1999-2000: Two 9/11 Hijackers Radicalized by Saudi Education System

Two of the alleged 9/11 hijackers, Abdulaziz Alomari and Ahmed Alnami, are apparently radicalized by the education system in Saudi Arabia. Abdulaziz Alomari is an Islamic law graduate (see Late 1990s) and serves as a prayer leader at his mosque. At university in Qassim Province, he studies under radical cleric Sulayman al-Alwan. The 9/11 Commission will say that al-Alwan’s mosque is “known among moderate clerics as a ‘terrorist factory.’ The Province is at the very heart of the strict Wahhabi movement in Saudi Arabia.” Al-Alwan is reportedly spiritual advisor to al-Qaeda logistics manager Abu Zubaida and is in telephone contact with Hamed al-Sulami, an associate of Hani Hanjour (see July 10, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 232-3, 521] Ahmed Alnami leads a carefree life until 1999, but then becomes more pious after returning from a Saudi-government sponsored training camp, growing a beard and shunning his old friends. He reportedly sings the call to prayer at the al-Basra mosque in the city of Abha and, occasionally, another mosque in Khamis Mushayt, a nearby town where some of the other hijackers live. [Arab News, 9/19/2001; Arab News, 9/20/2001; Boston Globe, 3/3/2002] He is also reported to be a prayer leader in Abha. [Washington Post, 9/25/2001; Independent, 9/27/2001; Saudi Information Agency, 9/11/2002] However, after 9/11 his father will say that he “practiced religion like most of us do.” [ABC News, 3/15/2002]