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DECLASSIFIED UNDER AUTHORITY OF THE

INTERAGENCY SECURITY CLASSIFICATION APPEALS PANEL,

E.O. 13526, SECTION 5.3(b)(3)

ISCAP APPEAL NO. 2012-048, document no. 20

DECLASSIFICATION DATE: July 8, 2015

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SECRET

MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD

Event: Interview with Ali Soufan

Type of event: Interview

Date: November 12,2003

Special Access Issues: Secret clearances

Prepared by: Tom Eldridge, Janice Kephart-Roberts

Team Number: 5

Location: GSA Building SCIF

Participants - Non-Commission: .Ali Soufan, FBI - ]\TY-JTTF,Pat O'Brien, General

Counsel's Office FBI

Participants - Commission: Susan Ginsburg, Doug MacEachin, Tom Eldridge, Janice

Kephart-Roberts, Yoel Tobin, Nikki Grandrimo, Deiter Snell .

Background

Mr. Soufan's background was described in earlier MFRs. This is a follow-up.

AQ goals in the Sudan

Soufan said AQ had three goals while in the Sudan.

1. Create a network of Al Qaeda operatives,

2. Support with the AQ umbrella other Jihad groups, including Algerians,

Moroccans, Egyptians (plot to kill Mubarak in Addis Ababa).

3.

Drive the U.S. from Saudi Arabia.

AQ after the move from Sudan to Afg.

When UBL left in May 1996, he sought to broaden the jihad to include terrorism,

something new to people used to fighting a guerilla war. He issues his fatwa condemning

jews and crusaders. He set up the camps: Jihad Wal, Khost, Al Faruq, Gardez. (None

yet in Qandahar.)

In October 1996, UBL recruits a class of potential operatives ., the infamous 16 - that

includes Jandal, Khallad, and the Nairobi suicide bomber Hamza al Ghamdi (who first

served as UBL's bodyguard). This recruitment coincides with his alliance with a group

of radical Saudi scholars.

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Once Qandahar is secure as the Taliban base, UBL moves there and sets up camps there

as well. The new security he enjoys allows him to get more recruits.

The Iranian front

Soufan said that there was no Iran connection initially in 1996, after UBL's move to Afg.

Because the Iranian border was in the hands of the Northern Alliance.

Organization

Prior to 9-11, UBL had AQ organized somewhat along geographic lines.

Nashiri - from Yemen (tho born in Mecca) covered the Arabian peninsula

KSM - Focused on the U.S. and S.E Asia, based on his relationships with the Philippines

and Hambali.

Khallad - was the administrative guy, a trusted individual to facilitate travel.

Abu Zubaydah - his cover was that he was not a part of the UBL network.

AQand WMD

According to Soufan, they tried to buy uranium from the Russian mob, but instead bought

osmium, a different element it turns out. Their efforts to acquire WMD are detailed in

the Baku documents. They also tried to acquire bioweapons. Abu Habab was funded to

do bioweapons research by people in London.

Security Committee

We asked Mr. Soufan about the AQ Security Committee. He said it was a part of the Bin

Laden network well before 9-11. Its purposes were:

1. To provide security for UBL (bodyguards) and UBL's operations.

2. To write documents in support of security. Soufan said one was recovered in

Baku. It described how operatives should get professional haircuts, not travel,

with their wife, not wear Islamic perfume, etc. Soufan said all AQ documents

have a Koranic verse on them that can be translated as, prepare for them, all you

can out of your own force. Soufan also mentioned the Manchester document as

originating from one Saif al Libi.

3. vet recruits who arrive to see if they have the right stuff and to interrogate

possible spies. Some individuals were rejected after an interview with al Adel.

4. Provide advice to operatives when to travel and when to not travel.

He said he received an oral description of it from Junior in 1996. Saif Al Adel was the

head of it. This fact, Soufan said, was verified through the Cole investigation. Nasir al

Bahri, aka Jandal, described the blueprint of AQ in a long 302 of an interrogation that

took place after 9-11. Jandal gave a description of the Security Committee as he learned

it existed when he went to Afghanistan. Soufan said this Jandal description was verified

by a DOCEX document collected in Afghanistan.

Soufan said this committee was continuously evolving as AQ evolved.

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Soufan on Mobility generally

If they want to come to the United States, they can.

If they send 1,000, four will get through.

They only need one to get through to win whereas we need to stop 1,000 to win.

Knowledge of Saudi involvement in AQ

We asked Soufan about prior knowledge of Saudi involvement in al Qaeda terrorist

training in Afghanistan before 9-11. Soufan said they knew about Saudi travel to

Afghanistan and Pakistan for terror training in 1996.

Yemen

Soufan said that when AQ operatives were in the Sudan with UBL, most operatives were

wanted in their countries of origin. This included Saudis. For this reason, most of them

tried to obtain Yemeni passports to travel outside the Sudan. This was true, for example,

for Masri, one of the East Africa Embassy bombing suspects. Soufan said Yemeni

passports were the passport of choice because there were weak government controls. It

only took two guys vouching for you to get a passport. The system was tribal based

according to Soufan, who said Egyptian, Saudi and Sudanese terrorists were using

Yemeni passports extensively between 1996 and 1998, and right through 2002.

According to Soufan, Yemeni officials were bribed to give out passports. AQ supplied

photos and applications and Yemeni officials stamped them for the terrorists. One such

AQ operative, Khalid Moussama, was the suicide bomber in the Cole attack. Soufan said

the FBI did not believe Moussama even presented himself when he applied for his

passport.

Soufan said the terrorists would have two passports to travel with until they got married.

Once they were married, then they would travel with their families and have only one

passport. Soufan said that the fact that so many terrorists were traveling with Yemeni

passports was discovered after the Cole bombing.

According to Soufan, 85% of the Saudis who were AQ operatives went to Yemen to get a

Yemeni passport and then traveled from there to Afg. Soufan said the Khalid al

Mihdhar had a Yemeni passport in the name Khalid al Saqaf, under which he traveled to

Pakistan and Afg .. Khallad Bin Attash traveled under a Yemeni passport with the name

Khallad Bin Yousef

Soufan said that they knew before 9-11 of four travel facilitators in Yemen for AQ who

would help recruits by :

1. getting them Yemeni passports,

2. getting them a plane ticket,

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3. sending someone with the recruit who would be known to the AQ coordinator in

Pakistan, and

4. call ahead and give advance notice of the recruit's arrival.

One of these was Abu Ismail, aka Mohammad Salah, who was killed in Afg.

How to get into Afghanistan

Before 2000, Soufan said recruits would take a flight to Karachi, go overland to

Peshawar, and then get smuggled into Afg, by Abu Zubaydah.

After 2000, Soufan said AQ was using Qetta as the jumping off point from Pakistan to

Afg. Soufan said this was in part because the camps in the North of Afg. Were closed at

that time and moved to the South. UBL and AQ were based in Qandahar at this time.

Once in Qetta, recruits would stay in a guesthouse, then go to Afg. Often by bus.

In Afg.

When individuals arrived in Afg, they would fill out applications supplying information

including the name of the person who recommended the recruit. All travel had to have

been facilitated by someone known and trusted by AQ leadership. There was a strong

structure and a job within that structure for each person.

Recruits would take a codename while in Afg. The codename was religious in origin.

This was based on the fact that in the Koran, the prophet says their names are aliases and

their aliases are cities (or states). Soufan says this admonition is in the prophet

Mohammed's words, giving it special power for these believers.

Once in Afg., recruits would be taken to an AQ guesthouse. The recruiter would be

informed their recruit had arrived. The recruit would have their money and passport

taken away from them. This was termed A Manat or security depository. Soufan said.

good records were kept of these deposits. [Note: This practice led to the fact that many

of the individuals captured in Afg. And in Pakistan had no passports with them at the

time of capture.]

Ifthere was a new terrorist training class starting, the recruit would be taken to the camp

where it was to begin. Once in the camp, the AQ instructors would carefully evaluate

each recruit to see whether they, for example, take orders well and engage in early

prayers indicating their devotion.

Based on the instructor's evaluation of them, the recruit could be selected for a terror

mission, sent to the front to fight the Northern Alliance, of be sent to become a

bodyguard to UBL. .

In 1998, after the embassy bombings and the U.S. missile strikes, UBL closed the Khost

camp.

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In the 1999-2000 time-frame, the Taliban ordered all camps closed except those run by

UBL. AQ moves al Farouq camp to near Qandahar where it becomes a mega camp.

Exit from Afg.

Abu Yasir al Jaziri was an AQ operational facilitator. One of the operativeas' biggest

problems with getting, out was that their visa to Pakistan would expire and they would

then need to get an exit visa. Jaziri would help them to get out.

AQ mobility tactics

Soufan said the FBI knew before 9-11 that AQ was always trying to obtain fraudulent

passports. He cited a number of sources for this belief. In Sept. 1998, he saw evidence

of passport fraud as part of Operation Challenge. He also said that Ahmed Ressam was

told by Abu Zubaydah to get a Canadian passport in order to help carry out the

Millennium plot. Among the tactics he said were:

1. Marry a U.S., British, or Bosnian woman.

2. Use other AQ connections. Soufan said that Abu Zubaydah had a British passport

obtained through a connection of Khallad Bin Attash

3. Establish an AQ facility for producing forged passports. Soufan named the

following individuals as Al Qaeda facilitators. Harun (a Cameroonian) and Fasul;

Osama al Qini, and an individual in Africa, possibly in Tanzania. He said these

individuals reported to al Adel who was in Africa until 1998 when he went to

Qandahar.

Knowledge of AQ use of travel stamps

Soufan said they knew before 9-11 about AQ use of fraudulent passports and travel

stamps. He said AQ used code words.

N eed a suit =need 'apassport

Need some buttons on the suit = Need travel stamps on the passport

Soufan cited three sources for this knowledge:

1. London - Operation Challenge. Included references to suits and buttons.

2. Albania -- Tirana Plot - and the Stamps. They recovered some stamps from a

Kuwaiti NGO in Tirana. When they broke up this plot in 1998-1999 learned that

the plotters were giving fraudulent Egyptian passports to plotters who were

feeling the heat. They ended up catching a number of operatives, including one

who they caught in Turino, Italy with a fraudulent Yemeni passport.

3. Harun in Nairobi (the manufacturer). Soufan said they recovered stamps scanned

into his computer.

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9-11 plotters

According to Soufan, Khallad tried to get a visa to come to the U.S. using his Yemeni

passport in Apri12000. Soufan said he put on his application that he wanted to go to.

Bethel, Washington.

JKR questions late in the afternoon

Kahtani. Soufan debriefed Kahtani. his lies ended in a confession. I never asked for a

detailed debriefing of his interview by Mr. Melendez-Perez, (the inspector who had

Kahtani removed from Orlando Int'I Airport August 4,2001). Kahtani did say he told

the inspector he was a used car salesman. Kahtani was deeply religious. Kahtani said he

wore all black to the US so Atta would know who he was. Everyone is Mohammad to

Kahtani, although in the instance of who was meeting him at Orlando, the information is

correct. [Note: review of the 302swritten about these encounters with Kahtani does not

indicate Kahtani confessed to being part of the 9-11 plot.]

GMTO questioning. There was a standard litany of questions that were put to a1l

detainees origina1ly, but doesn't believe that is now the case. I move in and out of the

detainee interrogations, and the work is run by DOD, so you should ask them. I never

asked specific travel related questions as a matter of course.

Evidence of Al Qaeda guidance on getting past US border security. In Pennsylvania,

there was found a notebook. One set of entries is what to say to an immigration

inspector. That's in evidence in the Concordance system. Some of the guesthouses had a

tremendous amount on CDs on American history, maps, computers, and cultural training ..

KSM was training on these things.

The role of border security in the war on terror .. Help and assist governments who are

suffering from their own bad documents. DOS did this in Yemen, and has worked well.

The Yemenis were told all the problems with their travel documents. Yemen then

established a computer system and a national id card that is hard to get. This id card is

also an electoral id. Need the national id to get other ids, like a passport. Thinks INS is

doing a good job; the best they can.

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R f f i 1 . 1 J ~l9tJ1W1

ALL REPORTS AND CORRESPONDENCE

PERTAINING TO THE DEPARTURE OF SAUDI

ARABIAN NATIONALS FROM THE UNITED

STATES ON SEPTEMBER 13 AND

SEPTEMBER 14, 2001.

FINAL DRAFT of RESPONSE to OCTOBER

2003 VANITY FAIR ARTICLE

(RE: BINLADEN FAMILY DEPARTURES

AFTER 09/11/2001)

RESPONSIVE

to

REQUEST #14-4

SECRET MATERIAL ENCLOSED

THIS PACKET CONTAINS SENSITIVE CRIMINAL

AND/OR INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION PERTAINING

TO TERRORISM RELATED INVESTIGATIONS

COMMISSION COPY

- - - - - - - - - - - ~ - - - - - - - - - -

CTA000088227

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9/11 COMMISSION TASK FORCE

DOCUMENT DELETION CODES

[As of August 11, 2003]

26

A - SOURCEIINFORMANT INFORMATION - Information, the disclosure ofwhicb

would tend to reveal the identity of an informant or source where confidentiality is

expressed or implied.

B - FBI TECHNIOUES AND/OR METHODS - Information on sensitive FBI

techniques and/or methods which would impede or impair the effectiveness of that

technique and/or method.

C - NON-RELEVANT FBI CASE INFORMATION - Information neither relevant nor

responsive to the Commission's requests.

0 - FBI PENDING CASE INFORMATION - Information which would impede or

jeopardize a pending investigation of the FBI.

E - STATUTORY - Information legally prohibited from release by statute.

F PRIVACY/SECURITY - Information, the disclosure of which would be an

unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy or jeopardize the safety of law

enforcement personnel and/or their family members

Material redacted under this code includes (J ) social security numbers;

(2) date and place of birth; (3) home address and telephone numbers;

(4) personnel cell phone and pager numbers

G - FOREIGN GOVERNMENT INFORMATION - The identity of a foreign

government and/or foreign service to include the names of foreign law enforcement

employeeS/officials.

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FIN A L D R AFT

Response to October 2003 Vanity Fair Article

(Re: Binladen Family Departures After 09 /11 /2001)

September 24, 2003

PENTTBOM Team /

Arabian Penn insula Unit

s c:r '--. -

REQ 14- 4

000000001-

NCTA 88229

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Contents

A. Execu tive Summary

B. O verall B rie f Points

C. In dividual Flight B rie f Points

D. Support ing Summaries

E. B in Laden fam ily Appendix (Se e Chart)

F.

Vanity Fair

Issues

G . Senator F e ins te in 's Ques t ions

H. Saudi FCr Deta il s

r. Vanity Fair, O ctobe r 2003 A rticle , Saving T he S au dis , by Craig U nge r

J. T im e L ine s (Separate Charts)

REQ 14- 4

2

NCTA 8823

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EXE UTIVE SUMM RY

REQ 14-4

29

000000003

NCTA000088231

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SECR['f7/~OFOR..',

ORCON

30

FB I Execu tive Summary

Re sponse to O ctobe r 2003 Vanity. Fair Article,

Saving the Saudis

IU //L ES) The art ic le in Vanit, Fair al le g e s a group of Saudi ro yals t rave le d by air fr om

Tam pa , F lorida to Lexing ton, Kentu cky on Sep t embe r

13,2001,

prior to FAA . au thorization fo r

the se type s of flights . I t also alle g e s that a char t e red night le ft the U nite d State s (U S) with.

several m embe rs of [he B inl aden fa m ily w it hou t inv es t iga tio n by the FB I. B oth of these

allegations ar e fa lse . The re are many ot he r inaccurac ie s contain ed w it hin th e artic le .

(U lIL ES) The FB I condu cte d inv e sti g a tions prior to the departure of six charte re d flights,

hire d by Saudis w ish ing to re tu rn to Saudi Arabia . None of th ese flig hts violat e d

FAA

res t rict ions. The inves tig at ions ide nt if ied 141 pa ss enge rs aboard the se flights . A s air traffic

recove red , nume rous Saudis departe d aboard comme rcial as w e ll as othe r charte red flig hts .

(U IILE S) In re fe rence to th e six flig hts , the FB I and othe r law enforc ement agenc ie s

co nd uct ed inte rv iew s, dat abase checks and secur ity sw eeps prior to allow in g an y of the ni ghts to

depar t the U S. B e fo re departu re , a ll passenge rs' ide ntitie s w ere confirm ed and com pared against

w atch lis ts . Inve s tiga tors ve rified [h at the re w ere no unau thorized passenge rs aboard any flight s ,

and sw ept the aircr aft and lugg age for prohibite d i t ems. F urth e r inve st iga tion w as conduct ed

follow ing departu re w he re it w as de te rm ined to be ne ce ssary. N o inform ation of inve st igat ive

value w as le arned from th e in te rv iew s or follow ing the departu re of the s e in div id ua ls .

-{S 11N F,0C )

O n Septembe r

20,2003,

several m embe rs of the B inladen F am ily and th e ir

s ta ff d e pa rt ed the U nite d State s on Ryan A ir fligh t #441 . O ne of the passengers, O m ar B in lad en,

h ad p re v io usly bee n the subje ct of a FB I P re lim in ary Inqu iry (PI), be cause his fa the r, Abdu lla h

B inlade n, has be en conne cted 10 W orld A ss embly of Muslim Y ou th (W AMY ), a charity w ith t ie s

to te rro ri sm . This PI w as closed as no de rogatory informat ion conce rning O mar B inladen w as

revealed. Abdu llah B inladen depar t ed the U S some tim e in January

2001.

Ne ithe r casenas bee n

re opened as alleg e d in the art ic le .

(U II LES) Invest igat ion of t ile oth er passe ng ers yie lde d no inform ation pe rt ine nt to the

a ttacks of Septembe r 11, 2001, or the investi g at ion of O sama B in L ad en. None of the B inlade n

family m embe rs on th is f lig ht had bee n in re ce nt con ta ct w ith O sama B in Laden . A ll of the

passengers w e re e it he r half-s iblings or the children of half-s ibling s of O s am a B in L aden. None

of the in divi duals aboard w e re suspected of ha vi ng ti e s to te rro ris t o rg anizat ion s.

C U I/LES) A ch art ered fl ig ht de parted from L exing ton, Kentuck y on Se ptembe r 16, 20 01

w ith fou rte en pa sse ng ers . F ou r m em be rs of the party, to include the son of Prince Ahmed B in

Salm an B in Abdu laziz. arrive d in L exing ton from Tam pa

by

or. These four individuals had

disobe ye d the Prince by trave ling by car, ins te ad of by je t as the Prin ce ba d i ns tr uc te d them.

Hire d se curity pe rson ne l. w ho have be en qu oted in the art icle and in in t ervi ew s w it h the FB I,

hav e pe rpe tua ted th e cove r s tor y th at th e four had fl ow n fr om Tampa by consis t ent ly stati ng

th e re w as a chart e r fli g ht into L exing ton. No fl ights arriv e d or departed from L exing ton on .

Sept embe r i3 . 2001. in ad diti on. one of the m ember s of the priv ate pro te cti on de tai l has

co nfident ially to ld FB I age nts in L exing ton the tru th abou t how the tour arriv e d in L exing ton.

SECRET,'JNOFORN.ORCON

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NCTA000088232

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OVERALL BRIEF POINTS

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31

000000005

NCTA 88 33

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32

Saudi D epartu re s F ollo\\'ine 09/J 112 0 0 ]

09 113/21)01 - 09 120/21) 01 B in Lade n familyCharte r, Ryan Int e rna tiona l

Air line s

Flight 441

23 P asse nge rs, no children, 10 Passe ng ers w ere inte rview ed based upon the

discret ion of the FB .

A mai d w as no t inte rvi ew ed.

The

wife

an d

son

of

Khalil

B in Lad en w e re pre se nt du ring inte rvi ew s,

bur

w e re

not

in te rv iew ed se parate ly.

Khalil B in Laden w as inte rview ed tw ice prior

10

the departu re date . He the n ca lle d

th e in te rvie w ing agent and requeste d securi ty assist anc e in ge tting (0 the airport . A

th ird inte rview w as condu cted during the rid e .

Se arches of th e ai rc raf t an d passenge r lu ggag e w ere conducted, identitie s w e re

checked agains t th e manif e s t . and re cord che cks w ere conducted.

Prior

to

0 9/2 3 /20 0 2 , se ve ra l

chartered

nights w hi ch co ntain ed Saudi passenge rs drew a

. con si de ra bl e

amount

o f a tt e nt io n. These flig hts are su mm arize d be low . A fte r

0 9 /23 /2 0 0 2 ,

an undetermine d numbe r of Saudis

depar t ed

the U nited S tate s aboard comme rcial and

c ha rt ere d a ir cra ft .

0 9 /14 /2 0 0 IProvidence Rhode Island Charte r fl ight

4 Passenge rs, no children.

Extensiv e inve st iga tion

including

fo llow-up inte rview sw ere conducted

into 2002.

0 9116/20 0 I Je t le ase U SA Charte r f J i g ll t from Lexing ton, KY

14 Passe ng ers, no childre n.

All

passengers w ere ide ntif ie d and

confirmed

prior to departu re .

INS,

U SCS, and

FB I

records w e re che cke d.

0 9/19110 0 1

Las V egas

Charter Flights (threeflights)

48

Passengers (t hre e children) on

0 91l9 /20 0 1 , I S

passenge rs (n o ch ild re n) on

0 9120 /20 0

I, 34

passengers (on e

child)

on

091241200 \

FB I SAC

of Las V egas made contact w ith the Saudis at the Hote l prior to departu re

and obtaine d copie s 0

f passport

and passe ng er lis ts .

Record che cks w ere conducted and inte rview s w ere conducte d w he re nece ss ary.

5

individu als in

th e

par ty w ere interview ed because

of

in fo rmati on in

IlIA .

3

departed on

911912 0 0 1 , with

no de rogator y informati on in

IlIA.

One

depar te d on

9/2 0 1 2 00 1 ,

w ith no de rog atory

information

i 11

IlIA

ithheld from public release -

National Archives and

ecords Administration

der 36 C.F.R. 1256.58

Follow ing depa rtu re of these three flights a subpoena w as se rved for

t e le phon e

re cords of

th e

party.

No

connect ions

to the 19 hi jacke rs of

0 9J i 11 20 0

I w ere ide ntif ie d.

\V ~ ha ve

information about

one Saudi A irl ine

[light

w hi ch ar riv e d on 0 9/10 1 20 0 1 in rhe

course

of normal

bu sine ss . This

flight IV:1S stranded

at

Newark

Inte rnario nal in

New

Je rs ey

a lon g w ith a ll ot h e r comme rcial ilight s at the t im e . :\5 of 09113; :2 001 th e ni ght

\\':15

s t ill

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33

st rand ed.

In vestigation w as cond ucred, which

inc Iuded int e rvi ew s an d record checks.

The pa sse ng er list co nsiste d of 26 crew an d 92 pa ss engers .

This fligh t departe d aft e r th e fligh t re stricti ons w e re lif ted.

I n addition ro Sau dis w e id entif ie d a

uA.E

7~ 7 w hich departed [rom Lexi ng ton , KY

011

09/J 5/2001. No Saudis w e re aboard the Ilight. W e ha ve included th is informat ion because

the Vanitv F a i l article inclu des a re fe rence to a 747 . No chi ld ren w ere on board the flig ht .

REQ 144

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NCTA000088235

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INDIVIDUAL FLIGHT

BRIEF PO INTS

34

8

NCTA 88 36

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35

Rvan fnte rnation :ll F ligh t 441 (commonl \ re ferre d to as the B inlade n ram ilv f1i~ht)

F lig ht rou te :

St.

Louis .

\10:

L os A ng e le s . CA : Orlando.

FL:

\Vashi l1~ ton .

DC:

B os ton . \ JA

Ryan In t ernational F li g lu . + . + 1 : B oe ing 7 27 , de parte d U nite d S la te s a t appr oxim ate ly 2 :05

am EST on

9i20 20 0 1 .

F l i g h t ' + '+ 1

orig in ate d in

S t .

L ou is , M issouri. lide parte d on

9118/20 0 1

at 11 :00 am

E S T ,

. w ith no pass e ng e rs , and made .J additional s tops:

I. Los Ang e le s , Calif orn ia (l anded 12 :30 pm 9I1S/2001) - I passeng e r embarked,

le f t on 9119/20 0 1 at 8 :00 am .

I Orlando , F lorida (la nded 4: J 2 pm on 9/19/20 0 1 )- 3 p as se nge r s + - I se cu rir y

r ep re se nt ativ e e m ba rk ed, le f t on 9/19/2001 at 6:00 prn .

3. W ashing ton, DC (landed Du lle s Inte rnat ional 7 :36 pm on 9 /1 91 2 0 0 1 )- 5

passe nge rs e mbarked, le ft on 9/19 /2001 at 8 :30 pm .

4. B oston , M assachu se t ts (landed 11 :00 prn on 9 /19 /2001)- 14 passe ng ers + 3

secur ity e mbarke d. firs ts e cu rity represen ta t ive disembarked, le ft on 9/20 120 0 1 at

12:30 am .

O n 9 /20 /2001 , F lig h t 441 departe d B ost on at 12 :30 am en ro u te to Paris w ith a to ta l

0f

23 passe nge rs and 3 se cu rity represe n ta tive s and made the follow ing s tops:

1 . G oose B ay , N ew F oundland, arr ive d at 3 : 18 am and departe d at 5:00 am on

9/20/2001

2. Keflavik, Ic e land, arrive d at 10 :54 am and de parte d at 1 :00 pm on 9/20 /20 0 I

In Par is , F rance all passe ng ers d ise m ba rked at 6:30 pm on 9/ 20 /20 01 and cont in u e d to

othe r de stin a t ions. F ligh t 441 de parte d Paris w it h 3 se curity repre se n ta t iv e s a t 12 :0 I pm

on 9121120 01 .

F rom Paris , F li g h t 441 re tu rne d to tbe U nite d Sta te s w ith 3 secu rity represen ta t ive s via :

1 . Re ykjavik , Ice land: arrive d 1:01pm and departe d at 1 : 31 pm on

9/211200

l.

2 . Gande r, N ew Foundland: arrive d 2:31 pm and departe d at 3:0 1 pm on

9/21 /2001.

3. C incinnati, O h io: arrive d at 5:07 pm on 9/21 /2 0 0 1

Se arche s /Inve s tig a t ive S te ps :

FB I LA se arched F lig h t - + - +1 on 9/18 /20 0 1 prior to de partu re from L os Ange l e s ,

CA . Produced ne g ati ve re su lts .

FB I Boston searche d F lig h t 441 on 912012001 pri or to de partu re from B oston ,

M A . P roduced ne gat ive re su lts .

FB I checks , INS che cks, W atch list , and various conse n t se arch e s w e re conducte d .

Respond in g Spe cial A g en ts de t erm ined 20 of th e 2 3 p asse ng ers ne ce ss ita te d

inte rview s. 22 int e rv iew s w e re conducre d of those 20 passe nge r s . Khalil B in lade n

had bee n in te rv iew ed a to ta l of thre e t im e s (re fe r to Note se c ti on) .. Each prod uced

ne g ative re su lts .

~ Tw o fam ily m em be rs w ho w e re accompanying Khalil B in L aden w ere not

inte rv iew ed.

A . m aid w ho w as

JCCOI11

pany ing the pan) ' of B in L aden 's

w/10

board ed in B ost on

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NCTA000088237

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w as no t inte rv iew ed

36

Note :

Due to cc nce rns for her safe ty, Najiah B in laden cont acted FBI LA

on 91l8 200 1

to request an e scon to th e airport fo r he r flig ht ou t of Los Ange le s on 9119120 0 L

FB I LA tr ans por ted Najiah B in laden to the LAX te rm inal w it hou t in cident

Voicing sim ila r

con ce rn s

3S

those of

Najiah

B inladen, on 9117 /20 0 1 , Khal il

B in lad cn requeste d an FB I e sco rt for him se lf, his w ife and his son to the O rlando

airport on 9119/ 20 0

L

Khal il had been in te rvie w ed a to ta l of th re e time s, once

te lepho nica lly on

9112 /200

I, at his re sid ence on 91l

41200

1 an d w hi Ie being

e sc ort e d to th e airp ort on 9119/20 0 L FB T TP tran sported Khali l an d his fam ily to

O rlando w ithou t inc ident .

Other Agenc ie s involv ed:

FM;

rN S; U S C ustom s;

ATF;

LAPD ; Mass, SPD; Ryan Inte rnationa l

A ir line s Secu rity; S ig natu re F light Support Security

F.EQ 14-4

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37

Ch3rte red t1i~ht for Saudi A t : lhiun group out of Lexing ton. Kentuckv

011 Sunda y, Sept ember 16.2001, at4:30 p.m., a charte red lux ury

Boe ing

727 aircraft

landed at th e airport in Lexington, Kentucky .

The

flight w as

chartered

th rough Je t lease

U SA , 3700 Airport Road. Suire 204, Boca Raton, F lorida 33431, te le phone nu mber 56 1-

362-8 282.

Afte r bo ard ing its pa ss engers. th e ch art e re d fl igh; departed the United Sta te s du ring th e

e ve n ing hours of

Sunda y, Se ptember 16,2001. .

The passenge rs in clude d th e fo llow ing fourte e n (1 4) individuals, none of whi ch w e re

juven i les :

H.R.H . Prince Ahmed B in Salm an B in Abdulaziz

H.R.H .

Su lta n

B in Faha d

B in Salm an

Abdulazi z

Ahmad

O.H. AI-Biebi

Hash im Abdelrna g id Bash ir

Ali B en

M oh amed Aou ni

Je sus

Calda

Jack Rusbridge

Salah A l-Harnmadi

Ehab Abuag la Salim M oham ed

Ahmed A.M. AI-Hazmi

Talal M.M. Al-Mejrad

Moham ed O sm an A hmed E l-Marazki

Aboulsalam A .M . Al-Haddad

F ahad A .A . Al Ze id

The plane w as schedu le d to l1 y to Goose B ay, L abrador for re fu e ling prior to cont inu in g

on to lo ndon, Eng land , and th e n to Saudi A rabia .

S e arches / inve s ti g a tive s te ps :

P rio r to d epa rtu re , FB I L ou isville ag e nts tog ethe r w ith an office r from U S

Custom s che cked the crew from F lorida and inspecte d the aircraft . D u ring

board ing , e ach passenger w as

ide nti fie d

by passport by

a

U S Custom s office r.

O nly th e 14 pa ss e ngers lisre d abo ve board ed the charte r ed 7 27 .

Note :

Pri or to S ep te m be r I t, 200 1 ,a g ro up o f Saudi Arabian nat ionals t raveled to

L exi ng ton , KY , to at te nd the K e en ela nd horse au ct ions. F ollow in g th e te rroris t

a tt acks, member s of this g roup m ade se ve ral unsu cce ssfu l a t tem pts to g ain

au thorizat ion for the usual Saudi g ove rnm en t airplane to e n te r the U nite d S tate s .

A s a resu l t.

th e group made arrangemen ts

for

a chartered

luxury Boe ing 7 27 fro m

F lorida to fly to L exin g ton. KY .

According to .1 SA . on si te . aft e r the Sep tembe r 1 1 at tacks . H .R .H . Prince Ahmed

B in Salm an B in ..l .bdu lniz at te mpte d

10

arrang e for h is son and h is son's frie nds

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38

to fl y fr om F lorid a to L exing to n, KY on a chart e red je t.

H.R.H.

Prince Sul tan B in

Fahad B in Sa lm an Bin Abdul az iz filed a flight plan in F lorida; bu t that flight plan

w as

re jec ted. As a re su lt ,

H.R.H.

Prince Sulta n

B in F ahad

B in Salman B in

A bdu laziz, F ahad

A .A . A l-Zcid,

Talal ;vf.I\ .

A-Mej rad

an d

Ahmed

A .M . Al-

Hazm i drove

to Lexing ton,

KY

from F lorida.

Because

thi s violated an explicit

dire ctiv e from hi s fa ther, th e Saudi pr ince and his companions, an d the ir secur ity

de tai I perpetuated th e cov e r stor y that the group had trave led

by

pr i vat e je t .

. L exing ton Airport Police Chie f

Sco tt

Lant e r confirm ed

th at

no

plane s

to ok off or

landed at the ai rport

u n t i I

th e

FAA

li fte d the ba n on flights.

O the r Agencies inv ol ved:

U S Customs, L exing ton, KY Police Department

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NCTA000088240

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39

REPl'BLfC OF G.-\BO;\-FLAGGD

(from

Las Vegas)

Charte red Republic or Gabon-flagged

DC-8

7 3 , Tail numbe r TR-LTZ, departe d

U nite d Sta te s on 0911 9/2001.

F lig ht DC-S-7 3 departe d from Las V egas, Neva da de st in at io n Gene va, Sw itze rland.

O n

0 9/19 /200 1 ,

F l igh;

DC

-8 -

7 3 depa rte d w ith 46 Saudi A rabian Roy al Party an d

en tou rag e passengers logged

:i t

air por t prior to de part u re . The re w e re th re e (3) Saudi

m inors 011 board aged 11,9 and 5.

Searches/Investigative Techniques:

Te lephone re cords w ere provide d

by

H ote l S ec urity on

09111/2001

an d

09112 /2001 re garding Saudi A rabian Royal Party srayingar the F our Se ason's

Hote l and Caesar's Palace , L as V eg as, N evada.

O n

09

/

18 120 01, SAC FB I & SAC U SSS met w ith

Prince Abdul Maje ed Abdul

Aziz to d iscu ss plans for the Royal Party .

O n 0 91l8 /20 0 1 , M anife s t of Royal Party w as provide d along w ith co pie s of

passports.

FBr

and W a tchlis t checks w ere conducte d.

In re sponse to in fonnation in IlIA , 3 pe rsons w e re in te rview ed on 9/18 /2001 .

Withheld from public release

by National Archives and

Records Administration

under 36 C.F.R.

1256.58

Agencies involved:

FB I; U SS S; uses ; eNS

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NCTA000088241

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40

CHARTERED (F Ji2ht B 727 -21 from Las Vegas)

Char te re d B 727-21, ta il nu mbe r N72 iPX departed the U ni ted Stale s on

09/20/2001,

F lig ht B 727-21 departed from Las Vegas. Neva da destina tion Sramstead Airpor t

(L ondo n), Eng lan d.

On 0 9/20 /20 0 I, F light B 727-21 departed with 1 8 S au di Arabian Roy al Part y and

e nt ourag e

passengers logged

at airport

prior

to

departure ,

No Saudi children on board

Searches/I nvestigari ve Techniq lies:

Telephone records were provide d

by

H ot el S ec urity 011

09/1

[/200]

and

0911112001 regarding Saudi Arabian Royal Party staying at the Four Season's

Hotel an d Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada.

On 0 9118 /20 01 : SAC FBI

&

SAC USSS

met

with Prince Abdul Majeed Abdul

Aziz to discuss plans for the Royal Party.

On 0 9/18 /20 0 I, Manifest of Royal Party was provide d along with copies of

passports.

FBl

and Wa t chlist

checks were conducted.

1

person was interviewed on

9/18 /2001

because ofinfonnation (which was not

derogato ry) containe d in IliA.

1 _



Records Administration '

under 36 C.F.R. 1256.58

Other Agencies involved:

FBI; u ss s, u se s; INS

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41

A\ ERIC.-\~ TRA;\'S AIR (F li~h t ATA

L-l

01 J

from Las V egas)

Charte re d America n Trans Air (A.1.-\) L-IO l1, TailnumberN189A T, departed U nited

Sta te s on

0 9 /24 /1 0 0 1 .

F lig ht

ATA L-lO OI departe d

Las V egas ,

Nevada

de stinati on Char le s de Gaulle A irport.

Pari s , F rance and London,

UK.

O n 0 9 1 2 41 2 0 0 I, F ligh t

: . l ..

TA L -J 011 departed w ith 34 Sau di Arabia n Royal Party,

including ent ourag e logg ed at airport p rior to departure . There w as on e (1 ) Saudi m inor

aboard this fl igh t ag ed 16 .

Searches/Inve stigati ve Techniqu e s:

Check s conducted ag ain st FB I W aichlist and Jl IA produce d nega tiv e re sul ts.

Agencies invo lve d:

FB; use s

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42

Norths tar .-\\ 'iat ion Ili~ht to Paris . france from Pro\'ide nce . Rhode Island

Pacific

Je t

Company made a

fligh: reservat ion

fo r

9/ [4 /2001

to t rave l from Provide nce ,

Rhode Island at 1100 am EST to Paris, F rance via Norths tar Aviat ion. Type of aircraft is

undocumente d.

The re se rvation w as m ade for 4 individuals : She ik Mashour A l Ibrahim , Abdu llah A I

Shwran, A ly Haffan Solim an, and Y oune f B rahirn Jab allah .

F light w as paid for by A lan Robe rt Saw aya 's Ame rican Expre ss cre dit card totaling

575,00.00 for the trip including 1500 lbs , of luggage at the reque st of She ik Mashour Al

Ibrahim 's busine ss manage r. Saw aya, w ho w as inte rview ed on 9114 12 0 0 1 , is a

s tockbroke r for CREDIT SU ISSE F IRST B O STO N of w hich the aforem ent ioned are

member s .

Rene

Lannoy

is a security

guard and coordinator

of trave l for A l-Ibrahirn

an d Al-Shwran.

L aJU 10y m ade the

fl ig h t

arrang em ents for

t h e a fo rem en ti on e d

in dividuals.

Searche s/Inve st ig at ive S teps:

O n

9/1 4 1 2 0 0 1 , FBI

RI ident ifie d and inte rvie we d, A I Ibrahim ,

Al Shwran,

Solim an and

Jaballa h

at Norths tar A via tion in W a rw ick,

RL

In a ddition

to

inte rvie ws and

ID

che cks, luggage w as se arche d

with

negat ive

results ,

FB I che cks, INS che cks, W atch lis t, and various consent searche s w e re conducted.

Each produced negative re su lts .

Extensive inve stig ation re vealed no informat ion to sugge s t trave l by A l Ibrah im , A l

Shwran, Soliman and Jaballah w ithin New Eng land w as connected to any te rroris t or

c rimin al a ct iv it y.

O the r Ag encie s involved:

U SCS; L JSINS; DcrS;

Rhode

Is land SPD ; W arw ick PD ; Boston PD ; and

TF

Green PD

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SUPPORTING SUMMARIES

REQ 14-4

4 3

(HH\ Ii (HH'\ .,

- - - _

_ _

.

NCTA000088245

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44

PENTTB O M

091l7/2003

Rvan Inte rnati onal F light 441 from St. L ou is. : '110: L os A ng ele s.

CA:

O rlan do. F L: \V as hin gton.

DC: and Bost on. ;\orA

Re fe rence alle gations abou t O sarna Binladcn relatives departing the U S be fore the lift ing offlighr

restrictions.

O n

091191 200

I, R yan Inter nat ional A irlin e s, t1ight numbe r 441 , w as contra ct e d by the Saudi

Embassy to make se ve ra l stops in th e U S to pick up various Saudi ind iv idu als for exp edi ti ous depa rt u re

fro m th e U nite d State s . Ryan Inte rna ti on al F light 441 u lt imat e ly departe d B os ton, MA to le ave th e

co untry at approximate ly 2:05 am EST on

09/20 /20 0

I. F light re s trict ions had be en lifte d at this tim e .

: , ,> ,

Ryan Inte rnational A irline s flight 441 orig inate d in St. Louis, M issouri and made s top s in L os

A ng ele s, C alif ornia; O rlando, florida; W ash ing ton, D is tric t of Columbia (Dulle s); and Boston ,

M assachu se tts be fore de partin g the U nite d State s, F light 44 I picked up the follow ing passenge rs at those

airports :

Name

Depar ture City

Interviewed by the

Case

FBI?

Opened '?

Najia B inladen

L os A ng ele s, CA

Y es

No

Khalil B in laden

O rlando, FL

Y es

No

Su ltan B inl aden

O rlando, FL

No'

No

Maria M. F. Bayrna

O rlan do, FL

No'

No

Shafig B inlad en

Washington,

DC

Y es

No

Akberali Moawall a

Wash ing ton . DC

Y e s No

O rnar Aw ad B inladen

Wash ing ton, DC

Y es

No

Kho loud Osarna Kurdi

W ashing ton, DC

Y es

No

Badr Ahmed Binladen

Wash ing ton, DC

Y es

No

Nawaf Bakr Binladen

Boston, MA

Y es

No

Reern Harnza Asar

Boston, MA Y es

..

No

Ornar S ale h A lm ad ou di

Boston, MA Y es

No

F aisal S ale h

A lrnadoudi

Boston, M A Y es No

M ohammed Saleh B inladen

Boston, M A

Y es

No

Salman Salem B inladen

B oston, M A

Y es

No'

Tam ara Khalil B inladen

B oston, MA

Y es

No

Sana'a

M oham med B inladen

B oston, MA

Y es

..

No

Mohammed Aw ed A ljohi

Boston, MA

Y es

No

Hasan A w ed A ljohi B oston, MA Y es

No

Suya ti B . T . Sum iran Sadar

Boston, MA

No'

No

Faisal Khalid Binladen Boston, MA Y es

No

Salem Ali Salem A ly afe ai

Bos ton. MA Y es

No

A lrntas im Maz en A ls aw w af

B ost on. MA

Ye : s

No

'S u ltan B in lad en and Maria lvLF . B ayrna acc ompanied Khalil B inladen, w ho ha d be en

in te rv i ewed th re e tim e s.

Ree m Harnz a Asar w ase pre sent during th e in te rvi ew of F aisal Saleh Alrnadoudi.

'Sadar was not inter view ed becau se sh e 'JS the maid for the group

Najiah B inl ad en w as e scorte d by FB I LA to a c ha rte r te rmina l at L\.:'

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45

REPU BL IC O F GAB O N-FLAGGED (from Las Veg a s)

O n 0911 t20f) I, SA 's in t ervie w ed manag em en t a [the Fou r Seasons Hote l and Cae sar 's

Palace . Te le phone re cor ds of th e FA ISAL BIN

ABDU LM AJEED

party w e re provid e d to

SA 's by Caesar 's Palace Se cu rity. O n 09l:U 2001 , te le phone re cord s from [h e Fou r

Se ason 's Hote l, for th e M OHA :vt W AL -T A Y HA party w e re provide d.

O n 091t8 /2001, sxcl IF B r L as V egas and SAC I IU nite d S ta te s

Secre t S e rv ice (USSS), m e t w ith Saudi A ra bi an P rince ABDU L MAJEED .AJ3DUL AZIZ

and his re presen ta t iv e s . T he Saudi A rabian 's w e re aske d to pro vide a m anife s t of the ir

e n t ire party and photocopie s of e ach pe rson 's passport. A total of69 nam e s w ith

iden ti t ie rs w ere che cked against the cu rre n t F B T Wa t ch L is t and ran for IIIA re ports . No

W a tch L is t m atche s w e re d is co ve re d.

3 individu als f rom th is f1ig h t w e re in te rv ie w e d by the FB I be cau se of the follow ing non-

derogatory infon4 1u tion in I IIA :




under 36 C.F.R. 1256.58

O n

0 9119 /200 1 ,

Flig h t DC-8 -7 3 , Tail num be r TR-LTZ a charte r ed , Republi c of G abo n-

fl ag g ed DC-8 -7 3 depar t ed L as V egas , N evada w ith the fin al de st ina t ion of G eneva,

Sw itzerland , The FB I cle are d 46 Sau di passe ng ers to board th is f lig h t. The r e w e re three

(3) ch ildren unde r the ag e of 18 aboard th is flig ht ag e s 11 ,9 and 5.

P rior to its de partu re , the aircraft w as sw ep t , per ime te r se cu rity w as provide d, and all

pe rsons boarding w e re m atched to a pre viou sly-ob taine d m anife s t and photocopi e s of

passports by Agen ts and O ffice rs of the uses.

REQ 14- 4

( }00000019

NCTA 88247

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46/84

REPU BLIC OF GABON-fLAGGED (Flight

DC-B-73)

SU Dportin12 Sumrnan:: (Saudi Nation als B oarding F It. DC-8-73)

Name

l.

2.

3.

4.

5 0 .

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

2l.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

Prince Abdu lm aje ed bin A bdu la ziz

Princess Sara bin: Abdul Monsen

a l- . A . . .

1yary

Prince F aisal bin A b du lm a je e d

Prince Abdulaziz bin Faisal bin A bd ulm aje e d

Prince Turki bin F aisa l bin A bdu lmajeed

Princess

Sultana

b in t I bra him

A.

al-Brahirn

Princess

al-A noud B int F aisal

al-Jouharah Moheisen ai-Anyary

Mr. Mohammed A. al-Tayari

Hesharn Ahmed Aki

Arnani M. M. al-Sharif

Fatimah M. S.

K J 1 a ti

Omar Y. M. Taraweh

Roqayah H. S h. F alla ta

Hussein

Abdelrahirn

Khalid H. A. al-Assaf

Ahmed A bd al-R aze k

Aisha B. A. Trawi

Sultan S. A. A. al-Amri

H. A. M. Hassan

Salrna Kassern Daou

Norma Tamano

Abdallah Issa Zineh

Mous tafa

Mahe r

al-Beh idy

Hassan Mohammed Abd al-Razek

Salah Naser al-Din

Medhat

Mohammed

Rizk

Mohammed Shaw kat A li

M oham med A .M . al-Shihiri

Talaat Aly Zenhourn

Hayat H.A. al-Hazrni

A li F aizy

Delwar

Saeedah A.M. al-Mobarak

Faisal M.S.

al-Harbi

Rahrna Sae ed O . A li

Fatmah S. O. Ali

Hussein Y.A. Ashmawi

Tariq Y .

Houihan

B adr A.. S . D u ra yin

MoharnmedA .. ~vf. al-Zahrani

33.

34.

35.

36.

37.

38 .

39.

~O .

REQ 14-4

Date of

Birth

4 6




under 36 CF R. 1256.56

000000020

NCTA000088248

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47/84

41 .

Khalid

A.

S.

al-Jarnili

42. M edhat M ohammed Taha

43 . Hassan Sayed Soliman

44. Sarnir Saber Soliman

45. Mansour S . R . al-Harbi

46 . Mohammad S.

S .

al-Harbi

REQ 14-4




under 36 C.F.R. 1256.56

47

000000021

NCTA000088249

7/26/2019 2012-048-doc-020

48/84




under 36 C.F.R.

1256.58

48

CHARTERED

(Flight B 727-11 from Las Vegas)

On 09/l1/2001, SA's

in te rv iew ed

management of the Four Seasons Hotel and Caesar's

Palace. Telephone records of the F.-\ISAL BN ABDULMAJEED party were provided to

SA's

by

Caesar's Palace Security, On 09i1212001, telephone records from the Four

Season's Hotel, for [he vfOHA.MAD AL-TAYHA parry were provided,

On 0 91 18 /20 0 1 , SACI IFBI Las Vegas and SAc IUnited States

Secret Service (USSS), met with Saudi Arabian Prince ABDUL MAJEED ABDUL AZIZ

and his representatives. The Saudi' Arabian's were asked, to provide a manifest of their

entire party and photocopies of each person's passport, A total of 69 names with

identifiers were checked against the current FBI Watch List and ran for IIIA reports. No

Watch List matches were discovered.

One (I) individual [rom this flight was interviewed by the FBI because of the following

non-derovatorv infOn1,;Jtinn in T I T A ,

I

v

--J - --- -- -

_On 0 9 /2 0 /2 0 0 1 , 18 members of the Saudi Arabian Royal Party and members of their

entourage arrived for the departure of Flight B 72721, Tail number N727PX, a chartered,

B 717 scheduled to depart Las Vegas, Nevada with the final destination ofStamstead

Airport (London), England. There were

J

total of 18 Saudi passengers aboard this flight.

There were no children aboard this flight.

Prior to its departure, the aircraft was swept, perimeter security was provided, and all

persons boarding were matched to a previously-obtained manifest and photocopies of

passports by Agents and Officers of the United States Customs Service (USeS).




under 36 C.F.R.

1256.58

FEQ 14-4

000000022

NCTA000088250

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49/84

CHARTERED (F lig ht B 727-2])

. SupDol1in Summar : (Sa udi Nati onals Boarding F It. B 727-21)

Nam e

I. Saad M . A . al -Sowailern

2. A li Abdu lr ahrnan

3. Moteb R. O . al-Ouf i

4. Waleed S. A. al-Ajroush

5. Nasser M. A. al-Swelim

6. Zouhe ir K arim C he haye b

7. Badr Mohamed Hassan

8. Ashraf Gharib Taher

9. Mohamed Ishak

Tolb a

10. He sham Mahmoud Se lim

1 1. Gualberro Glore

l2. Hazern Abdul Karim

1.3. Gam e l Ibra him :1 1 -

Talw any

l4. Sulaiman E. A. al-Eissa

15. Abdullah D. A. al-Shahrani

16. Mohammed Abdalla Abou Gabil

17.

Gilles Gerard

l8. Fahd A. S. al-Salem

REQ 14-4

Date of B irt h




under 36 C.F,R. 1256.56

4 9

23

NCTA000088251

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50/84

50

A ,\lERIC.-\.\

TRANS AIR

(F light A

T.-\

L -l 011 from Las Ve~as)

O n 09 /2 '+ , ' 2001,

34

membe rs of anothe r Saudi Arabian Royal Party and membe rs of the ir

entourag e , lodged at the

Bellagio

Hote l,

Las

Vegas, Nevada arrived for the de partu re of

r .

F l i g h t American Trans A ir (ATA) L -IO II , r ai l n L lmb e rN189AT,

a

chartered, L - I O l I

schedu led to depart L as V egas, Nevada

With

an init ia l d es tin at ion of Charle s de Gau lle

A irport (Pa ris), france and a final de s tinat ion of L ondon,

UK.

The re w e re a total of34

Saudi p< lssenge rs aboard this flight. The re

w as

on e

(1)

Saudi m inor aboard this fligh t

ag ed

16 .

The nam es of all passe nge rs and associa ted ide nt ifie rs on

th e

m anife st w ere checked

ag ainst the curre nt FB I W a tch L is t, an d ra n f or p ot en tial IT IA reports . B oth che cks m e t

w ith ne gative re su lts .

Prior

to

de partu re , the aircraft w as sw ept, perim ete r se curity

w as

prov ided ,

and all

perS0'1S boarding \ A ' e r e

matched

t o a previously-obtained m anifest and

photocopies

of

passports by Agen ts and O ffice rs of the U nited Sta te s Customs Se rvice (U SCS) ..

REQ 14- 4

000000024

NCTA000088252

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51

.-\\IERIC.-\.:\, TR.-\ \S AIR (Flight.-\

TA

L-IOll)

SUDDortin

u

Sum mar\': (Saudi N at ionals B oarding

fit

AT A L -I 0 11)




under 36 C.F.R. 1256.56

Name

1. Princ ess :vle dh aw i bint A bdu laziz al-Saud

2. Prince Turki bin Saad bin Mohammed bin Abdu laziz al-Saud

3. Prince Saud bin Saad bin Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Saud

4. Prince Sarah bin Saad bin Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Saud

5. Prince A lanoud bin Saad bin Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Saud

6. D r. B adr Hassan bin Shalhoub

7. Mohammed al-Yahya

8 . Sam ilrah Ham rnad

9. The (ille gible ) H arnrnad

1 0. N ou f a l-I ille g ib le )

11. I.uhway Abdul M(ilkgib e)

1 2. Sh arif al-Sayed Hegazy

13 . A shraf A bou .Shakrah

14. Tyaha

Soliman

Karrar

15. Agata Ok(illegible)

16. Fadhila Rojeb

1 7. B ou ba ke r B ou (ille gible )

18. Hind K(illegible)

19.

Zkr ea B ( ille g ib 1e )

20. Bcdrays Ahmed C(illegible)

21. Rugalya Adam Mohammed

22 . Wagd? Abdul Samad Abbas

23 .

Ab(illegible)

Yaqoub

Ahmed

24. Gre t a

A(illegible)

25 .

Princess

A bta b int A bdu la ziz

bi n

Saud

26. Mahmoud F. El(ilJegibJe)

27. Hind Mallla

28. Aisha A. Asir?

29. Gala?

M ahm oud M e?w (illeg ib le)

AI-Agz

30 .. Arnaar B(iilegible) Abdul Mut(illegible)

31. Fatima I(illegible) Mohammed N(illegible)jull1udeen

32. M urnun B . T . A (il1 eg ib le )m in S ale h

33. P rince Su ltan bin A bdu laziz bin Tu rki al Saudi

34. Princess

Taghraed

bint

A bd ula ziz a l-S au d

D :lte of

Birth

Note: Record checks were conducted based upon the names

an d

identifiers contained

in . th e

identification documents.

REQ 14- 4

000000025

NCTA000088253

7/26/2019 2012-048-doc-020

52/84

REQ 14 4

52

BINLADEN FAMILY

APPENDIX

26

NCTAOOOOSS254

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53

U1\ ~SSIf[EDIIFOR OFFICIAL USE C Y

(U/FOCO) The B inlade n Fam ily

(U/IFOUO) Usarna

bin Lade n

(UBL)

is a

member

of a larg e and w e alth y Sau di family.

The fam ily pa triarc h, Mohammed A w ad B inladen, cam e ro the ki ngdom from Had ramou t

(Sou th

Y emen)

som e t ime

aro und

1930 .

1

In Saudi Arabia, lJBL 's fa the r became a constructio n magnate , comple t ing

pres tig ious

projec ts such

as

the re novati on

of

the

ho ly

mosque s

in

Mecca and

Medina .

As

a

re su lt, the

Binladens

are a highly respecte d fam ily both w it hin th e

Saudi royal household an d with the public.'

(UIIFOUO)

The re is some confusion as to

th e

to tal numbe r ofU BL 's siblings.

. Som e cite tha t he is the younge st of som e 20 sons, 2 w hile othe rs cl aim he i s th e

se venth

son.' .

Tile to ta l numbe r of his siblin g s migh t be 50,4 5 2,5 o r 54 .

6

In an in t erv iew. U B L

se emed unsure as w e ll, c iting that

he

had 25 brothe rs-although h e cou ld

r emember the nam es of only 20.

7

. .

Nearly

all of th e se sibling s are half-brothe rs or half-siste rs , as U BL 's fat he r had

mult ipl e

wive s.

UBL ' s ow n Syr ian mothe r,

Harnida,

is cite d as havi ng only on e

son. .

(U/ffOUD)

The B inladen fam ily h as de nou nced

UBL

repeatedl y.

In 1994, th e Binladen fa m ily issued a statement exp re ssing its reg re t ,

denunciat ion

and

condemnat ion of all ac ts that

Osama

bin Laden

may have

comm itted, w hich w e do not condone and w e reject.:

A fte r the attacks on the U S on Septembe r 11,2001, the curre nt head of the fam ily ,

She ik Abdullah Aw ad Aboud B iu lade n, said The fam ily has pre viously

announced it s posit ion [to distance itself] from Usama and condemned his acts.

J ,A. B iog rap hy of O sam a B in Laden. PBS F ront line . 26 Se ptem be r Z O O l.

~ .M il le r, Ju dith . B in L aden: Child of Pr ivi le g e W 1)0 Cha mpion s Holy \V ar. 14 Se ptem be r 200 1 .

J Kru shelnycky, A skold . A fghanis tan : W ho i s B in L aden and W hat M ake s Him Tick? Radi o F re e

Europe /Radi o

Liberty.

14 Sep te mbe r 200 1 .

J

Krushelnyc ky

; Dobbs , M ic hae l. Bin Laden: A

'M aste r Im pre sar io ',

W as hing ton Pos t . 13 Se ptembe r 2001.

C Abu-Nasr, Donna , Bin Laden A im s to R id e 'Inf ide ls ', A ssociate d Press . is Sept ember 200 1.

: Laks hrna nan . Indira. Sin Laden Re porte dly Say s He Has Arm ed A fghanis tan. BOSTOr Glob e . 26

Septembe r z o o 1.

s A bu -Nasr.

., B in Laden Denou nced bv H is F arni ly . Independ ent T e levisicn

\ ( IVS.

15 Septembe r 200 I.

l':--JCLASSIFIEDI/FOR OFFICIAL lJSE

ONLY

REQ 14-4

27

NCTA000088255

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lJN( .SSIFIED fOR OFFICIAL CSE 0

All the ' farnilv m embe rs condemn all violent and te rrorist acts . even if U sarna is

b eh in d t he m: ,ii) Sheik Abdullah is LBl 's uncle. .

(U / IFO U O )

lTBl's own fam ily situation is as unclear as many of the othe r aspects of hi s

personal lif e .

VEL first married at the age of 17 to a Syrian g irl w ho w as a re lative .

II

Ol1~Source reports that U BL now has at le ast th re e w ives and more than 20

children. Another sou rce says that U BL is married to four w omen and has 1 .:I.{0

1S children.':'

In an inte rview , U BL is reported to have said that he has only thre e w ive s, not the

f iv e re po rt ed in som e accounts. The report said U BL re sis te d p ers on al q ue st ion s,

saying only that he has thre e w ives and 16 children.

10 Ibid,

II '; B io gra ph y o f O s aI 11 ~ Bin Liden:'

I}

B in L ad en

Still

ClU ing the Shots in W ar

wi tl : U n it ed

States. .. . I , .gence F ra nce -P re ss e. 2 5 S ep te mb er

200 .

I;

Abu-Nasr

I J

Lakshmanan

CNCLASSfFIEDI FOR OFFICIAL L JS E ONLY

REQ 14 4

54

000000028

NCTA000088256

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REQ 1.d-.d

55

VANITY FAIR ISSUES

000000029

NCTA000088257

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Counterpoints:

56

SECRfTI/ ~OFO R:\f

(V) The Vanity Fail' article reports the claims of retired Tampa police officer Dan Grossi.

He

claims

that he an d a form er FB [

agent

Manue l P e re z p ro vid ed

security

fo r a f lig ht f ro m

Tampa, Florida to Lexington, Kentucky.

(U l/LES) A group of Sau dis, w ho w ere accompanyi ng Prince Ahmed B in Sa lman B in Abdu laziz

ha d be en

in Lexington, Kentucky to attend a horse auction. After the

terror at tacks

of September

II , 200 I, these individuals made repeated attempts to leave the United States, but were

unsuccessful unti l

09 /1611001 ,

w hen t h ey depar ted a bo ar d a c ha rt e re d 7 27 . O n 091J

3 /2001

the y

were joined by Prince Sultan Bin Eahad Bin Salman Abdu1aziz, an d three companions, who

according [0 an FB I A gent f rom Lexing ton , Ken tucky RA had arrived by au to mob ile from

F lor ida .

(U) In addition, FBI documents marked 'Secret' indicated that two members of the bin

Laden family, which has repeatedly distanced itself from Osama bin Laden, were under

in vestigatlon ...




under 36 C.F.R. 1256.58

(U) they left the US without even being interviewed by the FBI

(UlILES) O f the 23 Saudi p asse ng e rs a board R yan In te rn ational A irlines charter

flight

441 ,

re sp on din g ag e nts d et erm in ed that

20

individuals ne e ded to be inte rvie w ed , 2 2 in te rvie w s

were

condu cte d of th ese

20

individuals.

(U ) Os ama

W lS

not the only m embe r of the immense bin Laden fam ify--tbe re are more

than 50 siblings-ovtth ties to m ilitan t Islam ic fundamentalists.

REQ 14- 4

~ECRET. INOF OR~

000000030

NCTA000088258

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57

SfCRT/,'l\OFOR~

(LJfLES) Th e re w er e no siblin gs

ofU B l' s

w ith tie s to Militant

Islamic fundament alist s aboa rd

th e fl ig ht.

(C) Richard Clarke: itwas either the State Dept or the FBI who initiated the request for

the Saudis to depart.

'CU )

A n

indications are that the Saudisiniti ated these

fligh t s

on th e ir

ow n

ini tiative .

(U) Meanwhile, the Saudis had at.least two other planes on call. Starting in Los Angeles

on an undetermined date, one of them flew first to Orlando, Florida, where Khalil bin

Laden boarded. From Orlando, the plane continued to Dulles International Airport,

outside

Washingron,

DC, before going on to Boston's Logan I nt e rn anona l Airport on

September 19, picking up members of the bin laden family along the way.

(U) See summary for Ryan International Airlines flight 441 and timeline.

(U) Other stops for the Saudis are said to have included Houston, Cleveland, and

Newark.

(UlllES)

No FBI re cord s of any such flights could be located to con.firm or refute this

al legat io n.

(U) Khalil bin Laden, who boarded a plane in Orlando that eventually took him back to

Saudi Arabia, WOII the attention of Brazillan investigators for possible terrorist

connections. According to a Brazilian paper, he had business connections in the Brazilian

province of Minas Gerais, not far from the tri-border region, an alleged center for training

terrorists.

(UlILES) Khalil Bin Laden's wife, Isabel Bayma is from Brazil. He undoubtedly has business

connections in Brazil. Even if we assume that the reports in the article are true,they do not

indicate a connection to terrorists. There is no indication in FBI records that there is a

connect ion between Khalil B in L ode n and t errorist tr a ining in the tri-border region .

(U) ... but the documents show that the file on Abdullah and Omar was reopened on

September 19, 2001, while the Saudi repatriation was still under way. 'These documents

show there was an open FBI Investigatlon into these guys at the time of their departure,'

says David Armstrong, an investigator for tile Public Education Center, the Washington,

DC, foundation that obtained the documents.




under 36 C.F.R. 1256.58

tCRET,';'~OFORN

REQ 14- 4

000000031.

NCTAOOOOS8259

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58

SECRfT, ' /? iOFORN

FB I Sta tem ents att ribu table to the FB I:

(U) I

can say

unequivocally

tha t the FB I had no role

in

Iacilitating the se flights one

way

or

another. S.-\

John

I an n a re lli

(W ILES) True , w e did not facilita te the flights , bu t w e did e scort Saudis to the ir flight on tw o

se para te occasions for

f lig ht 441 .

(U) According to FBI spokesman John Iann

arelli,

FBI counterterrorism

agen t s

pursuing

th e investigation were stranded allover the country, unable to

fly

for several days. Yet

now the same counterterrorism unit was e ffe ctive ly a cting as a chaperone for the Saudis.

(U lILES) Agents w ere stranded even afte r the

f l i g h t

re st ric tio ns w e re

lift ed d ue

to the

backlog

of

passengers .. Agents did provide security escorts for membe rs of B in Laden family w ho were

afraid for the re life . The se tw o statements w ere made separate ly by J ohn . I a nn ar e ll i.

(U) According to

The New York Times, bi n

Laden family members were driven or flown

under FBI supervision first to a secret assembly point in Texas and later to Washington.

From there, the Times reported, they left the country when airports reopened on

September 14. The FBI has said the Times report is 'erroneous.'

(U ) The FB I re sponse to the times a rtic le is a cc ura te .

SECRET//?\OFOR:-- i

REQ 14-4

000000032

NCTA000088260

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59/84

S

ECRET/ i0 iQ

FORe ' \ [

Indire c t or l noffic ia / fB I S ta tem ents :

(U ) R ichard C larke : Som ebody broug h t to u s for approval the de cis ion to le t an airp lane

f ille d w ith Saudis , including m embe rs of the bin L aden fam ily , le ave the coun try. My role

\\::IS to sa y t ha t it can' t happen unt il th e FBI approves it . A nd so the FB I w as asked-ewe

had a live conne ction to the FBI--and w e asked the fB[ to m ake su re tha t the y w e re

sa t isf ie d that e ve rybody g e t t ing on that plane w as som eone that it w as O K to le ave . And

the y cam e hack and said ye s , it w as f ine w ith them . So w e said , 'F ine , le t it happen .

CU ) This is an indire c t quote of an unknow n FB [re pre se n ta t ive . W e do not know w ho m ade the

a J le g e d FB I sta tem en ts .

(U) Altogether, abou t 140 Saudis were on the flights, according to an FBI source,

(T J L ES) In the

severalflights

w e have ide nt ifie d the re w ere

2 .

to ta l of 141 Saudis w ho le ft th e

cou ntry be tw e en

0 91 t 6 12 0 0

1 and

09124 /200

l.

C U )

10 fact , th e F B I bad be e n ke e ping an eye on som e of the b in L adens. A classifie d FB I

f ile e xa m in ed by

Vanity Fair

and marked 'S e cre t ' show s that as e arly as 1996 the bu re au

had spent nearly

nine

months investigating Abdullah and Omar bin Laden who were

involved

w ith the A me rican

branch of

th e

World

Ass emb ly

of

Musl im

Youth

(W A MY ) .. .




under 36 C.F.R. 1256.58

\

(U ) But. according to D ale W atson . the FB ['s former he ad of counterterrorism, such

inves t igat ions into Saudis in the U nite d Sta te s were [h e exception. 'I f allegations came up.

the y w e re looked in to ;' h e says. 'B u t a b lanke t inve s t ig a t ion in to Saudis he re did not take

p lace . '

SECRT,': ~OFORN

59

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60

SEOtETI NOFORi''-i

(U ) A t tim e s, the Saudis w ho had assem ble d for de partu re t rie d to g e t the p lane s to le ave

be fore the FB I had even ide nt ifie d w ho w as on them . 'I re call g e tt ing in to a b ig f lap w ith

Bandar's off ice abou t w he the r the y w ould lean w ithou t us know ing w ho w as on the plane/

says one FB I ag e n t. 'B andar w an te d the p lane to take off , and w e w ere s t re s sing that [hat

plane

as not

le aving unt il

w e

kne w e xactly

who

w as on it.

(WILES) The FB I did ide n t ify the passe nge rs in all ins tance s and in te rv iew ed those w he re an

inve s tig a t ive in te re s t e xis te d . The re is no indica t ion in th e docu me nta t ion of the se incide nts tha t

the Saudis w e re uncoope ra tive in any w ay. In fac t, passe ng e r lis ts and copie s of passports w e re

provide d by the Saudis . A dditionally , se ve ral conse nt se arche s of

bags and

the aircraft w e re

conduct ed .

(U ) In the e nd, the FB f de cide d it w as sim ply not pract ical to c on du ct f ull-b lo w n

invest igat ions. 'They were identified,' .says Dale W atson , 'bu t the y were not sub je c t to

ser'ious

in (e rview s or

Interroganous.' The

bureau

2S

declined to release their identities.

(Ul/LES) No inve sti g a t ive de cis ions w e re base d sole ly upon pract icality . In som e case s the se

individu als w e re inte rview ed days prior to the D ig h t and in one case , m u lt iple in te rv iew s w e re

conduct ed .

(U) An FBI agent says tbat t h ey bad a right to leave and that being related to OS3ma did

not constitute grounds for investigation. .

(U )

W ithou t know ing the ide nt ity of the

FB i

A gen t w ho alie g e dJy m ade this com ment , w e

cannot de te rm ine the basis for the com ment .

(U) A number of experienced investigators expressed surprise that

th e

Saudis had

not

b ee n in te rv ie w e d. 'Certainly

it

would be my expectation that they would do that,' sa ys

Oliver 'B u ck' R eve ll, form e r associa te de pu ty dire c tor of the FB I .

',FFR FT '/~OFOR~

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SENATOR FEINSTEIN'S

QUESTIONS

61

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62

Senator feinstein's Questions

L Sen. F e ins te in be lieve s the re are inconsis tencie s

ill

the FB I's statem ents

as

portraye d in

th e

Vanity

Fair

article.

W hich of the article 's s tatem ents , a tt ribu te d

(0

the FB I, are accurate and w hich are

inaccurate?

There are three official statements referenced in the article. While some are misconstrued from

their original context they are accurate.

2. \Vho (which department of the govcrnment, etc.) initiated and authorized the departure

of the Saudi citizens?

If

it

w as

not the

FBI ,

who informed us about the situation?

Unknown. Any decision regarding departure of aircraft would have been made in concert w i rh

the National Command Authority.

Uo,1JLI

'~ 'I

1 '\1.-.noC '_,O 'Q

,'1,,...1,..,,...1: ..

f~ ,,......~_.._ .....

l .,,,-~ . .. ...a: _ .:_ ... w o o _l '40L-:. rt C 6

n_

~ ........ UJ t '1_U, :, . I I ',.

,, u

.Iu.

, J

oLlU.)PVi l.J.U,6 lUL ....,)aUUI \..lllLCU3 UUl Ut l.UC

lJ .,) l..1U

we have the munifesus)? How many people were on those planes?

(Reportedly, Richard Clarke recently testified on the

Hill

that he knew of only one plane

involved. Clarke also

stated that he

did not know if

the

FBr interviewed anyone on the

plane).

We have detailed several flights which departed shortly after flight restrictions were lifted. There

were 141 Saudis aboard these f1ights. We have a passenger list and/or manifest from each of the

flights in question. Once air traffic was restored there were numerous commercial and chartered

t1ights which transported Saudis from the country .

. .

4. Did

the

FBI

conduct

an y

follow-up investigation (interviews, etc.)

of

the

people on the

plane

(or who were believed

to be

on

the

plane)'?

If so, was

tbe

Saudi

Arabian government

cooperative?

Yes. In addition to interviews, consent searches, record checks, and review of identification

documents, further investigation was conducted where warranted. There is no indication that the

Saudi government was uncooperative. In fact, passenger lists and copies of passports were

provided

by

the Saudis.

5. What role did the FBI play ill this whole affair?

a. Did we conduct extensive interviews of the Saudi's involved?

Some individuals were extensively interviewed others were not.

b. Did we conduct interviews at locations other than the airplane/airport of the Saudi

citizens w ho were t rying to leave the U.S.?

Yes. Several of [be interviews were conducted

;It

residences in the days prior to the flight.

Agents went to various hotels and residences prior to [he flighr to obtain passenger lists and other

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63

VANITY FAIR ..OCTOBER 2003

. ARTICLE.

o

SA VING THE SA UDIS ,

BY CRAIG UNGER

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64

c. D id [he FBI conduct any othe r backg rou nd in ve stig ations into th ose

0[J

the p lan e fs ) or

belie ve d to he on the plan e t s)? If so, \1hat did ou r e fforts consist of

.~5 de scr ib ed in our answ e r to nu mbe r fo ur. th e FB l condu cte d inte r - . :ievs. conse nt se ar che s.

re cor d ch ecks. :J .I1J re vi ew s

of' identifica tion

documents . fu rthe r

investigarion was

conducte d

where w arr ant ed. inc ludin g follow-up inte rview s and an alysis of te lephone and tr ave l re cords.

No direct con nection to the 09;1 L200 terrorists 1\ as e st ablished.

6,

W/I;Jt oel le r

agencies

ivo

rked with the FBI in regards to this situation': What was each

of rhe ir ro le s '?

L~S.

uses, C~SSS, Rhod e Island Stale

Police; i\bSSJcllllsetts

Slate Police,

Warwick,

Rhode

Is land Police Depar tment, B os ton Police Depa rtm ent all pa rtici pated in con duct ing inte rview s,

ve ri ty ing documents and cond uct ing searches.

38

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65

SAUDI FCI DETAILS

000000039

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.) therll 'lsc .

How

':I S [I p (lS~lh le Ih:]l, JUS l

as

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f lu sh d.:cbr e d ;1

no-holds-baucd

gl ob-

:I I w ar on te rror lhot w ou ld se nd hundreds

of thousands

or

US.

[mops 1 0 .-\l g l;l nIS l:11l

an d Iraq ,

aad

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\\ ' ou lJ c xp ~J llc I he ~kp arl llrc

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r< l tenria l 't lnC ,' ,e s . inclu ding [\\'1 ) ,jv7.:n

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:t ll \c.~ I ,i lhe

m:m

be lllild lhe ,ll l;lC k i ls ~ lf '

T

he inc:d~nl is I ':H lIc lila rly In 'p0r l:iU l

in light of Ih~ spcci:ll fe l~tio nsh ip thc

S: lU dis have long h :\u w ilh the U ni ted

Sl: \ l e s-anJ th e Bl i sh I~m ily in p:m icu I3 r,

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1\\,,)

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10

Ihe /llidd ic E, Js l. 11 1'1t ,l lI l~ nlio l\ an e nor

mou s sour ce I,f 011. The lll sh 1 :11 ;lil )' : lnd

Ih e Hou se I' Saud. lhe III ' mos t pO\l .:r,

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