Editing Nawaf al-Hazmi

{{Short description|Saudi terrorist and 9/11 hijacker (1976–2001)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}{{Use American English|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Nawaf al-Hazmi
| native_name        = {{lang|ar|نواف الحازمي}}
| native_name_lang   = ar
| image              = Nawaf al-Hazmi.jpg
| image_size         = 
| caption            = Passport photo, January 2000
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|mf=yes|1976|8|9|df=y}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov/notablecases/moussaoui/exhibits/prosecution/SD00405.html |title=United States v. Zacarias Moussaoui, trial exhibit #SD00405 |access-date=2006-12-14 |archive-date=2018-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202052858/http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov/notablecases/moussaoui/exhibits/prosecution/SD00405.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| birth_place        = [[Mecca]], Saudi Arabia
| death_date         = {{death date and age|2001|9|11|1976|8|9|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[The Pentagon]], [[Virginia]], U.S.
| death_cause        = [[Suicide attack|Suicide]] by [[American Airlines Flight 77|plane crash]] ([[September 11 attacks]])
| nationality        = [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]]
| relatives          = [[Salem al-Hazmi]] (brother)
}}
'''Nawaf Muhammad Salim al-Hazmi''' ({{langx|ar|نواف محمد سالم الحازمي|translit=Nawāf Muḥammad Sālim al-Ḥāzmī}}; 9 August 1976 – 11 September 2001)<ref name="fifty">''[[9/11 Commission Report]]'', [[9/11 Commission]], p. 166</ref> was a Saudi terrorist hijacker who was one of five [[Organizers of the September 11 attacks|hijackers]] of [[American Airlines Flight 77]], which they crashed into the [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]] as part of the [[September 11 attacks]].

Al-Hazmi and a long-time friend, [[Khalid al-Mihdhar]], left their homes in Saudi Arabia in 1995 to fight for Muslims in the [[Bosnian War]]. Al-Hazmi later traveled to [[Afghanistan]] to fight with the [[Taliban]] against the [[Afghan Northern Alliance]]. He returned to Saudi Arabia in early 1999.

Already long-time affiliates of [[al-Qaeda]] with extensive fighting experience, al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar were chosen by [[Osama bin Laden]] for an ambitious terrorist plot to pilot commercial airliners into designated targets in the United States. Al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar both obtained [[B-1/B-2 Visa|US tourist visas]] in April 1999. Al-Hazmi trained in an al-Qaeda training camp in the fall of 1999 and traveled to [[Malaysia]] for the [[Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit|2000 Al-Qaeda Summit]].

Al-Hazmi arrived in [[Los Angeles]], California, from [[Bangkok]], [[Thailand]], on 15 January 2000, alongside al-Mihdhar. The two settled in [[San Diego]], staying at the Parkwood Apartments until May 2000. While in San Diego, they attended its mosque, led by [[Anwar al-Awlaki]]. The two took flying lessons in San Diego, but due to their poor English skills they did not perform well during their flight lessons and their flight instructor regarded them as suspicious.

Al-Mihdhar left al-Hazmi in California for Yemen in June 2000. Al-Hazmi stayed in California until he met up with [[Hani Hanjour]] in December 2000, and they both traveled to [[Phoenix, Arizona]]. They later moved to [[Falls Church, Virginia]], in April 2001, where the rest of the hijackers began to join them. Al-Hazmi met frequently with [[Mohamed Atta]], the ringleader of the attacks, during the summer of 2001.

The [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] reportedly received al-Hazmi's name on a list of 19 persons suspected of planning an attack in the near future. Al-Hazmi was one of the four names on the list who were known for certain. A search for al-Hazmi and other suspected terrorists commenced, but they were not located until after the attacks.

The day before the September 11 attacks, al-Hazmi, al-Mihdhar, and Hanjour checked into a hotel in [[Herndon, Virginia]]. The next morning, al-Hazmi and four other terrorists, including al-Hazmi's younger brother, [[Salem al-Hazmi]], boarded [[American Airlines Flight 77]] at [[Dulles International Airport]] and hijacked the plane so that Hanjour could pilot and crash the plane into the Pentagon as part of the 11 September attacks. The crash killed all 64 passengers aboard the aircraft and 125 in the Pentagon. Following the attacks, al-Hazmi's participation was initially dismissed as that of a "muscle hijacker", but he was later revealed to have played a larger role in the operational planning than previously believed.<ref name="lats">[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-sep-27-na-intel27-story.html "Document links al Qaeda paymaster, 9/11 plotter"], ''[[Los Angeles Times]],'' 27 September 2002</ref>

==Early life and activities==
{{Disputed|date=February 2011}}

Nawaf al-Hazmi was born in [[Mecca]] in [[Saudi Arabia]] to Muhammad Salim al-Hazmi, a grocer. He traveled to [[Afghanistan]] as a teenager in 1993. [[CNN]]'s preliminary report following the attacks claimed that an unnamed acquaintance relayed '"He told me once that his father had tried to kill him when he was a child. He never told me why, but he had a long knife scar on his forearm", and claimed that his older brother was a police chief in [[Jizan]].

In 1995, he and his childhood friend, [[Khalid al-Mihdhar]], joined a group that went to fight alongside Bosnian Muslims in the [[Bosnian War]].<ref name="911-ch5">{{cite book |title=''9/11 Commission Report'' |url=http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch5.htm |chapter=Chapter 5.2 – The "Planes Operation" |publisher=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |access-date=September 30, 2008}}</ref> Afterwards, Nawaf al-Hazmi returned to Afghanistan along with his brother Salem, and al-Mihdhar. In Afghanistan, they fought alongside the [[Taliban]] against the [[Afghan Northern Alliance]], and joined up with [[al-Qaeda]]. Al-Hazmi returned to Saudi Arabia in early 1999.<ref name="Atkins2011">{{cite book|author=Stephen E Atkins|title=The 9/11 Encyclopedia: Second Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PDDIgWRN_HQC|date=2 June 2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-921-9}}</ref>

==Selected for the 9/11 plot==
[[Osama bin Laden]] held al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar in high respect, with their experience fighting during the 1990s in Bosnia and elsewhere. Al-Qaeda later referred to al-Hazmi as al-Mihdhar's "Second-in-command".<ref name="willalOmari">Videotape of recorded will of Abdulaziz al-Omari and others</ref> When bin Laden committed to the "planes operation" plot in spring 1999, he personally selected al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar to be involved in the plot as pilot hijackers. In addition to al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar, two Yemenis were selected for a southeast Asia component of the plot, which was later scrapped for being too difficult to coordinate with the operations in the United States. Known as ''Rabi'ah al-Makki'' during the preparations,<ref name="willalOmari"/> al-Hazmi had been so eager to participate in operations within the [[United States]], he already had a US visa when bin Laden selected him.<ref name="911-ch5"/> Al-Hazmi obtained a [[B-1/B-2 Visa|B-1/B-2 tourist visa]] on April 3, 1999, from the US consulate in [[Jeddah]], [[Saudi Arabia]], using a new passport he acquired a few weeks earlier. Al-Hazmi's passport did have indicators of [[al-Qaeda]] association, but immigration inspectors were not trained to look for those.<ref name="travel">{{cite web |url=http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/staff_statements/911_TerrTrav_Monograph.pdf |title=9/11 and Terrorist Travel |work=Staff Report |publisher=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |year=2004 |access-date=September 26, 2008}}</ref>

In the autumn of 1999, these four attended the [[Mes Aynak]] training camp in [[Afghanistan]], which provided advanced training. Al-Hazmi went with the two Yemenis, [[Tawfiq bin Attash]] (Khallad) and [[Abu Bara al Yemeni]], to [[Karachi, Pakistan]], where [[Khalid Sheikh Mohammed]], the plot's coordinator, instructed him on western culture, travel, as well as taught some basic English phrases. Al-Mihdhar did not go with him to Karachi, but instead left for Yemen.  Khalid Sheikh Mohammed then sent al-Hazmi and the other men to Malaysia for a meeting. Before leaving for Malaysia, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed doctored al-Hazmi's Saudi passport in order to conceal his travel to Pakistan and Afghanistan, and make it appear that al-Hazmi had come to Malaysia from Saudi Arabia via [[Dubai]].<ref name="911-ch5"/>

After the attacks, the [[Associated Press]] would re-publish a "bizarre" story by the ''[[Cody Enterprise]]'' that quoted witnesses stating that al-Hazmi entered the United States during the autumn of 1999, crossing along the Canada–US border as one of two men delivering skylights to the local [[High school (North America)|high school]] in [[Cody, Wyoming]]. Leaving the city 45 minutes later with the remaining cardboard boxes, the men allegedly asked "how to get to [[Florida]]".<ref name="hotel"/><ref>[http://s3.amazonaws.com/911timeline/2001/ap102301.html One Sept. 11 Terrorist in Cody Two Years Ago], The Associated Press, October 23, 2001</ref>

===Malaysia summit===
{{Main|Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit}}
Based on information uncovered by the FBI in the [[1998 United States embassy bombings]] case, the [[National Security Agency]] (NSA) began tracking the communications of al-Mihdhar's father-in-law, Ahmad Muhammad Ali al-Hada, who was facilitating al-Qaeda communications, in 1999. Authorities also became aware of al-Hazmi, as a friend and associate of al-Mihdhar. Saudi Intelligence was also aware that Hazmi was associated with al-Qaeda, and associated with the 1998 African embassy bombings and attempts to smuggle arms into the kingdom in 1997.  He also said that he revealed this to the CIA, saying "What we told them was these people were on our watch list from previous activities of al-Qaeda" The CIA strongly denies having received any such warning.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/10/18/saudis/index_np.html |title=Did the Saudis Know About 9/11? |work=Salon.com |date=October 18, 2003 |access-date=September 30, 2008}}</ref>

{{quote box |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]], "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}}</ref>}}

In late 1999, the NSA informed the CIA of an upcoming meeting in [[Malaysia]], which al-Hada mentioned would involve "Khalid", "Nawaf", and "Salem".<ref name="soufan">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/07/10/060710fa_fact_wright?currentPage=all |author=Wright, Lawrence |title=Did the CIA Stop an FBI Detective from Preventing 9/11 |date=July 10, 2006 |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=September 30, 2008}}</ref> On January 5, al-Hazmi arrived in [[Kuala Lumpur]], where he met up with al-Mihdhar, bin Attash, and Abu Bara. The group was in Malaysia to meet with [[Hambali]] for the [[2000 Al Qaeda Summit]], during which key details of the attacks may have been arranged. At this time, there was an East Asia component to the September 11 attacks plot, but bin Laden later canceled it for being too difficult to coordinate with operations in the United States.<ref name="911-ch5"/> [[Ramzi bin al-Shibh]] was also at the summit, and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed possibly attended the summit.<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=September 29, 2008}}</ref><ref name="fouda">{{cite book |author=Fouda, Yosri and Nick Fielding |title=Masterminds of Terror |publisher=Arcade Publishing |year=2003 |isbn=1-55970-708-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/mastermindsofter00fawd/page/129 129–130] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/mastermindsofter00fawd/page/129 }}</ref> In Malaysia, the group stayed with [[Yazid Sufaat]], a local member of [[Jemaah Islamiyah]], who provided accommodations at request of Hambali.<ref name="911-ch5"/> Both al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi were secretly photographed at the meeting by Malaysian authorities, who provided surveillance at the request of the CIA.  Malaysian authorities reported that al-Mihdhar spoke at length with [[Tawfiq bin Attash]], one of the Yemenis, and others who were later involved in the [[USS Cole bombing|USS ''Cole'' bombing]].<ref name="soufan"/> Al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar also met with [[Fahd al-Quso]], who was later involved in the USS ''Cole'' bombing.<ref name="fouda"/> After the meeting, al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi traveled to [[Bangkok]] in [[Thailand]] on January 8, and left a week later on January 15 to travel to the United States.<ref name="timeline"/>

==In the United States==

===Enters the United States with Mihdhar===
[[Image:Parkwood apts.jpg|thumb|right|Between February and May 2000, Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi lived at the Parkwood Apartments complex in [[Clairemont, San Diego, California|Clairemont Mesa]], [[San Diego]].]]
On 15 January 2000, al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar arrived together at [[Los Angeles International Airport]] from Bangkok, and were admitted for a six-month period.<ref name="travel"/> On February 1, 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 claims he was merely being charitable in helping the two seemingly out-of-place Muslims to move 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 magazine |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/66665 |title=The Saudi Money Trail |date=December 2, 2002 |author=Iskioff, Michael and Evan Thomas |magazine=Newsweek}}</ref> FBI documents declassified in 2022 demonstrate that al-Bayoumi was an agent of Saudi intelligence, with the FBI concluding that there was a "50/50 chance" that he (and thus the Saudi government) had foreknowledge of the attacks.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://eu.northjersey.com/story/news/columnists/mike-kelly/2022/03/13/sept-11-fbi-links-saudi-arabia-spy-attacks/9442454002/|title="Exclusive: New FBI documents link Saudi spy in California to 9/11 attacks - Mike Kelly"}}</ref>

In the beginning of February 2000, al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi rented an apartment at the Parkwood Apartments, a 175-unit complex in the [[Clairemont, San Diego, California|Clairemont Mesa]] section of San Diego, near the Balboa Drive Mosque. In February, al-Mihdhar purchased a used 1988 [[Toyota Corolla]].<ref name="timeline">{{cite web |url=http://www.911myths.com/index.php/Image:Hijackers_Timeline_OCR.pdf |title=Hijackers' Timeline |author=Federal Bureau of Investigation |publisher=9/11 Myths |date=February 4, 2008 |access-date=August 1, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080803015816/http://www.911myths.com/index.php/Image%3AHijackers_Timeline_OCR.pdf |archive-date=August 3, 2008 }}</ref> While living at the Parkwood Apartments, neighbors thought that al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi were odd.  Months passed without them getting any furniture for the apartment. Instead, the men 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">{{cite book |title=Inside 9-11 |author=Aust, Stefan and Der Spiegel |publisher=MacMillan |year=2002 |pages=17–18}}</ref> After the attacks, their neighbors told the media that the pair constantly played flight simulator games.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101010924/wplot.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010916122249/http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101010924/wplot.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 16, 2001 |title=The New Breed of Terrorist |author=McGeary, Johanna and David Van Biema |magazine=TIME Magazine |date=September 24, 2001}}</ref>  Authorities say the two regularly attended the Masjid Ar-Ribat al-Islami mosque that [[Anwar Al-Awlaki]] led as the imam in San Diego, having many closed-door meetings with the imam,<ref name="Eckert" /> although Al-Awlaki told authorities their conversations were trivial in nature.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB529-Anwar-al-Awlaki-File/documents/5c)%20FBI%20302%20from%20Sept.%2019,%202001%20interview%20with%20Awlaki%20and%20lawyer.pdf |title=FBI Interview Transcript with Anwar Al-Awlaki |last=Federal Bureau of Investigation |date=September 21, 2001 |website= |publisher=National Security Archive |access-date=September 6, 2022 |quote=he could not remember any specific conversation with AL-HAZMI, most of them were usually trivial in nature.}}></ref> While in San Diego, witnesses told the FBI he and al-Mindhar had a close relationship with [[Anwar Al-Awlaki]].<ref name="Eckert">{{cite news |url=http://legacy.utsandiego.com/news/nation/terror/20030911-9999_1n11terror.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130627191831/http://legacy.utsandiego.com/news/nation/terror/20030911-9999_1n11terror.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 27, 2013 |last1=Eckert |first1=Toby |last2=Stern |first2=Marcus |title=9/11 investigators baffled FBI cleared 3 ex-San Diegans |work=San Diego Union-Tribune |date=September 11, 2003 |access-date=August 3, 2015 }}</ref> Al-Hazmi got a part-time job through the mosque at a nearby car wash.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-483004.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924194929/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-483004.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |last1=Goldstein |first1=Amy |last2=Booth |first2=William |title=Hijackers Found Welcome Mat on West Coast; San Diego Islamic Community Unwittingly Aided 2 Who Crashed Into Pentagon |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=December 29, 2001 |access-date= |url-access= }}</ref>
[[File:Anwar al-Awlaki sitting on couch, lightened.jpg|left|thumb|[[Anwar al-Awlaki]] in [[Yemen]], 2008]]

On 4 April 2000, al-Hazmi took a one-hour introductory flight lesson at the National Air College in San Diego.  Both al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi took flight lessons in May 2000 at the Sorbi Flying Club, located at Montgomery Field in San Diego. On May 5, al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar took a lesson for one hour, and additional lessons on May 10 at the Sorbi Flying Club, with al-Hazmi flying an aircraft for 30 minutes.<ref name="timeline"/> However, their English skills were very poor, and they did not do well with flight lessons.<ref name="inside911"/> The first day that they showed up, they told instructors that they wanted to learn how to fly Boeings.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.10news.com/news/964031/detail.html |title=San Diego Man Arrested For Funding Hijackers |publisher=10 News (San Diego) |date=September 18, 2001 |access-date=October 2, 2008}}</ref> Al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi raised some suspicion when they offered extra money to their flight instructor, Richard Garza, if he would train them to fly jets. Suspicious of the two men, Garza refused the offer but did not report them to authorities.<ref name="inside911"/> 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' |newspaper=The Observer |author=Helmore, Edward and Ed Vulliamy |date=October 7, 2001 |location=London}}</ref>

Adel Rafeea received a [[wire transfer]] of $5,000, on April 18, from [[Ali Abdul Aziz Ali (Guantanamo captive 10018)|Ali Abdul Aziz Ali]] in the [[UAE]], which he later claimed was money al-Hazmi had asked him to accept on his behalf.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2002_hr/092602mueller.html |title=Statement for The Record FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III Joint Intelligence Committee Inquiry |publisher=Federation of American Scientists (FAS) |date=September 26, 2002 |access-date=October 2, 2008}}</ref>

At the end of May 2000, al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar moved out of Parkwood Apartments, and moved to nearby [[Lemon Grove, California]].<ref name="MountVernonAvenue">Hijackers' Timeline p.66</ref> Two days later—on June 2—al-Mihdhar transferred his vehicle's registration to al-Hazmi, <ref name="corollaownership">Hijackers' Timeline p.67 </ref> and departed the U.S. for Frankfurt, Germany on 10 June 2000.<ref name="al-Midhardeparture">Hijackers' Timeline p.69 </ref> Al-Mihdhar returned to Yemen, which angered Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who did not want al-Hazmi to be left alone in California.

On 12 July 2000, al-Hazmi filed for an extension of his visa, which was due to expire. His visa was extended until January 2001, though al-Hazmi never filed any further requests to extend it beyond that.<ref name="travel" />

In September, al-Hamzi and al-Mihdhar both moved into the house of [[FBI]] [[informant]] [[Abdussattar Shaikh]], although he did not report the pair as suspicious.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2003/07/25/news/top_stories/7_25_035_34_23.txt |title=Report: San Diego represented best chance to foil Sept. 11 plot : North County Times – Californian |publisher=Nctimes.com |date=July 25, 2003<!-- 6:32 AM PDT -->|access-date=October 28, 2008}}</ref> Al-Mihdhar is believed to have left the apartment in early October, less than two weeks before the [[USS Cole bombing|USS ''Cole'' bombing]]. Al-Hazmi continued living with Shaikh until December.

[[Hani Hanjour]] arrived in San Diego in early December 2000, where he joined al-Hazmi, but on December 10 they were seen leaving their Mount Vernon address. The two men traveled to [[Phoenix, Arizona]], where Hanjour could take refresher flight training classes. On 12 December, they arrived at [[Mesa, Arizona]]. On December 22, Hanjour and al-Hazmi signed a lease for an apartment in the Indian Springs Village complex in Mesa, moving in on January 9, 2001.<ref name="timeline"/>

===2001===

In March, al-Hazmi received a shipment of VHS videos including videos about Boeing 747 and 777 flight decks and "how an airline captain should look and act" and later a road atlas, map of New York City and a World aeronautical chart.

On 30 March, al-Hazmi notified his utility company that he might be moving to another state or Saudi Arabia. He and Hanjour moved out before the apartment rental expired at the end of the month on their way to Virginia. Two days later on 1 April 2001, [[Oklahoma]] police officer C. L. Parkins pulled al-Hazmi over for [[speeding]] in their Corolla along with an additional citation for failing to use a seatbelt together totaling $138. A routine inspection of his California [[drivers license]] turned up no warrants or alerts, although his name was known to both the NSA and the CIA as a suspected terrorist.<ref name="badintel">{{cite web|author=AlterNet / By |url=http://www.alternet.org/story/68268/ |title=Bad Intelligence: America's History of Bungled Spying |publisher=Alternet.org |date=2007-11-19 |access-date=2012-01-06}}</ref><!--dead <ref name="TheBulletin">{{cite web|url=http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/bulletin/eddesk.nsf/All/710930A347F9C31DCA256BCD00142568?OpenDocument |title=The Bulletin publishes for the last time |publisher=Bulletin.ninemsn.com.au |access-date=28 October 2008}}</ref>-->

Anwar al-Awlaki had already headed east and served as Imam at the [[Dar al-Hijrah]] [[mosque]] in the [[Washington Metropolitan Area|metropolitan Washington, DC area]] starting in January 2001.<ref>[http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=412 Imam Anwar Al Awlaki – A Leader in Need] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070402074940/http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=412 |date=2007-04-02 }}; Cageprisoners.com, November 8, 2006, accessed June 7, 2007</ref> Shortly after this, his sermons were attended by three of the 9/11 hijackers (the new one being Hanjour).<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6521758/Fort-Hood-shooting-Texas-army-killer-linked-to-September-11-terrorists.html Sherwell, Philip, and Spillius, Alex, "Fort Hood shooting: Texas army killer linked to September 11 terrorists; Major Nidal Malik Hasan worshiped at a mosque led by a radical imam said to be a "spiritual adviser" to three of the hijackers who attacked America on Sept 11, 2001,"] ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'', November 7, 2009, accessed November 12, 2009</ref><ref name="cha ">{{cite news|url=http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/terror/20030725-9999_1n25report.html|last=Thornton|first=Kelly|date=July 25, 2003|title=Chance to Foil 9/11 Plot Lost Here, Report Finds|newspaper=[[San Diego Union Tribune]]|access-date=May 10, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224023651/http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/terror/20030725-9999_1n25report.html|archive-date=February 24, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

By 3 April, he was likely with companion Hani Hanjour when he was recorded at an ATM in [[Front Royal, Virginia]], arriving in [[Falls Church, Virginia]], by April 4. They met a man believed to be a Jordanian named Eyad Alrababah at a 7-11 that day. The [[9/11 Commission]] wrote that al-Hazmi and Hanjour met Alrababah at the Dar al Hijra mosque who was a computer technician who had moved from West Paterson, New Jersey and was there to ask imam Anwar al-Awlaki about finding a job. He helped the pair rent an apartment in Alexandria where they moved in.<ref>{{cite web |author=Spencer Ackerman |url=http://washingtonindependent.com/81582/are-anwar-al-awlakis-ties-to-911-strong-enough-for-the-government-to-kill-him |title=Are Anwar al-Awlaki's Ties to 9/11 Strong Enough for the Government to Kill Him? By Spencer Ackerman &#124; 04.07.10 |publisher=Washingtonindependent.com |date=2010-04-07 |access-date=2012-01-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131222105906/https://washingtonindependent.com/81582/are-anwar-al-awlakis-ties-to-911-strong-enough-for-the-government-to-kill-him |archive-date=2013-12-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The 9/11 Commission concluded that two of the hijackers "reportedly respected al-Awlaki as a religious figure".<ref name=rec>{{cite news|url=http://www.kansascity.com/451/story/1585957.html |title=Is imam a terror recruiter or just an incendiary preacher? |last=Allam |first=Hannah |date=November 22, 2009 |work=[[Kansas City Star]] |access-date=November 23, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091124003856/http://www.kansascity.com/451/story/1585957.html |archive-date=November 24, 2009 }}</ref> Police found his telephone number in the contacts of [[Ramzi bin al-Shibh]] (the "20th hijacker") when they searched his Hamburg apartment while investigating the 9/11 attacks.<ref name="wanted">{{cite web|url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/u-s-imam-wanted-in-yemen-over-al-qaeda-suspicions-1.453376 |title=U.S. imam wanted in Yemen over al Qaeda suspicions |last1=Al-Haj|first1=Ahmed |last2=Abu-Nasr |first2=Donna |agency=Associated Press |date=November 11, 2009 |access-date=August 3, 2015}}</ref><ref name="inf">{{cite news| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dw1mHo6zjKwC&q=aulaqi&pg=PT351|last=Sperry |first=Paul E. |year=2005|title= Infiltration: how Muslim spies and subversives have penetrated Washington|work= Thomas Nelson Inc.| isbn= 9781595550033|access-date= December 1, 2009}}</ref>

On 1 May 2001, al-Hazmi reported to police that a man tried to take his wallet outside his [[Fairfax, Virginia]], residence, but before the county officer left, al-Hazmi signed a "statement of release" indicating he did not want the incident investigated.

The day after, on 2 May, two other hijackers, [[Ahmed al-Ghamdi]] and [[Majed Moqed]], arrived in Virginia and moved in with them.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/13120483/FBI-Summary-about-Alleged-Flight-77-Hijacker-Majed-Moqed |title=Scribd.com |publisher=Scribd.com |access-date=2012-01-06}}</ref> On 8 May, Alrababah suggested that al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar move with him to Fairfield, Connecticut, and helped all four hijackers move to a hotel there. They called area flight schools and after a few days Alrababah drove the four to Paterson, New Jersey, to show them around. Some FBI agents suspected that al-Awlaki gave Alrababah the job of helping al-Hazmi and Hanjour. Alrababah was later arrested as a witness convicted after 9/11 in a fraudulent driver's license scheme and deported to Jordan.

On 21 May, al-Hazmi moved in with Hanjour into an apartment in Paterson New Jersey. Mohamed Atta was living in the same city at another location.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/13120414/-FBI-Summary-about-Alleged-Flight-77-Hijacker-Hani-Hanjour |title=FBI Summary Hani Hanjour |publisher=Scribd.com |access-date=2012-01-06}}</ref>

On 30 June, al-Hazmi's car was involved in a minor traffic accident on the east-bound [[George Washington Bridge]].<ref name="badintel"/> On  June 25, 2001, al-Hazmi obtained a drivers' license in [[Florida]], providing an address in [[Delray Beach, Florida]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sptimes.com/News/091601/State/Hijackers_got_state_I.shtml |author=Bousquet, Steve |title=Hijackers got state IDs legally |newspaper=St. Petersburg Times |date=September 16, 2001 |access-date=October 2, 2008}}</ref> and he obtained a USA ID card on 10 July. On 2 August, al-Hazmi also obtained a Virginia drivers' license, and made a request for it to be reissued on 7 September.<ref name="travel"/>

On 20 July, al-Hazmi and fellow hijacker [[Hani Hanjour]] flew to the [[Montgomery County Airpark]] in Maryland from on a practice flight from [[Fairfield Township, Essex County, New Jersey|Fairfield, New Jersey]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historycommons.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&the_alleged_9%2F11_hijackers=haniHanjour|title=Complete 911 Timeline: Hani Hanjour|work=History Commons|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830015453/http://www.historycommons.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&the_alleged_9%2F11_hijackers=haniHanjour|archive-date=2017-08-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf|title=Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States|date=2004|page=242|access-date=October 1, 2017}}</ref>

Al-Hazmi, along with at least five other future hijackers, traveled to [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]], [[Nevada]], at least six times in the summer of 2001. They reportedly drank alcohol, gambled, and paid strippers to perform lap dances for them.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/10/04/MN102970.DTL |title=Agents of terror leave their mark on Sin City / Las Vegas workers recall the men they can't forget |publisher=Sfgate.com |author=Kevin Fagan, Chronicle Staff Writer |date=October 4, 2001 |access-date=October 28, 2008}}</ref>

Throughout the summer, al-Hazmi met with leader [[Mohamed Atta]] to discuss the status of the operation of a monthly basis.<ref name="lats"/>

On 23 August, [[Israel]]i [[Mossad]] reportedly gave his name to the [[CIA]] as one of 19 belonging to US residents who they said were planning to attack the United States in the near future.<ref name=mossad>{{cite web |url=http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a082301mossad |others=August 23, 2001: Mossad Reportedly Gives CIA List of Terrorist Living in US; at Least Four 9/11 Hijackers Named |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930031428/http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a082301mossad |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |title=Context of 'August 23, 2001: Mossad Reportedly Gives CIA List of Terrorist Living in US; at Least Four 9/11 Hijackers Named' |work=History Commons}}</ref> Only four of the names are known for certain, the other three belonging to fellow 9/11 hijackers Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, and Khalid al-Mihdhar, but it is not known if all 19 of the 9/11 hijackers' names were on the list or if the list had 19 names by sheer coincidence.<ref name=mossad/> Regardless, the connection was not made with previous contacts by local law enforcement.{{fact|date=September 2023}} On the same day, he was added to an [[Immigration and Naturalization Service|INS]] watch list, along with al-Mihdhar, to prevent entry into the US.

An internal review after 9/11 found that "everything was done [to find them] that could have been done." However, the search does not appear to have been particularly aggressive. A national motor vehicle index was reportedly checked, but al-Hazmi's speeding ticket was not detected for some reason. The FBI did not search credit card databases, bank account databases, or car registration, all of which would have produced positive results. Al-Hazmi was even listed in the 2000–2001 San Diego phone book, but this too was not searched until after the attacks.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-worldtrade-suspectprofiles.story |title= Multiple identities of hijack suspects confound FBI: South Florida Sun-Sentinel|website=www.sun-sentinel.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050310010142/http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-worldtrade-suspectprofiles.story |archive-date=March 10, 2005}}</ref>
He had not been placed on terrorist watch lists, nor did the CIA or NSA alert the FBI, Customs and Immigration, or local police and enforcement agencies.<ref name="badintel"/>

On 27 August, brothers Nawaf and Salem Al-Hazmi purchased flight tickets through [[Travelocity]].com using Nawaf's [[Visa Inc.|Visa]] card.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2002_hr/092602mueller.html |title=Statement of Robert S. Mueller: Joint Investigation Into September 11: (published September 26, 2002) |publisher=Fas.org |access-date=October 28, 2008}}</ref>

On 1 September, Nawaf Al-Hazmi registered Room #7 at the Pin-Del Motel in [[Laurel, Maryland]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2002/sep/10/20020910-085104-1364r/|title=Killers in the Cockpit: Who and Why?|access-date=March 20, 2017|newspaper=The Washington Times|date=September 10, 2002}}</ref> On the registration, he listed his driver's license number as 3402142-D, and gave a New York hotel as his permanent residence. [[Ziad Jarrah]] had checked into the hotel on 27 August.<ref>[http://www.newsday.com/ny-usprob212376908sep21.story] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041204231418/http://www.newsday.com/ny-usprob212376908sep21.story|date=December 4, 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/thepilot/timeline.html |title=CBC the fifth estate – The Pilot – Timeline |publisher=Cbc.ca |access-date=October 28, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080608225146/http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/thepilot/timeline.html |archive-date=June 8, 2008 }}</ref>

Al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar purchased their 9/11 plane tickets online using a credit card with their real names. This raised no red flags, since the [[Federal Aviation Administration|FAA]] had not been informed that the two were on a terrorist watchlist.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.webcom.com/hrin/magazine/la-watchlist.html |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20011125191717/http://www.webcom.com/hrin/magazine/la-watchlist.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 25, 2001 |title='Watch List' Didn't Get to Airline |publisher=Webcom.com |access-date=October 28, 2008 }}</ref>

==Attacks==
{{Main|American Airlines Flight 77}}
[[File:Nawaf and Salem airport.gif|thumb|Nawaf and [[Salem al-Hazmi|Salem]] at [[Dulles International Airport]] on 11 September 2001]]
On 10 September, the day before the [[September 11 attacks]], [[Hani Hanjour|Hanjour]], [[Khalid al-Mihdhar|al-Mihdhar]], and al-Hazmi checked into the [[Marriott International|Marriott Residence Inn]] in [[Herndon, Virginia]], where [[Saleh Ibn Abdul Rahman Hussayen]], a prominent Saudi government official, was staying – although no evidence was ever uncovered that they had met, or knew of each other's presence.<ref>{{cite news |last= Schmidt |first= Susan |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A31402-2003Oct1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516094503/http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A31402-2003Oct1|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 16, 2008|title=Spreading Saudi Fundamentalism in U.S.: Network of Wahhabi Mosques, Schools, Web Sites Probed by FBI|publisher=Washington Post, Page A01|date=October 2, 2003 |access-date=December 23, 2009}}</ref>

On the morning of 11 September, al-Hazmi boarded American Airlines Flight 77. The flight was scheduled to depart at 08:10 but ended up departing 10&nbsp;minutes late from Gate&nbsp;D26 at Dulles.<ref name="four">{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/legislative/research/9-11/staff-report-sept2005.pdf |title=Staff Monograph on the "Four Flights and Civil Aviation Security" |date=September 2005 |publisher=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |access-date=August 14, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306021319/http://www.archives.gov/legislative/research/9-11/staff-report-sept2005.pdf |archive-date=March 6, 2008 }}</ref> The last normal radio communications from the aircraft to [[air traffic control]] occurred at 08:50:51.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gregor |first=Joseph A. |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/foia/9_11/ATC_Report_AA77.pdf|title=ATC Report American Airlines Flight 77 |publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |date=December 21, 2001 |access-date=August 13, 2011}}</ref> At 08:54, the hijackers sent pilots Charles Burlingame and David Charlesbois to the back of the plane. Flight 77 began to deviate from its normal, assigned flight path and turned south.<ref name="911-ch1"/> The hijackers then set the flight's [[autopilot]] in the direction of Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/info/autopilot_AA77_UA93_study.pdf |title=Study of Autopilot, Navigation Equipment, and Fuel Consumption Activity Based on United Airlines Flight&nbsp;93 and American Airlines Flight&nbsp;77 Digital Flight Data Recorder Information |last=O'Callaghan |first=John |author2=Bower, Daniel |publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |date=February 13, 2002 |access-date=June 1, 2008}}</ref> Passenger [[Barbara Olson]] called her husband, [[United States Solicitor General]] [[Theodore Olson]], and reported that the plane had been hijacked and that the assailants had box cutters and knives.<ref name="911-ch1">{{cite book |title=''9/11 Commission Report'' |url=http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch1.htm |chapter=Chapter 1.1 – "We Have Some Planes", Inside the Four Flights |publisher=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |year=2004 |access-date=September 30, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Glen |url=http://www.boston.com/news/packages/underattack/news/planes_reconstruction.htm |title=Probe reconstructs horror, calculated attacks on planes |work=The Boston Globe |date=November 23, 2001 |access-date=June 1, 2008}}</ref> At 09:37, American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the west facade of [[the Pentagon]], killing all 64 aboard (including the hijackers) along with 125 in the Pentagon.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/info/AAL77_fdr.pdf |title=American Airlines Flight 77 FDR Report |publisher=National Transportation Safety Board |date=January 31, 2002 |access-date=June 2, 2008 |archive-date=September 26, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926220623/https://www.ntsb.gov/info/AAL77_fdr.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Aftermath==
Nawaf al-Hazmi's 1988 blue [[Toyota Corolla]] was found on the next day in Dulles International Airport's hourly parking lot. Inside the vehicle, authorities found a letter written by [[Mohamed Atta]], maps of [[Washington, D.C.]] and [[New York City]], a cashier's check made out to a Phoenix flight school, four drawings of a Boeing 757 cockpit, a [[box cutter]], and a page with notes and phone numbers.<ref>{{cite news |title=Authorities' Dragnet Snags More Suspects |author=Lichtblau, Eric |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=September 27, 2001}}</ref>

In the recovery process at the Pentagon, remains of all five Flight&nbsp;77 hijackers were identified through a process of elimination, as not matching any [[DNA]] samples for the victims, and put into custody of the FBI. Forensics teams confirmed that it seemed two of the hijackers were brothers, based on their DNA similarities.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/remains-of-9-sept-11-hijackers-held/ |title=Remains Of 9 Sept. 11 Hijackers Held |date=August 17, 2002 |work=CBS News |access-date=September 30, 2008 |archive-date=September 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080930021707/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/08/17/attack/main519033.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.cstl.nist.gov/div831/strbase/pub_pres/Edson2004.pdf |title=Naming the Dead – Confronting the Realities of Rapid Identification of Degraded Skeletal Remains |author=Edson, S.M. |journal=Forensic Science Review |volume=16 |date=January 2004 |access-date=September 30, 2008 |issue=1 |pages=63–90 |pmid=26256813 |display-authors=etal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060720223532/http://www.cstl.nist.gov/div831/strbase/pub_pres/Edson2004.pdf |archive-date=July 20, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Several weeks after the attacks, a Las Vegas [[Days Inn]] employee went to the FBI and stated that she recognized al-Hazmi's photographs from the media as being a man she had met at the hotel, who had asked for details on hotels near [[Los Angeles]]. She admitted that he never gave his name.<ref name="hotel">{{cite news |url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2001/Oct-26-Fri-2001/news/17309944.html |title=Ex-hotel worker says she conversed with hijacker |work=Las Vegas Review-Journal |first1=Glenn |last1=Puit |first2=J.M. |last2=Kalil |date=October 26, 2001}}</ref>

==Timeline in America==
Late in 2005, Army Lt. Col. Kevin Shaffer and Congressman [[Curt Weldon]] alleged that the Defense Department data mining project [[Able Danger]] had kept Nawaf al-Hazmi, [[Khalid al-Mihdhar]], [[Mohamed Atta]] and [[Marwan al-Shehhi]] all under surveillance as [[al-Qaeda]] agents.
* 15 January 2000: al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar arrive in Los Angeles from Bangkok, Thailand.
* February 2000: al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar move to San Diego.
* Autumn 2000: al-Hamzi works at a gas station while living in San Diego.
* March 2001: Nawaf al-Hazmi and [[Hani Hanjour]] move from Phoenix to Falls Church, Virginia.
* Mid-March 2001: Nawaf al-Hazmi, [[Ahmed al-Ghamdi]], [[Majed Moqed]], and Hani Hanjour stay for four days in the Fairfield Motor Inn, [[Fairfield, Connecticut]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CTPB&p_theme=ctpb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=1052C59352641E4D&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM | work=Connecticut Post | title=Lessons from 9-11: Towns, residents become more vigilant | date=September 17, 2004}}</ref> They meet with Eyad Alrababah, a Palestinian who may have provided false identification documents.

== In popular culture ==
* Arabic actor Massey Ahmar portrayed Nawaf al-Hazmi in the Canadian TV series ''[[Mayday (Canadian TV series)|Mayday]]'' [[List of Mayday episodes#Season 16 (2016–17)|Season 16: Episode 2 (2016)]] called "9/11: The Pentagon Attack"<ref>{{Citation |title="Air Crash Investigation" 9/11: The Pentagon Attack (TV Episode 2018) |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5536550/ |access-date=2024-01-19 |language=en-US}}</ref> and ''[[Mayday (Canadian TV series)|Air Crash Investigation Special Report]]'' [[List of Mayday episodes#The Accident Files#Season 2 (2019)|Season 2: Episode 1 (2019)]] called "Headline News".<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/episodes/gfkih8/air-disasters-headline-news-season-20-ep-1 |title=Air Disasters - Headline News |date=2023-07-31 |last=[[Smithsonian Channel]] |language=en-us |access-date=2024-06-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240623065617/https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/episodes/gfkih8/air-disasters-headline-news-season-20-ep-1 |archive-date=June 23, 2024}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[PENTTBOM]]
* [[Hijackers in the September 11 attacks|Hijackers in the 11 September attacks]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100807204647/http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/index.html The final ''9/11 Commission Report'']

{{9-11 hijackers}}
{{AmericanTerrorism}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazmi, Nawaf Al-}}
[[Category:1976 births]]
[[Category:2001 deaths]]
[[Category:American Airlines Flight 77 hijackers]]
[[Category:Anwar al-Awlaki]]
[[Category:People from Mecca]]
[[Category:Saudi Arabian al-Qaeda members]]
[[Category:Saudi Arabian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Saudi Arabian mass murderers]]
[[Category:Saudi Arabian murderers of children]]
[[Category:Bosnian mujahideen]]