 This photograph of Saeed al-Ghamdi was released by the FBI in the days following the attack. Saeed al-Ghamdi (Arabic: سعيد الغامدي, also transliterated Alghamdi, and many different variations on his name have been used) was named by the FBI as one of the hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93 as part of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack.
History
Al-Ghamdi was from the al Bahah province of Saudi Arabia, an isolated and underdeveloped area, and shared the same tribal affiliation with fellow hijackers Ahmed al-Ghamdi, Hamza al-Ghamdi, and Ahmed al-Haznawi. This group is noted as being some of the more religiously observant of the hijackers. Al-Ghamdi is said to have come from a town called Abha. He did not have a college degree. He may have been in contact with other future hijackers as early as 1999. Al Ghamdi spent time in al Qasim province, Saudi Arabia where he transferred to college but soon dropped out and ceased contact with his family. While there, he probably associated with the radical Saudi cleric named Sulayman al Alwan as several other future hijackers did.
Al-Ghamdi headed to Chechnya to participate in the conflict against the Russians. At this time, Chechen fighters were turning away additional foreigners, many of whom ended up in al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan to train and await entry to Chechnya. While in Afghanistan a number decided to join al Qaida suicide corps. Saeed al-Ghamdi was known to Tawfiq bin Attash who personally convinced him to become a martyr. Al-Ghamdi was at that time working as security at Khandahar airport with a number of future hijackers and may have helped recruit them.
 Al-Ghamdi appeared in this al-Qaida video denouncing the U.S. In March of 2001, al-Ghamdi was filmed in a farewell video that was aired on al-Jazeera. In the video, many future 9/11 hijackers swear to become martyrs, although no details of the plot are revealed. Al-Ghamdi referred to America as "the enemy", and is seen studying maps and flight manuals.[1] (http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2002/financialtimes091102.html)
In the U.S.
He arrived in the USA in June 2001 through a controversial immigration procedure called Visa Express. Other hijackers with suspect identities used this same means to enter the US. He was nearly turned away at the border. CNN reported:
- Saeed al-Ghamdi was referred to immigration inspection officials in June 2001 after he provided no address on his customs form and only had a one-way plane ticket and about $500. But al Ghamdi was able to persuade the inspector that he was a tourist.[2] (http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/01/26/911.commission.ap/)
He shared an apartment with Ahmed al-Nami in Delray Beach, Florida. Oddly, he listed the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida as his permanent address on his driver's license.
The attack
On the morning of September 11, 2001, al-Ghamdi boarded United Airlines Flight 93 without incident. Due to the flight's delay, the pilot and crew were notified of the previous hijackings that day, and were told to be on the alert. Within minutes, Flight 93 was hijacked as well.
Passengers on the plane heard through phone calls the fates of the other hijacked planes. They realized they had to take the cockpit back from the terrorists or their plane too would be used as a missile. A passenger uprising foiled the terrorist's plans, but failed to save the plane. The hijackers crashed the plane into the Pennsylvania farmland rather than cede control of the plane. All aboard died.
Possible mistaken identity
On 23 September 2001, the BBC reported that a person named Saeed al-Ghamdi was alive and well. His name, birth date, origin, and occupation were the same as those released by the FBI, but his picture was different. He says that he studied flight training in Florida flight schools from 1998 to 2001.
According to immigration records in the Philippines, someone named Saeed al-Ghamdi visited that country on at least 15 occasions in 2001, entering as a tourist. The last visit ended on August 6. This may have been a different person with the same name, as no other information is available.
External links
 This photograph of Hani Hanjour was released by the FBI in the days following the attack. Hani Saleh Hanjour, (Arabic: هاني صالح حنجور) was one of five men named by the FBI as hijackers of American Airlines flight 77 in the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack. The FBI believes that he piloted the plane and crashed it into the Pentagon.
History
Hanjour was born in Ta'if, Saudi Arabia, and was the first of the 9/11 hijackers to enter the United States. FBI director Robert Mueller testified that Hanjour first arrived on October 3, 1991, and the 9/11 Commission agreed.[3] (http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2002/senatecommittee092602.html) However several news sources report him in the country even earlier.[4] (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10711FC3C5B0C7A8DDDAF0894DA404482)[5] (http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2001/coxnews101501.html) He was a religious Muslim who studied English at the University of Arizona. After travelling to Afghanistan to work with a relief agency, Hanjour returned to the U.S. in 1996, at which time it is believed that he lived briefly in Oakland, California where he claimed that he intended to enroll in English studies at Holy Names College. Reports are that he never attended, but rather moved on to Phoenix, Arizona.
Hanjour took flight lessons in Phoenix, Arizona, kept to himself, and aroused few suspicions. An FBI informant named Aukai Collins claims he told the FBI about Hanjour's activities during 1998, giving them Hanjour's name and phone number, and warning them that more and more foreign-born Muslims seem to be taking flying lessons in the U.S. The FBI admits it paid Collins to monitor the Islamic and Arab communities in Phoenix at the time, but denies Collins told them anything about Hanjour.[6] (http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2002/ap052402.html)[7] (http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/DailyNews/FBI_informant020523.html)[8] (http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2002/foxnews052402.html)
Hanjour had gained his pilot qualification, but was unable to get a job as a pilot when he returned to his native Saudi Arabia. It is likely that the resulting bitterness and disappointment contributed to his being recruited into the al-Qaeda and to ultimately be one of the four pilots of the September 11 attacks.
He came back to San Diego, California in December 2000 and stayed with Nawaf al-Hazmi before the two came to Arizona to train. Hanjour, al-Hazmi, Ahmed al-Ghamdi, and Majed Moqed met in Fairfield, Connecticut with a man named Eyad M. Alrababah, a Jordanian charged with providing false identification to at least 50 illegal aliens.[9] (http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2002/senatecommittee092602.html)[10] (http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2002/ap030602.html)
In early Spring 2001, Hanjour rented a one-bedroom apartment in Paterson, New Jersey. He lived there with at least one roommate; several other hijackers, including Mohammed Atta, visited.
Hanjour, along with at least five other future hijackers, traveled to Las Vegas at least six times in the Summer of 2001. They reportedly drank alcohol, gambled, and paid strippers to perform lap dances for them.[11] (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/10/04/MN102970.DTL)
Hanjour began to make cross-country "surveillance flights" in August, preparing for the hijackings. He moved out on September 1. He was photographed on September 5 when using a Maryland ATM with fellow hijacker Majed Moqed.
On September 10, one of the hijackers was seen by the owner of a strip club in Elizabeth near Newark airport. He had a beer and watched a dancer in a private "VIP" room, where the bar owner watched him through a security camera. That night, Hanjour, al-Mihdhar, and al-Hazmi checked into a hotel. Saleh Ibn Abdul Rahman Hussayen, a prominent Saudi government official, was staying at the same hotel. There is no evidence Hussayen met with them, but he has been linked to terrorism many times since then.[12] (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/10/03/wsaud03.xml&sSheet=/portal/2003/10/03/ixportal.html)[13] (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A31402-2003Oct1?language=printer)
The attack
On September 11, 2001, Hani Hanjour boarded American Airlines Flight 77 at 7:50. The plane was hijacked, and Hanjour crashed the plane into the Pentagon at 9:37 am in a high-speed dive that required a great deal of skill. All on board were killed instantly, as were 125 people on the ground. The National Geographic Channel created a documentary that deconstructs the crash.
External Link
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