Editing Khalid al-Mihdhar (section)

==2000==

===Malaysia summit===
[[File:KAlmihdhar.JPG|thumb|right|Khalid al-Mihdhar]]
{{main|Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit}}
The [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] was aware of al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi's involvement with al-Qaeda, having been informed by Saudi intelligence during a 1999 meeting in [[Riyadh]].  Based on information uncovered by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] in the [[1998 United States embassy bombings]] case, the [[National Security Agency]] (NSA) began tracking the communications of Hada, al-Mihdhar's father-in-law. In late 1999, the NSA informed the CIA of an upcoming meeting in [[Malaysia]], which Hada mentioned would involve "Khalid", "Nawaf", and "Salem", who was al-Hazmi's younger brother, [[Salem al-Hazmi]].<ref name="soufan"/>

On 4 January 2000, al-Mihdhar left Yemen and flew to [[Dubai]], [[United Arab Emirates]], where he spent the night.  The CIA broke into his hotel room and photocopied his passport, which gave them his full name, birth information and passport number for the first time, and alerted them that he held an entry visa to the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/creports/pdf/fullreport_errata.pdf |title=Report of the Joint Inquiry into the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=2002 |page=144 |access-date=2008-09-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005014507/http://www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/creports/pdf/fullreport_errata.pdf |archive-date=October 5, 2008 }}</ref>  The photocopy was sent to the CIA's [[Bin Laden Issue Station|Alec Station]], which was tracking al-Qaeda.<ref name="soufan">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/07/10/060710fa_fact_wright?currentPage=all |author=Wright, Lawrence |title=The Agent: Did the CIA Stop an FBI Detective from Preventing 9/11 |date=2006-07-10 |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=2008-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080717133042/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/07/10/060710fa_fact_wright?currentPage=all |archive-date=2008-07-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On 5 January 2000, al-Mihdhar traveled to [[Kuala Lumpur]], where he joined al-Hazmi, bin Attash and al-Yemeni, who were all arriving from Pakistan. [[Hamburg cell]] member [[Ramzi bin al-Shibh]] was also at the summit, and Mohammed possibly attended.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/knew/could/ |title=The Man Who Knew: What If... |work=Frontline |publisher=PBS |access-date=2008-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921160152/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/knew/could/ |archive-date=2008-09-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="fouda">Fouda and Fielding (2003), pp. 129–130</ref> The group was in Malaysia to meet with [[Hambali]], the leader of [[Jemaah Islamiyah]], an Asian al-Qaeda affiliate.  During the [[Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit]], many key details of the 9/11 attacks may have been arranged. At the time, the attacks plot had an additional component involving hijacking aircraft in Asia, as well as in the United States.  Bin Attash and al-Yemeni were slated for this part of the plot.  However, it was later canceled by bin Laden for being too difficult to coordinate with United States operations.<ref name="911-ch5"/>

{{quote box |width=20em |quote='[W]e've got to tell the Bureau about this. These guys clearly are bad. One of them, at least, has a multiple-entry visa to the U.S. We've got to tell the FBI.' And then [the CIA officer] said to me, 'No, it's not the FBI's case, not the FBI's jurisdiction.' |author=[[Mark Rossini]] |source="The Spy Factory"<ref name=rossini1>{{cite news | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/spy-factory.html | title=The Spy Factory | publisher=[[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] | author=Bamford, James | author-link=James Bamford | author2=Willis, Scott | date=February 3, 2009 | access-date=July 2, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140411200414/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/spy-factory.html | archive-date=2014-04-11 | url-status=live }}</ref>}}

In Malaysia, the group stayed with [[Yazid Sufaat]], a local Jemaah Islamiyah member, who provided accommodation at Hambali's request.<ref name="911-ch5"/>  Both al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi were secretly photographed at the meeting by Malaysian authorities, whom the CIA had asked to provide [[surveillance]].  The Malaysians reported that al-Mihdhar spoke at length with bin Attash, and he met with [[Fahd al-Quso]] and others who were later involved in the [[USS Cole bombing|USS ''Cole'' bombing]].<ref name="soufan"/><ref name="fouda"/>  After the meeting, al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi traveled to [[Bangkok]], [[Thailand]], on 8 January and left a week later on 15 January for the United States.<ref>FBI Hijackers' Timeline, p. 52</ref>

===United States entry===
[[Image:Parkwood apts.jpg|thumb|right|Parkwood Apartments complex, located in the [[Clairemont, San Diego, California|Clairemont Mesa]] section of [[San Diego]], where Mihdhar and [[Nawaf al-Hazmi]] lived from February until the end of May 2000]]

On 15 January  2000, al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi arrived at [[Los Angeles International Airport]] from Bangkok and were admitted as tourists for a period of six months.<ref>9/11 and Terror Travel, p. 10</ref> On 1 February 2000—17 days upon entering the United States—the two men encountered [[Omar al-Bayoumi]] and [[Caysan Bin Don]] at a halal food restaurant on [[Venice Boulevard]] in Culver City.<ref name="venice">''[[9/11 Commission Report]]'', [[9/11 Commission]], p. 217</ref> Al-Bayoumi claimed he was merely being charitable in assisting the two seemingly out-of-place [[Muslim]]s with moving to San Diego, where he helped them find an apartment near his own, co-signed their lease, and gave them $1,500 to help pay their rent.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/66665 |title=The Saudi Money Trail |date=2002-12-02 |author=Iskioff, Michael and Evan Thomas |work=Newsweek |access-date=2008-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205040852/http://www.newsweek.com/id/66665 |archive-date=2008-12-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Mohammed later claimed that he suggested San Diego as their destination, based on information gleaned from a San Diego phone book that listed language and flight schools.  Mohammed also recommended that the two seek assistance from the local Muslim community, since neither spoke English nor had experience with Western culture.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/staff_statements/staff_statement_16.pdf |title=Outline of the 9/11 Plot, Staff Statement No. 16 |publisher=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |year=2004 |page=5 |access-date=2008-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005014507/http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/staff_statements/staff_statement_16.pdf |archive-date=2008-10-05 |url-status=live }}</ref>

While in San Diego, witnesses told the FBI he and al-Hazmi had a close relationship with [[Anwar Al Awlaki]], an imam who served as their spiritual advisor.<ref>[https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sandiego/access/404461061.html?dids=404461061:404461061&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Sep+11%2C+2003&author=Toby+Eckert+and+Marcus+Stern&pub=The+San+Diego+Union+-+Tribune&desc=9%2F11+investigators+baffled+FBI+cleared+3+ex-San+Diegans&pqatl=google Eckert, Toby, and Stern, Marcus, "9/11 investigators baffled FBI cleared 3 ex-San Diegans", ''The San Diego Union'', September 11, 2003, November 30, 2009]{{dead link|date=July 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>  Authorities say the two regularly attended the [[Masjid Ar-Ribat al-Islami]] mosque al-Awlaki led in San Diego, and al-Awlaki had many closed-door meetings with them, which led investigators to believe al-Awlaki knew about the 9/11 attacks in advance.
[[File:Anwar al-Awlaki sitting on couch, lightened.jpg|thumb|160px|left|[[Anwar al-Awlaki]] in [[Yemen]], 2008]]
In early February 2000, al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi rented an apartment at the Parkwood Apartments complex in the [[Clairemont, San Diego, California|Clairemont Mesa]] area of San Diego, and al-Mihdhar purchased a used 1988 [[Toyota Corolla]].<ref>FBI Hijackers' Timeline, pp. 54–55</ref>  Neighbors thought that al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi were odd because months passed without the men getting any furniture, and they slept on mattresses on the floor, yet they carried briefcases, were frequently on their mobile phones, and were occasionally picked up by a limousine.<ref name="inside911">Aust (2002), pp. 17–18</ref> Those who met al-Mihdhar in San Diego described him as "dark and brooding, with a disdain for American culture".<ref>Fouda and Fielding (2003), p. 136</ref>  Neighbors also said that the pair constantly played [[flight simulator]] games.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101010924/wplot.html |title=The New Breed of Terrorist |author=McGeary, Johanna |author2=David Van Biema |work=TIME Magazine |date=2001-09-24 |access-date=2008-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080930184522/http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101010924/wplot.html |archive-date=2008-09-30 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi took [[Flight training|flight lessons]] on 5 May 2000, at the Sorbi Flying Club in San Diego, with al-Mihdhar flying an aircraft for 42 minutes. They took additional lessons on 10 May;<ref>FBI Hijackers' Timeline, pp. 63–64</ref> however, with poor English skills, they did not do well with flight lessons.  Al-Mihdhar and Al-Hazmi raised some suspicion when they offered extra money to their flight instructor, Rick Garza, if he would train them to fly jets. Garza refused the offer but did not report them to authorities.<ref name="inside911"/>  After the 9/11 attacks, Garza described the two men as "impatient students" who "wanted to learn to fly jets, specifically Boeings".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/07/terrorism.afghanistan3 |title=Saudi hijacker 'was key link to bin Laden' |work=The Observer |author=Helmore, Edward |author2=Ed Vulliamy |date=2001-10-07 |access-date=2008-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227223026/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/oct/07/terrorism.afghanistan3 |archive-date=2009-02-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Return to Yemen===
Al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi moved out of the Parkwood Apartments at the end of May 2000, and al-Mihdhar transferred registration for the Toyota Corolla to al-Hazmi.<ref>FBI Hijackers' Timeline, p. 67</ref>  On 10 June 2000, al-Mihdhar left the United States and returned to Yemen to visit his wife, against the wishes of Mohammed who wanted him to remain in the United States to help al-Hazmi adapt.<ref>9/11 and Terror Travel, p. 11</ref><ref name="ksm">[[s:Substitution for the Testimony of KSM|Substitution for the Testimony of KSM]] at the trial of [[Zacarias Moussaoui]]</ref>  Mohammed was so angered by this that he decided to remove al-Mihdhar from the 9/11 plot, but he was overruled by bin Laden. Al-Mihdhar remained part of the plot as a muscle hijacker, who would help take over the aircraft.<ref name="911-ch7-2">9/11 Commission Report, Chapter 7.2 – The Attack Looms, First Arrivals in California, pp. 215–222</ref>  On 12 October 2000, the [[USS Cole (DDG-67)|USS ''Cole'']] was bombed by a small boat loaded with explosives. After the bombing, [[Prime Minister of Yemen|Yemeni Prime Minister]] [[Abdul Karim al-Iryani]] reported that al-Mihdhar had been one of the key planners of the attack and had been in the country at the time of the attacks.<ref>Smith (2005), p. 60</ref>  In late 2000, al-Mihdhar was back in Saudi Arabia, staying with a cousin in Mecca.<ref name="911-ch7-2"/>