Ahmed al-Ghamdi
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This photograph of Ahmed al-Ghamdi was released by the FBI in the days following the attack. |
Ahmed Salah al-Ghamdi (
Arabic: احمد الغامدي, also
transliterated Alghamdi) was named by the
FBI as one of the
hijackers of
United Airlines flight 175 as part of the
September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack.
Al-Ghamdi was from the
al Bahah province of
Saudi Arabia, an isolated and underdeveloped area, and shared the same tribal affiliation with fellow hijackers
Saeed al-Ghamdi,
Hamza al-Ghamdi, and
Ahmed al-Haznawi. This group is noted as being some of the more religiously observant of the hijackers.
Al-Ghamdi quit school to fight in
Chechnya against the
Russians in
2000, and received a US Visa on September 3rd of that year. In November , both he and
Salem al-Hazmi flew to
Beirut, though on separate flights and at different times. al-Ghamdi flew on the same flight as a senior
Hezbollah operative, although the 9/11 Commission could find no knowledge that either knew of the other. His family claims to have last seen him in December.
In March of
2001, al-Ghamdi is reported to have met with a
Jordanian who has been charged with providing false identification to at least 50 illegal aliens. Hijackers
Majed Moqed,
Hani Hanjour, and
Nawaf Alhazmi are reported to have met with him at the same time.[
1] Inexplicably, this is more than a month before al-Ghamdi first arrived in the United States, according to the FBI and the
9/11 Commission.
On
May 2, al-Ghamdi arrived in the U.S. with fellow-hijacker Moqed, on a
student visa. Oddly, he listed the Naval Air Station in
Pensacola, Florida as his permanent address on his driver's license. He and Moqed moved in with
Hani Hanjour and
Nawaf al-Hazmi in
Falls Church, Virginia. All four later moved into an apartment in
Paterson, New Jersey.
He called his parents in July of
2001, but didn't mention being in the
United States.
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Al-Ghamdi is shown here in an undated photograph |
Hamza al-Ghamdi purchased Ahmed's ticket online for
United Airlines Flight 175 on
August 29 or
August 30, after buying his own. He listed a
Mailboxes Etc. address for Ahmed.
Hamza and Ahmed al-Ghamdi stayed at the
Charles Hotel in
Cambridge, Mass.. On September 8th they checked out of the hotel, and moved into the
Days Hotel on
Soldiers Field Road in
Brighton, Mass. where they remained up until the attacks.[
2][
3]
On the morning of
September 11,
2001, Ahmed left the hotel with Hamza, the two of them sharing a
taxicab to get to
Logan International Airport. There, al-Ghamdi showed his Virginia ID Card as identification, and boarded Flight 175 where he sat the furthest back of the hijackers, in seat 9D, helped to hijack it, and assisted as the plane crashed into the
World Trade Center in a coordinated attack that killed thousands of people.
*
The Final 9/11 Commission Report* http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1559151.stm
