Reconnaissance Earth: 9-11 FBI Report 2003 02(Feb)

8/7/2019 Reconnaissance Earth: 9-11 FBI Report 2003 02(Feb)

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Sf/NF! Al-Qaldaleaders andkey 11September plotterssuch asUsama BinLadin, KhalidShaykh MuhammadKSM!, andAyman al-Zawahiriprobably havederived lessons;from theactivities andexperiences ofthe ll September hijackersand maybe relyingonthem to plan

future attacksagainst theUS. |: E:I]

-Thell Setemberi lotwas atleast twoyears inthe al-PPQafida operativecalling himselfUbaydah" claimedin avideotaped interviewin JuneZ002that 31-Q&1'l l3~SHia reconnaissanceteam tothe UStwo _yearsbefore the1,1 Septemberoperation.

We haveno informationto conrmthat thisrqconnairssance operationoccurred orthat itcanbe tiedto thell Septemberattacks, butit isconsistent withal-Qaficla trad;er:raltthat callsforlong anddetailed planningfor majoroperations.

~Al-Qai.da has lostits campsin Afghanistanwhere theplot waslargely honedantithe hijackerswere trained,but between10,000-2ll,0 lll potentialterrorists trainedinthe campsand al-Qaidalsnetworks incountries suchas Pakistan,Saudi Arabia,andIndonesia leaveit with an amplepool ofpotential recruits for future attacks.

U! Snapshot of the Hijackers

LES! Al-Qaidascriteria? inchoiosinrg the11 Septemberhijackers isunknown, butone ofthe

most importantfactors probablywas theirability tonot arousesuspicion fromUS orforeignintelligence andlaw enforcementservices.

~The hijackers usedWestern-style clothingand groomingonce inthe US.

*The hijsacikers. wereall MiddleEastern menbetween 20and 33years ofage. Manyof themspent timein Afghanistanin eitherlate 19919or 2000,according toa varietyof rcportingi

~Personal connections andfamily tiesamong thehijackers alsomay havebeen important;among the1.9 weretwo setsof brothers--Waledand Wai1al-Shehriandiltlawaf andSalim al-Hazmi~and othersub-groupings inwhich individuals.appear tohave knowneach otherforyears beforethe plot. 4

U! How They Entered the US

LES! The hijackers enteredtheUSlegally on valid visas--15 onB1tourist visas, threeon B2business visas, and one on aF1 student visa-using their true names.

'Thirteen of the19 hijacl-torstraveled tothe USin groupsof twoor three-thefour pilots,Mohamed Atta,Marv/an al~Shehhi,Haini Hanjour,and ZiadJarrah arenotable exceptions.

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tLES! Mohamed Attain Germany: His ConductBefore Comingto the US

l LES! As an expatriate in Europe, Attabehaved muchlike the typical budding jihadist. It wasonly after heapparently was tapped for his m_l'ssion-perhaps spottedand selectedbecause of

this hehavior~and returned from Afghanistan that hebegan observing strict operational security

practicos.

-i Priorto earlyFebruary 2000,Atta andhis assocriatcsin Hiamburg--intzludingl11 Septecmbcer

pilots Marwan al-Shehhiand ZiadJarrah-ware knownto wearbeardsand Arab-styledress,attendeda mosque knownfor extremistsviews, andopenly asswociatedwith radicalgt1res-all acts that contradict recommendations inal-Qaida training manuals notto behavein ways

that would attract law enforcement attention.

-After defending histhesis inOctober i999,A-tta leftfor Afghanistanand Pakistanin lateNlosvembar andreturned toHamburg inlate Fnbmary2000,whereheno longer appearedtobeoutwardly radical, according to law enforcement and intelligencereporting- Hedidnot wear

aboard or Arab-style dressand generallyblendedinto the Westernworld. Shortly thereafter,

Attatapplied for a new passport--apparentlyboth todisguise histravel toAfghanistan andto acquire ca newphotograph-made inquires to US ight schools, received aU Svisa, and

-spread word to family andfriends thathewas leaving Germanyto continuehis education.

U! Flight Schools

LES! The hijackers enrollmentat multiple US ight schools wasnot in itself uncommon,buttheir focus on learning only the skills that would benet their milsslon


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U! Banking in the US ~

LES!Thehijackersnancedtheiroperationwithmoneyelectronicallytranslerredifromoverseasaswellaswithcashandtravelercheckstheycarried--anddeclaredwhentheyenteredtheUS.They openedUSbankaccountsandused;themlegally,buttheyfavoredanllnusualpracticeofsiharingaccountsbetweenunrelatedmembers.Noneofthe hijackersworkedtosupplementthis

funding.

- Thehijackers,oeninpairs,used24 bankaccounts,frombranchbanksbelongingtoSunTrust,HudsonUnited,FirstUnion,BankofArnericsa,andDimeSavings.

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- AstheOperationdrewnear,thehijackersclosedthemajorityof theirbankaccountsandwiredmostof the remainingrnoncyoverseasthroughWcstcmUnion stationsat busterminalsand

grocery stores.

U! How TheyCommunicated

LES!Thehijackersfavoredcommunicationstechniquesdesignedtomakeoperationaldiscussionsdifcult to trace.

~ Theyusedpre-paidcealiingcardscombinedwithpoayphoncstomakeoperationaltelephonecallstoconspiratorsintheUSaswellastheMiddleEastandGermany,accordingtolaw

enforcementinformationTheyusedcellphonestoreceiveoperationalcalls.

- Theyapparentlyreservedtheirmostsensitiveplanningdiscussionosforface-t0~facemeetings,whichlikelywereheldthreetimesin2001; GermanyinJanuary,Spainin July,andLasVegasin mid-August.

~ At leastninehijackersusedpostofficemailboxesfromsuch placesasMail BoxesEtcandMail Depot,possiblytoreceiveregularmailandto helpestablishresidcnoel.

U! BusinessesTheyFrequented

LES! Besidesrentalcarbusinessesandcommerciallyavailablepostofceboxes,thehijackers

alsofrequentedseveralother businesses.

- Manyof thehijackersworkedoutta:gyms-~possiolytohelpprepare themforsubduingpassengersin takingovertheairliners.

- TheyusedKinkosforphotocopyingunknownniatcrialsandforcomputerrentals,

~ Marwanal-ShchhialsovisitedseveralbarsduringhisstayintheUSandalongwithHamzaal~GamdiIwiccinJuly2001purchaseda largeamountofpornograp1hy-~$2s50,andS183worthfrcun a Video Outlet store in Floricla.

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LES! AnnexA: RsrnziYousefsandthell SeptemberHijackersOperational'Iradeera,l't

LES! Therearesomesimilaritiesbetweenthe1993WorldTradeCenter WTC! bombersledbyRirnziYousefandthe11Septemberhijackers,buttherealsoarekeydifferencesthatmakeitdifcultto establisha singlepatternthatsleepercellsintheUSlikelywouldfollow.

LES! KeyoperationalcharacteristicscommontotheI993 and21101 plottersinclude:

V- SomeoftheconspiratorsfrombothplotsarrivedintheUSatleastsixmonthspriortothe attacks-~insomecases,morethana year-~andmembersfocusedtheirtimeandenergyin

preparingfortheattacks. ~

* Somemembersofeachplotusedsharedbankaccounts.

- Thekeyleadersofbothplots~Yousetandthell Septemberpil0tS--shareidavarietyofpersonalcharacteristics.TheyhadbroadexposuretotheWest-YousefandthreeofthefourpilotsstudiedinWeistcymEuropeandhadtechnicalbacl=:gro~unds~spokcworkableEnglish,wereintheir20sorearly 30s,andhailedfromaluent families.

LES! Keyoperationaldifferencesinclude:

'Yousefandco-conspirato-rMohammadAjaj traveledtogetherfrom?aldstanandusedfalse

namesanddocumentstoentertotheUS, whileall 19hijackersusedtheirtruenames,legitimatepassports,andsecuretivisastoenterthecountry.

~ Yousefusedat leastfourpassportsandthreedifferentnamestoenter,operate,andexitthe

US,whilethehijackersacquiredlegitimateformsof identications,suchasdriv_erslicensesand state identication cardsin their true name.

orYousefreliedona localnetworkofchildhoodfriendsandindividualsintroducedtohimbyothersafterhisarrivalintheUStocarryouthisattack.Mosthadnosignicanttrainingandindoctlrination,andoneconspiratorwasbroughtintotheplottwoweeksbeforetheattack.

Conversely,thehijackersreliedmainlyon experienced,well-trainedmanpowerfromabroad

anddidnotbringunknownindividualsintotheirplotlatterarrivingintheUS.

'The1993 conspiratorsfrequentlymadeoverseasphonecallsfromtheir residences,while

thehijackersreliedonprepaidcellphones,callingcards,andInternetcafestocommunicateabroad.Youscfhadeapersonalcomputer,butthehijackersarenotknowntohaveownedlaptopordesktopcomputersoranyelectronicdatastoragemedia.

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LES! AnnexB: AhmedRessam and the11September Hijackers Tacticsin theUS: MoreContrasts in Tradecraft

LE8! Thereare few similaritiesbetween theMillennium bomberAhmed Ressaknand hisplot toattack Lox Angeles airportand the11September .hija*ckers.

*Rcssams identication docmncnts-includingpasspons, visas,driver liccnscs,social securitynumbers, andcredit cards-wercall fraudulentlyobtained incontrast tothe 11September

hijackers exclusiveuse oflegitimate documentation.

-92 Rcssamapplied forand wasgranted politicalasylum inCanada in1994, invitingincreasedscrutiny byCanadian immigrationauthorities. ThellSeptemberplotters soughtno specialimmigration status.

'Although Rcssam hadlived inCanada since1994, hisEnglish languageabilities werepoor,probablyaresult of livinginapredominantlyAlgerian commlmifyThellSeptemberpiloiall spoko workable English.

~In contrast tothe 11September hijackcrs,neither Rcssamnor hisassociate, AbdcimajaidDahoumanc, conductedsurveillance or rout: rchcarsals to the US, Oihr fha with amap-

~ Inhis debrielings, Rcssamhas indicatedthat hiscell wasinstructed toengagc incriminalbehavior suchas creditcard. audand pettythc, to nance theirterrorist-related activities;Ressam wasarrested fortheft fourtimes inonlyaFew years. ThellSeptember hijackersused lcginmatcUS bankaccounts andneithmlcgally broughtmoney tothe USor hadit elccitmnicallysent from the Middle East to their accounts.

' Like.thellSeptemberhijackers, Ressampracticed operationaltsecurity incommunicatingwith hisassociates, althoughnot aswell. Ressamused multiplepro-paid callingcards andscvcral differentpay phones,but useda cellularphone toleave messagesat thelocal mosquefor associates to meet him thcrc.

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Reconnaissance Earth: 9-11 FBI Report 2003 02(Feb)