Abdulaziz al-Omari

Abdulaziz al-Omari (Arabic: عبد العزيز العمري‎, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-ʿUmarī, also transliterated as Alomari or al-Umari; May 28, 1979[1] – September 11, 2001) was a Saudi airport security guard and imam who was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11 as part of the September 11 attacks.

Abdulaziz al-Omari (Arabic: عبد العزيز العُمري)
Born	Abdulaziz al-Omari May 28, 1979 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Died	September 11, 2001 (aged 22) North Tower, World Trade Center Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.
Cause of death	Deliberate crash of American Airlines Flight 11
Nationality	Saudi Arabian

Omari arrived in the United States in June 2001, on a tourist visa, obtained through the Visa Express program. On September 11, 2001, Omari boarded American Airlines Flight 11 and assisted in the hijacking of the plane, which was crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, as part of the coordinated attacks.

Early life and education

Little is known about al-Omari's life, and it is unclear whether some information refers to Omari or another person by that name. He had used the birth date May 28, 1979.

It is alleged al-Omari graduated with honors from high school, attained a degree from Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University, was married and had a daughter briefly before the attacks.[2]

Career

He is alleged to have often served as an imam at his mosque in Saudi Arabia and is believed by American authorities to have been a student of Saudi cleric Sulaiman Al-Alwan, whose mosque is located in Al-Qassim Province.

According to Walid bin Attash, Omari was one of a group of future hijackers who provided security at Kandahar airport after their basic training at an al-Qaeda camp. During the 2000 Al Qaeda Summit in Kuala Lumpur, American authorities state that immigration records show that a person named Abdulaziz al-Omari was visiting the country, although they say they are not sure that this was the same person.

In the autumn of 2001, after the September 11 attacks, al Jazeera television broadcast a tape they claim was made by Omari. The speaker made a farewell suicide video. In it he read, "I am writing this with my full conscience and I am writing this in expectation of the end, which is near. . . God praise everybody who trained and helped me, namely the leader Sheikh Osama bin Laden."[3]

According to FBI director Robert Mueller and the 9/11 Commission, Omari entered the United States through a Dubai flight on June 29, 2001, with Salem al-Hazmi, landing in New York.[4] He had used the controversial Visa Express program to gain entry. He apparently stayed with several other hijackers in Paterson, New Jersey, before moving to his own place at 4032 57th Terrace, Vero Beach, Florida. On his rental agreement form for that house, Omari gave two license-plates authorized to park in his space, one of which was registered to Atta.[5]

Omari obtained a fake United States ID card from All Services Plus in Passaic County, New Jersey, which was in the business of selling fake documents, including another to Khalid al-Mihdhar.[6] He was married and had a daughter.

Attacks

Atta (blue shirt) and Omari at Portland International Jetport on 9/11

On September 10, 2001, Mohamed Atta picked up Omari from the Milner Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, and the two drove their rented Nissan to a Comfort Inn in South Portland, Maine, where they spent the night in room 232. In the afternoon he and Atta visited the Longfellow House in Portland, where they took part in a guided tour. Omari emphatically shook the guide's hand three times to thank her at the end of the tour.[7] It was initially reported that Adnan and Ameer Bukhari were the two hijackers who had rented and driven the car.[8]

In the early hours of September 11, they boarded a commuter flight back to Boston to connect to American Airlines Flight 11. American 11 was hijacked 15 minutes after the flight departed by Omari and four other hijackers, which allowed trained pilot Mohamed Atta to crash the Boeing 767 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of an attack that killed thousands of people.

Legacy

Mistaken identity

Controversy over Omari's identity erupted shortly after the attacks. At first, the FBI had named Abdul Rahman al-Omari, a pilot for Saudi Arabian Airlines, as the pilot of Flight 11.[9] It was quickly shown that this person was still alive, and the FBI issued an apology.[10] It was also quickly determined that Mohamed Atta was the pilot among the hijackers. The FBI then named Abdulaziz al-Omari as a hijacker.

A man with the same name as those given by the FBI turned up alive in Saudi Arabia, saying that he had studied at the University of Denver and his passport was stolen there in 1995. The name, origin, birth date, and occupation were released by the FBI, but the picture was not of him. "I couldn't believe it when the FBI put me on their list", he said. "They gave my name and my date of birth, but I am not a suicide bomber. I am here. I am alive. I have no idea how to fly a plane. I had nothing to do with this."[11][12][13]

See also

• PENTTBOM
• Hijackers in the September 11 attacks

References

1. John J. Lumpkin. "Abdul Aziz al Omari". Globalsecurity.org. Archived from the original on 2012-01-18. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/12/06/trumps-dubious-claim-that-the-911-hijackers-wives-knew-exactly-what-was-going-to-happen/
3. Unger, Craig (19 March 2004). House of Bush, House of Saud. Simon and Schuster. p. 230. ISBN 9780743266239. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
4. "Statement of Robert S. Mueller: Joint Investigation Into September 11: (published September 26, 2002)". Fas.org. Archived from the original on 2012-01-03. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
5. FBI Affidavit: Page 11 Archived 2007-03-18 at the Wayback Machine ABC
6. Miller, Jonathan (2003-03-08). "A Plea Deal, Then Freedom, in Terror Case Where Prosecutors Kept Evidence a Secret". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
7. Babin, John William. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in Portland : the fireside poet of Maine. Levinsky, Allan M. Charleston, SC. pp. 134f. ISBN 1-62619-499-8. OCLC 926057150.
8. "Two Brothers among Hijackers: CNN Report". People's Daily Online. 13 September 2001. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
9. Terhune, Chad; Pinkston, Will; Blackmon, Douglas A. (20 September 2010). "Media Mistook Four Saudi Pilots For Hijackers in U.S. Attacks". WSJ. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
10. Candiotti, Susan (21 September 2001). "America's New War: Tracking the Terrorists". CNN. Time Warner Company. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
11. Sack, Kevin (16 September 2001). "AFTER THE ATTACKS: MISSED CUES; Saudi May Have Been Suspected in Error, Officials Say". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. p. 7. Archived from the original on 19 December 2005. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
12. Fisk, Robert (24 June 2004). "Suicide hijacker' is an airline pilot alive and well in Jeddah". Independent. Archived from the original on 24 June 2004. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
13. "Middle East | Hijack 'suspects' alive and well". BBC News. BBC. 23 September 2001. Archived from the original on 30 July 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2012.

External links

• The Final 9/11 Commission Report
• portal.telegraph.co.uk (Article which reports that the Saudi Arabian Airlines pilot named Omari was not involved with the terrorist attacks)