Former US officials claim new evidence unearthed last year suggests a man previously dismissed as a 9/11 suspect could have aided the hijackers.
On 11 September 2001, four airplanes were hijacked by terrorism group al-Qaeda, with two infamously being flown into the Twin Towers in New York City, while a third hit the Pentagon, and a fourth which was intended to hit the White House or the US Capitol was crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.
Almost 3,000 people died and thousands were injured. The moment Flight 175 flew into the South Tower, moments after Flight 11 hit the North Tower, was caught from numerous angles and posted online since.
In initial investigations, Saudi national Omar al-Bayoumi was said to be 'an unlikely candidate' when it came to links with 'Islamic extremists' according to a 2004 report.
However, evidence that was initially seized from his apartment in 2001 itself could suggest otherwise, according to some in the US intelligence community.
Al-Bayoumi's video
A CIA counterterrorism analyst named Gina Bennett believes that the 9/11 Commission missed out on some key information, according to CBS.
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She believes that 'Bayoumi was an al-Qaeda facilitator' that supported 'two hijackers' who relied on his assistance.
This comes off the back of unsealed evidence that came to the fore in federal court, with the FBI claiming that he was living in the country on a student visa at the time, which was funded by a Saudi aviation company based in California.
However, he didn't show up for classes or work.
They added that he had ties to two of the hijackers, and recorded footage over a number of days in summer 1999 which showed the entrances and exits of the Capitol, where the security was posted, a model of the building, and landmarks nearby, even disclosing that the airport was near.
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He even says in Arabic while pointing towards the Washington monument: "I will get over there," and "report to you in detail what is there."
Investigators claim that he helped with Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania, as he spoke about a 'plan' in the footage.
On top of this, it was found that the footage was shot 90 days before al-Qaeda made the decision to target the Capitol, with former FBI supervisor Richard Lambert claiming that he was talking to the al-Qaeda planners.
The Saudi government claimed that the video was just regular tourist footage, which Bennett, who was the first US government official to warn of a potential global jihadist movement headed by Bin Laden, disputes.
Airplane sketch
British police were responsible for finding the infamous Capitol video, as well as 80 other tapes and several other documents in a raid on the man's apartment in Birmingham, UK, days after the 9/11 attacks.
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An FBI report from 11 October 2001 details all 'recovered exhibits', though the video was nowhere to be seen, having never made it to where Bayoumi and the hijackers lived prior to 9/11.
However, a sketch of an airplane and an equation were found, though the sketch was put away until 2012, when leading FBI 9/11 investigator Danny Gonzalez was told of the evidence, which was in a Washington warehouse.
After getting aviation experts to analyse the equation for the FBI, they found that a pilot could work out the rate of descent to hit a target on the horizon.
Al-Bayoumi was never charged with a crime and moved back to his homeland after the attacks, though in a 2021 deposition, he said he didn't remember much about the sketches despite drawing them himself.
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He suggested that it was something he studied in school.
Al-Bayoumi's links to the hijackers
While no evidence was found to prove that he had shared the equation, he met hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar when they came to the USA in 2000.
He claims they met by chance at a restaurant in Los Angeles and helped them find a place in San Diego.
Al-Bayoumi further helped them open a bank account, and even threw a party to introduce them to others in the community, booking them in for English lessons to fit in.
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Bennett claimed that he was key in their plans as they spoke no English and had limited education, though al-Bayoumi and the Saudi government claim that he is innocent.
What uncovered evidence would have been used for
Gonzalez, who is now a consultant for the 9/11 families' lawsuit, claimed he knew nothing of the video before it was unsealed in federal court in 2024.
He clarified: "And we're talking about the Joint Terrorism Task Forces that not only have FBI, but we have other state, local, and federal agencies.
"They did not know either."
Gonzalez is still dumbfounded on how the video had stayed under wraps for so long, claiming it 'angers' him, as he knew how instrumental it would have been in building a case against the Saudi national.
Bennett believes that the video should have gone straight to the White House upon its discovery, adding: "We were briefing the president and the National Security Council. We didn't expect that this [terror attack] was a 'one and done.' We expected al Qaeda to continue to try."
But this new evidence raises other questions, she explained, as there might be further evidence lying around, undiscovered.
The Saudi government and al-Bayoumi deny being part of the attacks, with the former filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
An FBI spokesperson told the publication they would not comment on ongoing litigation.
Topics: Terrorism, Saudi Arabia, World News
Joshua Nair