Editing Mohamed Atta (section)

== Early life ==
Mohamed Atta was born on 1 September 1968, in [[Kafr el-Sheikh Governorate|Kafr el-Sheikh]], located in the [[Nile Delta]] region of [[Egypt]] (then a part of the [[United Arab Republic]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=Personal Stories – Who Were They? § Mohamed Atta |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/network/personal/whowere.html |publisher=[[PBS]] |access-date=5 February 2023}}</ref> His father, Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta, was a lawyer, educated in both [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] and ''[[sharia]]''. His mother, Buthayna Mohamed Mustafa Shiraqi, came from a wealthy farming and trading family and was also educated. Buthayna and Mohamed married when she was 14, via an [[arranged marriage]]. The family had few relatives on the father's side and kept their distance from Buthayna's family. In-laws characterized Atta's father as "austere, strict, and private", and neighbors viewed the family as reclusive.{{Sfn|McDermott|2005|pp=9–11}} Atta was the only son; he had two older sisters who are both well-educated and successful in their careers – one as a medical doctor and the other as a professor.<ref name="cloud">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101011008-176917,00.html |title=Atta's Odyssey |magazine=Time |date=30 September 2001 |author=Cloud, John |access-date=16 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210050403/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101011008-176917,00.html |archive-date=10 December 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

When Atta was ten, his family moved to the [[Cairo]] neighborhood of Abdeen, situated near the city center. His father, who kept the family ever insulated, forbade young Atta to fraternize with the other children in their neighborhood. Having little else to do, he mostly studied at home and easily excelled in school.{{Sfn|McDermott|2005|pp=12–14}}<ref name="abc-20011112">{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/atta/transcript.htm |title=Transcript: A Mission to Die For |publisher=Four Corners / ABC (Australia) |date=12 November 2001 |access-date=16 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917001606/http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/atta/transcript.htm |archive-date=17 September 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1985, Atta enrolled at [[Cairo University]] and focused his studies on engineering. He was among the highest-scoring students; by his senior year, he was admitted to an exclusive architecture program. After he graduated in 1990 with an architecture degree,<ref name="newsweek">{{cite news |title=The Day That Changed America |work=Newsweek |date=31 December 2001}}</ref> he joined the Engineers Syndicate. He then worked for several months at the Urban Development Center in [[Cairo]], where he joined various building projects and dispatched diverse architectural tasks.<ref name="timeline">{{cite web |url=http://www.911myths.com/index.php/File:Hijackers_Timeline_OCR.pdf |title=Hijackers' Timeline |author=Federal Bureau of Investigation |publisher=9/11 Myths |date=4 February 2008 |access-date=1 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607150225/http://www.911myths.com/index.php/File:Hijackers_Timeline_OCR.pdf |archive-date=7 June 2011}}</ref> Also in 1990, Atta's family moved into the eleventh floor of an apartment building in the Egyptian city of [[Giza]].<ref name="newsweek"/><ref>{{cite news |title=In Egypt, some see war on terror as a war on Islam |author=Adams, Paul |work=Globe and Mail |location=Canada |date=4 September 2002 |url=http://www.ctv.ca/special/sept11/hubs/muslim/adams.html |access-date=19 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080314225345/http://www.ctv.ca/special/sept11/hubs/muslim/adams.html |archive-date=14 March 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Atta also got engaged to a woman lined up by his father and her family in Cairo, in late 1999, after coming back from Germany the same year. Although the marriage never happened, Atta's father said they liked each other.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jan-27-mn-25005-story.html|title = A Perfect Soldier| website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date = 27 January 2002}}</ref>