then left Huffman Aviation.

2001

  • January - When Atta returned to Florida, Shehhi left for Morocco, traveling to Casablanca in mid-January.[20]
  • January 18 - Al-Shehhi arrived at JFK Airport in New York on Royal Moroccan Air from Casablanca, Morocco. He was admitted as a business visitor, with a stay of four months. (see #Immigration inspection below for more details)[17]
  • January - Shehhi's family, concerned about not having heard from him, reported him missing to the UAE government. The UAE embassy in turn contacted the Hamburg police and a UAE representative tried to find him in Germany, visiting mosques and Shehhi's last address in Hamburg. After learning that his family was looking for him, Shehhi telephoned them on January 20 and said he was still living and studying in Hamburg. The UAE government then told the Hamburg police they could call off the search.[20]
  • April 12 - Shehhi obtained a Florida driver’s license.[17]
  • May 2 - Shehhi returned to the United States, arriving in Miami. He was granted a six-month tourist stay.[17]
  • June 12 - Moved into a rented condo in a gated community in Delray Beach.[22]
  • June 19 - Marwan al Shehhi acquired a duplicate Florida driver’s license.[17]
  • August 9 - Shehhi’s application to change his immigration status from tourist to student was approved through September 1, 2001.[17]

Immigration inspection

January 18. Shehhi arrived at JFK Airport in New York on Royal Moroccan Air from Casablanca. He was screened by a ten-year veteran of immigration inspections at airports and the New York City seaport. When Shehhi came up to the primary inspection counter, the “room was full, with numerous flights coming in at the same time.” The inspector told the 9/11 Commission that she was suspicious that Shehhi might be an intending immigrant, noting from the stamps in his passport that he had left the United States just a week earlier after a six-month stay. She typed into the computer record: “Sub left one week ago after entry in May. Has extension and now returning for a few more months.” She referred Shehhi to a secondary immigration inspection for closer examination.

The secondary inspector told the Commission that Shehhi wore conventional Western clothing, had glasses and facial hair, and “did not look like he had just come from boot camp.” Though he had behaved badly in primary inspection, where his refusal to comply with the inspector’s instruction to go to the secondary inspection room made an escort necessary, once there Shehhi waited until he was called and was not aggressive. About a dozen other visitors were called into secondary inspection in the ten minutes before Shehhi’s referral.

The secondary immigration inspector said that Shehhi had completed the required arrival and customs forms, adding that Shehhi spoke English well during the course of the 10–12 minute interview. “I had the impression Shehhi had money,” the inspector said. “I remember looking at his passport, and it showed he had been in and out of the United States and there were other travel stamps. I remember asking how much money he had - he had a substantial amount, three credit cards and more than $2,000.”

Shehhi also mentioned applying for an extension of stay in the United States to remain until September 8, 2001; after waiting months for an answer and not getting one, he had finally left. To the inspector, “that seemed reasonable.” The inspector told the Commission he was not aware that leaving the country while an immigration benefit application was pending amounted to abandoning that application.

The inspector asked Shehhi the purpose of his trip to the United States, trying to determine if he intended to remain permanently, as the primary inspector suspected. Shehhi told the inspector that he was coming back to the United States for continued flight training, that he had previously attended Huffman Aviation School, and that he was finished with flight school but wanted to log more hours in the sky. The inspector thought Shehhi was seeking private flying lessons, but did not ask Shehhi for supporting documentation.

The inspector did not recall whether Shehhi showed him any papers to verify his previous flight school attendance at Huffman Aviation, nor whether he had asked for such paperwork. “I didn’t have any doubt he did go to school, and I didn’t think he was trying to use his change of status application to remain here in the United States for illegitimate reasons. My belief was that he was coming back to log flight hours with a private instructor.” Under this inspector’s understanding of INS guidelines, a pilot here for a form of continuing education, such as private flight lessons, may be admitted as a business visitor. Although the baseline time at JFK International for business visitors was three months, Shehhi asked for four and got it.

The inspection results tell a somewhat different story; they read: “Was in U.S. gaining flight hours to become a pilot. Admitted for four months.” They thus suggest that the inspector actually may have considered Shehhi a student, not already a pilot. The difference between Shehhi being a student seeking to become a pilot or already was a pilot was not an insignificant nuance. According to immigration law applied at ports of entry, if Shehhi was already a pilot, the B-1 business entry he was granted was arguably legitimate. However, if Shehhi was a full-time student, his admission as a business visitor was erroneous. And because Shehhi, like Atta, had left the country while his application for a change of immigration status was still pending, this application should have been considered “abandoned.” In other words, Shehhi needed to obtain the proper student visa overseas in order to reenter the United States. The facts of this adjudication are simply not clear enough to reach a conclusion about the appropriateness of this entry.

Piloting skills

When he arrive at Huffman in July 2000, al-Shehhi had only a few hours of training, so "he practically did the whole course", taking commercial, multi-engine, IFR lessons.[18] If one takes lessons each day, the courses can be completed in three to six months. Atta and al-Shehhi completed the courses in December 2000.[18] They left with a "commercial, single, multi-engine IFR rating, up to a maximum of 12,000 lb airplane, that means small airplanes, they flew the Seneca II, that's a two engine, six seater airplane".[18]

  • Rudi Dekkers, Huffman Aviation: I have checked today with the instructor and with the examiner who did the flight tests. And they [Atta and al-Shehhi] were average pilots, average pilots.[23]
  • Huffman's owner, Rudi Dekkers, told investigators there was no way the men [Atta and al-Shehhi] could fly Boeing jets after getting training at their small school, but he said the two had moved on to more sophisticated training elsewhere.[24]

Documents

Sept. 15, 2000 application to change his immigration status (I-539)
Page 2 of al Shehhi’s I-539

References

  1. ↑ "Chapter 5", 9/11 Commission Report. 
  2. ↑ "Men of different characters linked to terrorist acts", The Star-Ledger, September 17, 2001.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cherryand, Alan and Stacey Singer. "Portraits Start to Emerge of Terrorism Suspects", Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), September 23, 2001.
  4. ↑ "Portraits Start to Emerge of Terrorism Suspects", Sun-Sentinel, September 23, 2001.
  5. ↑ McDermott, Terry (2005). Perfect Soldiers. Harper Collins, p. 53. 
  6. ↑ "Portraits Start to Emerge of Terrorism Suspects", Sun-Sentinel, September 23, 2001.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 McDermott, Terry (2005). Perfect Soldiers. Harper Collins, p. 56. 
  8. ↑ McDermott, Terry (2005). Perfect Soldiers. Harper Collins, p. 54-55. 
  9. ↑ McDermott, Terry (2005). Perfect Soldiers. Harper Collins, p. 56. 
  10. ↑ McDermott, Terry (2005). Perfect Soldiers. Harper, p. 58-63. 
  11. ↑ McDermott, Terry (2005). Perfect Soldiers. Harper, p. 58. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 McDermott, Terry (2005). Perfect Soldiers. Harper, p. 63. 
  13. ↑ "Portraits Start to Emerge of Terrorism Suspects", Sun-Sentinel, September 23, 2001.
  14. ↑ McDermott, Terry (2005). Perfect Soldiers. Harper Collins, p. 54. 
  15. ↑ McDermott, Terry (2005). Perfect Soldiers. Harper, p. 57. 
  16. ↑ Stipulation, U.S.D.C. Eastern District of Virginia
  17. ↑ 17.00 17.01 17.02 17.03 17.04 17.05 17.06 17.07 17.08 17.09 17.10 17.11 17.12 Staff Monograph on 9/11 and Terrorist Travel. 9/11 Commission (2004).
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 Rudi Dekkers Interview. A Mission to Die For / ABC (Australia) (October 21, 2001).
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Allison, Wes. "The terrorists next door", St. Petersburg Times, October 2, 2001.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 9-11 Commission Report, Chapter 7
  21. ↑ 2005 Annual Statistics for Airmen Knowledge Testing. FAA (2006).
  22. ↑ Williams, Carol J.. "Terror Suspects Just Blended In", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 30, 2001.
  23. ↑ "America Under Attack: The Aftermath, Larry King Live", CNN, September 12, 2001 - 21:00 ET.
  24. ↑ "Sep 14: Day the unthinkable struck at America's heart (Part III)", Financial Times, September 14, 2001.

Further reading

  • Sons of the Mothers; Marilynn Rosenthal Struggles to Understand Her Child's Killer, the Boy Who Grew Up to Be a 9/11 Hijacker The Washington Post September 11, 2006
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