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Khalid al-Masri (Arabic: خالد المصري, sometimes transliterated Almasri) is a member of al-Qaida who was instrumental in persuading some of the organizers of the September 11, 2001 attacks to go to Afghanistan, and to therefore meet with Osama bin Laden for the first time.
In 1999, Mohammed Atta, Ramzi Binalshibh, Marwan al-Shehhi, and Ziad Jarrah were members of what became known as the Hamburg cell, a tightly-knit group of Islamic radicals dedicated to becoming martyrs. The four had decided to go to Chechnya to fight against the Russians there, but were met on a bus with a man who called himself Khalid al-Masri. Nothing is known about who al-Masri is, or if that is his real name.
Al-Masri approached the four and began talking to them about fighting in Chechnya. He informed them that it was difficult to get into the area, and many fighters had been turned away. They later called al-Masri on the telephone, and he cryptically told them to contact Abu Musab (a pseudonym of Mohamedou Ould Slahi) in Duisburg, Germany. Slahi convinced the group to go to Afghanistan instead, where they trained for combat and met Osama bin Laden. All four would later have significant roles in the September 11, 2001 attack.
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