Editing Mohamed Atta (section)

===Religious zeal and Hamburg cell===
{{further|Hamburg cell}}
After coming to Hamburg in 1992, Atta grew more religiously fanatical and frequented the mosque with greater regularity.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/childhood-clues-to-what-makes-a-killer-748415.html |title=Childhood clues to what makes a killer |last=Buncombe |first=Andrew |work=The Independent |date=12 October 2001 |access-date=8 September 2010 |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100119084047/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/childhood-clues-to-what-makes-a-killer-748415.html |archive-date=19 January 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> His friends in Germany described him as an intelligent man in whom religious convictions and political motives held equal sway. He harbored anger and resentment toward the U.S. for its policy in Islamic nations of the Middle East, with nothing inflaming his ire more than the [[Oslo Accords]] and the [[Gulf War]] in particular.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/atta/interviews/hauth.htm |title=Four Corners – Volker Hauth interview |publisher=ABC (Australia) |date=18 October 2001 |access-date=1 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618181916/http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/atta/interviews/hauth.htm |archive-date=18 June 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/atta/interviews/bodenstein.htm |title=Four Corners – Ralph Bodenstein interview |publisher=ABC (Australia) |date=18 October 2001 |access-date=1 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617121230/http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/atta/interviews/bodenstein.htm |archive-date=17 June 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He was also angry and bitter at the elite in his native Egypt, who he believed hoarded power for themselves, as well as at the Egyptian government, that cracked down on the dissident [[Muslim Brotherhood]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/network/etc/script.html |title=Inside the Terror Network |work=Frontline |publisher=PBS |date=17 January 2002 |last=Loeterman |first=Ben |author2=Hedrick Smith |access-date=8 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224023851/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/network/etc/script.html |archive-date=24 February 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> Atta was [[Antisemitism|anti-Semitic]], believing that [[Jews]] controlled the world's media, financial, and political institutions from [[New York City]].{{sfn|Wright|2006|p=Chapter 18 ("Boom")}} These beliefs were even stronger during [[Operation Infinite Reach]], as he believed that [[Monica Lewinsky]] was a Jewish agent influencing American president [[Bill Clinton]] against aiding Palestine, which would later play a key role in creating the Hamburg cell.{{sfn|Wright|2006}}

On 1 August 1995, Atta returned to Egypt for three months of study.{{Sfn|Fouda|Fielding|2003|p=82}} Before this trip he grew out a beard to show himself as a devout Muslim and also to make a political gesture.<ref name="Washpost"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/atta/interviews/hauth.htm |title=Volker Hauth interview |date=18 October 2001 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) |work=Four Corners |access-date=8 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100504181217/http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/atta/interviews/hauth.htm |archive-date=4 May 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Atta returned to Hamburg on 31 October 1995,{{Sfn|Fouda|Fielding|2003|p=82}} only to join the pilgrimage to [[Mecca]] shortly thereafter.<ref name="Washpost"/>

In Hamburg, Atta was intensely drawn to [[al-Quds Mosque]] which adhered to a "harsh, uncompromisingly [[Islamic fundamentalism|fundamentalist]], and resoundingly militant" version of [[Sunni Islam]].{{Sfn|McDermott|2005|pp=2–3}} He made acquaintances at al-Quds, some of whom visited him on occasion at Centrumshaus. He also began teaching classes both at Al-Quds and at a Turkish mosque near the [[Harburg, Hamburg|Harburg]] district. Atta also started and led a prayer group, which Ahmed Maklat and [[Mounir El Motassadeq]] joined. [[Ramzi bin al-Shibh]] was also there, teaching occasional classes, and became Atta's friend.{{Sfn|McDermott|2005|pp=34–37}}

On 11 April 1996, Atta signed his [[Will (law)|last will and testament]]<!-- it was apparently a "standardized" will from Al-Quds, according to Lawrence Wright//--> at the mosque, officially declaring his Muslim beliefs and giving 18 instructions regarding his burial.<ref name="will"/>{{Sfn|Fouda|Fielding|2003|p=77}} This was the same day that [[Israel]], much to Atta's fury, attacked [[Lebanon]] in [[Operation Grapes of Wrath]]; signing the will "offering his life" was his response.{{sfn|Wright|2006|p=Chapter 18 ("Boom")}} The instructions in his last will and testament reflect both [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] funeral practices along with some more puritanical demands from [[Salafism]], including asking people not "to weep and cry" and to generally refrain from showing emotion. The will was signed by el-Motassadeq and a second person at the mosque.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://old.911digitalarchive.org/crr/documents/1017.pdf |title=Will Gives a Window into Suspect's Mind |author=Finn, Peter and Charles Lane |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] and 9/11 Digital Archive |date=6 October 2001 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228003140/http://old.911digitalarchive.org/crr/documents/1017.pdf |archive-date=28 February 2008}}</ref>

After leaving Plankontor in the summer of 1997, Atta disappeared again and did not return until 1998. He had made no progress on his thesis. Atta phoned his graduate advisor, Machule, and mentioned family problems at home, saying, "Please understand, I don't want to talk about this."<ref>{{cite news |title=In hindsight, more suspicion called for; Hamburg was early hotbed for plotters |work=Chicago Tribune |date=21 September 2001 |author=Sly, Liz}}</ref>{{Sfn|McDermott|2005|p=Chapter 5}} At the winter break in 1997,<!-- clarify time, Dec 1997-1998? //--> Atta left and did not return to Hamburg for three months. He said that he went on pilgrimage to [[Mecca]] again, just 18 months after his first time. This claim has been disputed; American journalist [[Terry McDermott (journalist)|Terry McDermott]] has argued that it is unusual for someone to go on pilgrimage so soon after the first time and to spend three months there (more than [[Hajj]] requires). When Atta returned, he claimed that his passport was lost and applied for a new one, which is a common tactic to erase evidence of travel to places such as [[Afghanistan]].{{Sfn|McDermott|2005|p=57}} When he returned in spring 1998, after disappearing for several months, he had grown a thick long beard, and "seemed more serious and aloof" than before to those who knew him.<ref name="Washpost"/>
[[File:Marienstraße 54.JPG|thumb|upright|The apartment Atta, Bahaji, and bin al-Shibh shared from 1998 until 2001 in Marienstrasse, [[Hamburg]], Germany]]
By mid-1998, Atta was no longer eligible for university housing in Centrumshaus. Atta, Bahaji and Ramzi moved into a Hamburgian apartment, which they supposedly named {{Transliteration|ar|bayt al-ansar}}.{{Sfn|Rapoport|2006|p=326}} By early 1999, Atta had completed his thesis, and formally defended it in August 1999.{{Sfn|McDermott|2005|p=Chapter 5}}

In mid-1998, Atta worked alongside Shehhi, bin al-Shibh, and Belfas, at a warehouse, packing computers in crates for shipping.{{Sfn|McDermott|2005|p=58}} The Hamburg group did not stay in Wilhelmsburg for long. The next winter, they moved into an apartment at Marienstrasse 54 in the [[Harburg, Hamburg|borough of Harburg]], near the [[Hamburg University of Technology]],{{Sfn|McDermott|2005|p=63}} at which they enrolled. It was here that the [[Hamburg cell]] developed and acted more as a group.<ref>{{cite news|author=Bernstein, Richard Bernstein |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/10/national/10PLOT.html?ei=5070&en=81b2bc66ebffd6b4&ex=1139374800 |title=On Path to the U.S. Skies, Plot Leader Met bin Laden |work=The New York Times |date=10 September 2002 |access-date=16 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601202151/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/10/national/10PLOT.html?ei=5070&en=81b2bc66ebffd6b4&ex=1139374800 |archive-date=1 June 2009 }}</ref> They met three or four times a week to discuss their anti-American feelings and to plot possible attacks. Many [[al-Qaeda]] members lived in this apartment at various times, including hijacker [[Marwan al-Shehhi]], [[Zakariya Essabar]], and others.

In late 1999, Atta, Shehhi, Jarrah, Bahaji, and bin al-Shibh decided to travel to [[Chechnya]] to fight against the Russians, but were convinced by [[Khalid al-Masri]] and [[Mohamedou Ould Salahi]] at the last minute to change their plans. They instead traveled to [[Afghanistan]] over a two-week period in late November. On 29 November 1999, Mohamed Atta boarded [[Turkish Airlines]] Flight TK1662 from [[Hamburg]] to [[Istanbul]], where he changed to flight TK1056 to [[Karachi|Karachi, Pakistan]].<ref name="Yosri">{{cite news |last=Fouda |first=Yosri |date=1 October 2006 |title=Chilling message of the 9/11 plots |work=The Sunday Times |location=London |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article656440.ece |url-status=dead |access-date=24 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706181828/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article656440.ece |archive-date=6 July 2008}}</ref> After they arrived, they were selected by al-Qaeda leader [[Mohammed Atef]] as suitable candidates for the "planes operation" plot. They were all well-educated, had experience of living in western society, along with some English skills, and would be able to obtain visas.{{sfn|Wright|2006|p=Chapter 18 ("Boom")}} Even before bin al-Shibh had arrived, Atta, Shehhi, and Jarrah were sent to the House of Ghamdi near bin Laden's home in [[Kandahar]], where he was waiting to meet them. Bin Laden asked them to pledge loyalty and commit to suicide missions, which Atta and the other three Hamburg men all accepted. Bin Laden sent them to see Atef to get a general overview of the mission, and then they were sent to Karachi to see [[Khalid Sheikh Mohammed]] to go over specifics.{{Sfn|McDermott|2005|p=180}}{{additional citation needed|date=August 2023}}

German investigators said that they had evidence that Mohamed Atta trained at [[Afghan training camp|al-Qaeda camps]] in Afghanistan from late 1999 to early 2000. The timing of the Afghanistan training was outlined on 23 August 2002, by a senior investigator. The investigator, Klaus Ulrich Kersten, was the director of Germany's federal anticrime agency, the [[Federal Criminal Police Office (Germany)|Bundeskriminalamt]]. He provided the first official confirmation that Atta and two other pilots had been in Afghanistan, and he also provided the first dates of the training. Kersten said in an interview at the agency's headquarters in [[Wiesbaden]] that Atta was in Afghanistan from late 1999 until early 2000,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2213701.stm |title=Atta 'trained in Afghanistan' |publisher=BBC |date=24 August 2002 |access-date=7 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812184933/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2213701.stm |archive-date=12 August 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/24/world/germans-lay-out-early-qaeda-ties-to-9-11-hijackers.html |title=Germans Lay Out Early Qaeda Ties to 9/11 Hijackers |last=Frantz |first=Douglas |author2=Desmond Butler |date=24 August 2002 |access-date=7 September 2010 |work=The New York Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417113847/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/24/world/germans-lay-out-early-qaeda-ties-to-9-11-hijackers.html |archive-date=17 April 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> and that there was evidence that Atta met with [[Osama bin Laden]] there.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/10/national/10PLOT.html?pagewanted=all |title=On Path to the U.S. Skies, Plot Leader Met bin Laden |last=Bernstein |first=Richard |date=10 September 2002 |work=The New York Times |access-date=7 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417114220/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/10/national/10PLOT.html?pagewanted=all |archive-date=17 April 2014 }}</ref>

A video surfaced in October 2006. The first chapter of the video showed bin Laden at [[Tarnak Farms]] on 8 January 2000. The second chapter showed Atta and [[Ziad Jarrah]] reading their wills together ten days later on 18 January.<ref name="Yosri" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna15082633 |title=Video showing Atta, bin Laden is unearthed |author=Popkin, Jim |publisher=NBC News |date=1 October 2006 |access-date=28 January 2008}}</ref> On his return journey, Atta left Karachi on 24 February 2000, by flight TK1057 to [[Istanbul]] where he changed to flight TK1661 to Hamburg.<ref name="Yosri" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Bernstein |first=Richard |date=10 September 2002 |title=On Path to the U.S. Skies, Plot Leader Met bin Laden |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/10/national/10PLOT.html?ex=1221624000&en=30bc6f683535b59f&ei=5070 |url-status=dead |access-date=16 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417085506/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/10/national/10PLOT.html?ex=1221624000&en=30bc6f683535b59f&ei=5070 |archive-date=17 April 2009}}</ref> Immediately after returning to Germany, Atta, al-Shehhi, and Jarrah reported their passports stolen, possibly to discard travel visas to Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/network/etc/script.html |title=Inside the Terror Network |work=Frontline |publisher=PBS |date=17 January 2002 |access-date=16 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080930214837/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/network/etc/script.html |archive-date=30 September 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref>