CJ/PS 5535 9/11 Seminar: Failures, Responses, Lessons Learned

1. CJ/PS 55359/11 Seminar: Failures, Responses,Lessons Learned A new graduate course by: Dr. Matthew Robinson Fall 2005

2. 9/11: Saudi Connections Dr. Matt Robinson CJ/PS 5535: “9/11 Seminar: Failures, Responses, Lessons Learned” Appalachian State University

3. Important Note About This DocumentThis document visually depicts and then describes alleged Saudi connections to 9/11 and terrorism. It also shows relationships between some of the Saudi players and President George W. Bush. The point of the document is not to assess blame but merely to demonstrate the complexity of relationships involved.Each relationship is depicted with an arrow and is numbered. Each numbers arrow is described in text.Note: Such “Links” do not prove Saudi Arabian involvement in the 9/11 plot.

4. bin Ladens James Bath George W. Bush Khalid bin Mahfouz National Commercial Bank Bank of Credit and Commercial International Terrorism Muwaffaq Foundation Yasin al-Qadi/ Other Charities Abdulrahman bin Mahfouz Sami Omar Hussayen Salem Ibn Abdul Rahman Hussayen Hani Hanjour Fahad al-Thumairy Khalid al-Mihdhar/ Nawaf al-Hazmi Mohammed Ahmed al-Salmi Saleh Kamel Hamid al-Rashid Omar al-Bayoumi Mohdar Abdullah/ Anwar Aulaqi/ Osama Basnan Abdussatar Shaikh Manal Bajadr Princes Haifa al-Faisal Majeda Dweikar Saudi “Links” to Terrorism and 9/11 Dr. Matthew Robinson, Appalachian State University 2 3 1 4 5 6 7 11 8 12 9 13 30 10 31 28 29 27 26 15 14 18 17 16 25 19 24 23 20 21 22

5. Saudi “Links” to Terrorism and 9/11 • 1 – Usama bin Laden (UBL) is head of al Qaeda. Other bin Ladens are reportedly “down wit”h UBL’s plans because UBL promotes the dominant form of Islam in Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism. For example, two bin Laden brothers, (Abdullah and Omar) are affiliated with the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY). The FBI investigated them from February to September 1996. Abdullah bin Laden was the US director of WAMY and lived with Omar in Falls Church, Virginia. WAMY’s office address is 5613 Leesburg Pike. Four of the 9/11 hijackers lived at 5913 Leesburg Pike at the same time the two bin Laden brothers were there. Pakistan already banned WAMY and India and the Philippines also said WAMY is involved in terrorism. US officials also have no doubt (and testified to the 9/11 Commission) that WAMY has helped carry out terrorist attacks. The US began a new investigation of WAMY after 9/11 and after the bin Ladens left the US. Finally, a September 2002 search of a home of five al-Qaeda suspects (including would-be twentieth hijacker Ramzi bin al-Shibh) found bin Laden family members’ passports. • 2 – James Bath served as a representative of Salem bin Laden (UBL’s half-brother). • 3 – The bin Ladens and President Bush are connected via investments in Bush’s Harken Energy company and via the Carlyle Group, where the bin Ladens had about $2 million in investments until October 2001. • 4 – James Bath is a close friend of President Bush and was co-owner of Harken Energy. • 5 – James Bath managed the holdings of Saudi billionaire Khalid bin Mahfouz.

6. Saudi “Links” to Terrorism and 9/11 • 6 – Khalid bin Mahfouz inherited a financial interest of President Bush’s “Arbusto Energy” when his father died, which became Spectrum 7 and then Harken Energy. • 7 – Khalid bin Mahfouz managed the National Commercial Bank (NCB), Saudi Arabia’s largest bank. • 8 – Khalid bin Mahfouz directed the Bank of Credit and Commercial International (BCCI), the largest bank in Arab world. • 10 – Khalid bin Mahfouz set up a charity called the Muwaffaq Foundation ("blessed relief“), funded this charity with $30 million, put Yasin al-Qadi in charge of the charity, and put his eldest son, Abdulrahman bin Mahfouz, on the board of directors. • 11 – A high-placed Saudi businessman transferred millions of dollars through NCB to charities operating as fronts for al-Qaeda. Khalid bin Mahfouz says he was not aware of such wire transfers moving through the bank. Khalid bin Mahfouz was indicted by a New York state grand jury for fraud and the US Federal Reserve alleged he breached banking regulations. Khalid denied any wrongdoing and the charges were dropped after he agreed to pay $225 million, including $37 million in lieu of fines. Khalid and NCB were also involved in a separate $253 million deal to settle claims with BCCI's creditors. Craig Unger, author of House of Bush, House of Saud, claims Khalid donated over $270,000 to UBL’s al Qaeda at the request of Usama's brother Salem bin Laden. Khalid’s lawyer says: "This donation was to assist the US-sponsored resistance to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and was never intended nor, to the best of Sheikh Khalid's knowledge, ever used to fund any 'extension' of that resistance movement in other countries.“

7. Saudi “Links” to Terrorism and 9/11 • 12 – BCCI was involved in money laundering, bribery, tax evasion, smuggling, illegal immigration, illegal purchases of banks and real estate, arms trafficking, sale of nuclear technologies, and support of terrorism. The bank was shut down. • 13 – Yasin al-Qadi is a Saudi who ran the Muffawaq charity, and was named a supporter of terrorism by the US Treasury, which then froze his assets. • 14 – Omar al-Bayoumi was a Saudi spy living in the US. al-Bayoumi’s job was to keep an eye on Saudis in San Diego, especially college students engaged in activities that might threaten Saudi Arabia. He “vouched for” hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar (so that they would be accepted into the community and its mosque) and, in spite of his denials, picked up the two hijackers from LA and brought them to San Diego. • 15 – Fahad al-Thumairy was an official from the Saudi Arabian consulate’s section on Islamic and cultural affairs, and a prayer leader at a local mosque in LA. He met privately with al-Bayoumi before he picked up the hijackers.

8. Saudi “Links” to Terrorism and 9/11 • 16 – Hamid al-Rashid approved the salary of al-Bayoumi. al-Bayoumi’s monthly stipend comes from the company, Ercan (which contracted with Dallah Avco Aviation, a Saudi government contractor). • 17 – Salem Kamel owned Dallah Avco Aviation, which provided the salary of al-Bayoumi. He has been named a member of the “Golden Chain” that provides money to UBL and al-Qaeda regularly. al-Bayoumi was given $3,000 per month for a project in Saudi Arabia even though he was living in the United States. al-Bayoumi showed up for work once and the supervisor wanted to fire him but was told Ercan’s contract would be terminated. • 18 – Mohammed Ahmed al-Salmi was Director General of Civil Aviation in Saudi Arabia, who sent a letter to Ercan saying it wanted al-Bayoumi’s contract renewed as quickly as possible or it would terminate the contract. al-Bayoumi’s monthly stipend for the job he was not doing was $2,800 with allowances of $465 a month. After inviting the two hijackers to San Diego and getting them places to live, his monthly allowance rose to $3,700. • 19 – Fellow spy Osama Basnan knew Omar al-Bayoumi. • 20 – Osama Basnan wrote to Saudi Arabian Prince Bandar (who was at the time Saudi Ambassador to the US and very close friends with President Bush) to get money for surgery for his wife. He got a check for $15,000.

9. Saudi “Links” to Terrorism and 9/11 • 21 – Majeda Dweikar is Basnan’s wife, and she made a separate request for money from Princess Haifa al-Faisal, the wife of Prince Bandar. Dweika began getting checks every month between $2,000 and $3,000. • 22 – Majeda Dweiker signed some of the checks over to Manal Bajadr, the wife of Omar al-Bayoumi, and her very close friend. Both were arrested together for shoplifting in April 2001. • 23 – Manal Bajadar gave the money to her husband, Omar al-Bayoumi. al-Bayoumi passed on the money to hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar. The al-Bayoumis and Basnans lived at the Parkwood Apartments at the same time as the two hijackers. Prior to that hey also lived in another apartment complex together. • 24 – Abdussattar Shaikh was reportedly a retired English professor from San Diego State University, but was really a San Diego FBI asset. He is also a self-admitted friend of Saudi spy Omar al-Bayoumi.

10. Saudi “Links” to Terrorism and 9/11 • 25 – Mohdar Abdullah met the hijackers in a San Diego mosque. He helped them get driver’s licenses, car insurance, credit cards, social security cards, and locate flight schools. He admitted to jail inmates about knowing about the plot. He was deported to Yemen after spending almost three years in New York and San Diego County jails. Anwar Aulaqi also met the hijackers in the San Diego mosque and become their religious leader. He is suspected of being the first person the two hijackers shared their plans with in the US. They became so close that when the two hijackers left for Virginia, Aulaqi followed. His whereabouts are unknown. FBI asset Abdussattar Shaikh’s job was to monitor the Saudi community in San Diego for suspicious behavior. Hijacker Nawaf al-Hazmi noticed that Shaikh had posted on the Mosque bulletin board available quarters in his home for a committed young Muslim. So al-Hazmi and Khalid Al-Mihdhar moved into his house! Shaikh’s handler, Steven Butler, is told by Shaikh they are good, religious Muslims, legally in the US to visit and attend school. Butler asks Shaikh for their last names, but Shaikh refuses to provide them. Butler is not told that they are pursuing flight training. Shaikh tells Butler that they are apolitical and have done nothing to arouse suspicion. According to the 9/11 Congressional Inquiry, Shaikh later admits that Alhazmi has “contacts with at least four individuals [he] knew were of interest to the FBI and about whom [he] had previously reported to the FBI.” Three of these four people are being actively investigated at the time the hijackers are there. Shaikh gave inaccurate information to US officials and had an “inconclusive” polygraph examination about his foreknowledge of the 9/11 attack. This was the “best chance to unravel the September 11 plot” according to the 9/11 joint Congressional inquiry. His whereabouts are unknown.

11. Saudi “Links” to Terrorism and 9/11 • 26 – Salem Ibn Abdul Rahman Hussayen was Director of the SAAR charity that is suspected of terrorism ties. In September 2001 he came to the US to visit charities that have since been linked to terrorism (the Global Relief Foundation, World Muslin League, International Islamic Relief Organization, and the Islamic Assembly of North America). On September 10, three hijackers (Hani Hanjour, Khalid al-Mihdhar, and Nawaf al-Hazmi) stayed at the same hotel as Hussayen. Hussayen was interviewed by the FBI but feigned a seizure during the interview and was taken to the hospital where the doctor said nothing was wrong with him. He left for Saudi Arabia after the flight ban was lifted and was made head of two mosques in Saudi Arabia • 27 – Sami Omar Hussayen is Salem’s nephew. • 28 – Sami Omar Hussayen ran a web site affiliated with the Islamic Assembly of North America that called for jihad and even suicide attacks with planes. The Justice Department pressed charges against him using the USA PATRIOT Act, but he was acquitted. He was convicted of immigration charges and deported. • 29 – Salem Ibn Abdul Rahman Hussayen is connected to the SAAR charity that is suspected of terrorism ties, as well as the Global Relief Foundation, World Muslin League, International Islamic Relief Organization, and the Islamic Assembly of North America.

12. Saudi “Links” to Terrorism and 9/11 • 30 – The charities run by and served by the Hussayens are suspected of terrorism ties. • 31 – Hani Hanjour, Khalid al-Mihdhar, and Nawaf al-Hazmi participated in the 9/11 attacks. The official story says each was on Flight 77 which struck the Pentagon. Hanjour was supposedly the pilot.