- Mushabib al-Hamlan
-
An original candidate in the September 11 attacks, Mushabib al-Hamlan (Arabic: مسحبيب الحملان, Musḥabīb al-Ḥamlān) became involved with militancy at secondary-school in December 1999, where he attended gatherings to watch videos about the glory of Jihad and detailing the atrocities of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Yugoslav wars. The group studied under Ban-dar Marui and read the book Gladiator of Passion.
On February 15, 2000, Hamlan received a passport, and after completing the Hajj, went to Sharjah, UAE to obtain a Visa for entering Pakistan. Once in Islamabad, Pakistan, he and two co-travelers were led by Hassan Ghul to a waypoint controlled by Abu Zubaydah. By March, they had crossed the border into Afghanistan where he attended the Al Khaldan training camp.[1] When the camp was closed, he moved with its other members to Al-Farouq outside Kandahar, where he met Osama bin Laden.[1] After injuring himself at the camp, Hamlan was assigned to guard the Kandahar airport - a task that eventual hijackers Saeed al-Ghamdi and Waleed al-Shehri shared.
During his time at Al-Farooq and the airport, Hamlan is thought to have befriended Ahmed al-Nami. The two of them studied under Abu Basir al-Yemeni, who coaxed them both to enlist with Abu Hafs al Mauritani as potential 'martyrs' who would carry out suicide missions inside the United States.
Hamlan and Nami were sent to meet Osama bin Laden, identifying themselves through the phrase I want to be one of this religion's bricks and glorify this religion. In October 2000, Hamlan and Nami met with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed who instructed them on encrypting telephone calls. They also had their passports falsified claiming they were world travellers visiting locations such as Singapore, Malaysia, Egypt and Turkey. After a meeting with Muhammad Atef, the pair flew to Tehran, Iran - onward to Qatar - back into the UAE before arriving in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. On instructions from Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, they drove to Jeddah, where they stayed with future hijacker Waleed al-Shehri. He also instructed them how to obtain US visas, which both received on October 28.
In the end Mushabib did not end up using his visa.[2] Immediately after they were issued their visas, Hamlan phoned his family and learned that his mother was ill. He then decided not to pursue martyrdom and returned to his family. Khalid al Zahrani, an associate from Al-Farouq visited him later to try and convince him to return, but failed.[1]
References
- ^ a b c 911 Commission: Notes to Chapter 7, 911 Commission
- ^ 9/11 panel describes how attackers got money: New details on hijackers' visa, immigration violations, CNN
Hijackers in the September 11 attacks American Airlines Flight 11 United Airlines Flight 175 American Airlines Flight 77 United Airlines Flight 93 20th hijacker suspects Ramzi bin al-Shibh · Mohammed al-Qahtani · Zacarias Moussaoui · Mushabib al-Hamlan · Zakariya Essabar
Ammar al-Baluchi · Walid bin Attash · Khalid al-Zahrani · Fawaz al-NashimiWrongly accused Lotfi Raissi · Amer Kamfar · Ameer Bukhari · Adnan Bukhari · Abdul Rahman al-Omari · Mohammed Jaweed Azmath · Ayub Ali KhanCategories:- Al-Qaeda members
- Living people
- People associated with the September 11 attacks
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.