Ahmed al-Haznawi
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Ahmed Ibrahim al-Haznawi (Arabic: احمد ابراهيم الحزناوي, also transliterated Alhaznawi) (October 11, 1980 – September 11, 2001) was named by the FBI as one of the hijackers of United Airlines flight 93 as part of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack.
History
Al-Haznawi was from the al Bahah province of Saudi Arabia, an isolated and underdeveloped area, and shared the same tribal affiliation with fellow hijackers Saeed al-Ghamdi, Hamza al-Ghamdi, and Ahmed al-Ghamdi. This group is noted as being some of the more religiously observant of the hijackers. Al-Haznawi left home in 1999, saying he was going to fight in Chechnya against the Russians. It is unknown whether he ever went to Chechnya or not. His family lost contact with him in late 2000.
Ahmed al-Haznawi appeared on a videotape from Al-Qaida that was aired on Al Jazeera on April 16, 2002. It is not known when the tape was made. In it, he talked about his plans to bring the "bloodied message" to America.
On June 8, 2001, he entered the U.S. with fellow hijacker Wail al-Shehri, arriving in Miami, Florida. Al-Haznawi obtained a Florida driver's license on July 10, and then obtained a copy on September 7 by filling out a change-of-address form. Five other suspected hijackers also receive duplicate Florida licenses in 2001, and others had licenses in different states. Some have speculated that this was to allow multiple persons to use the same identity.[1] (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-worldtrade-suspectprofiles.story)
On September 11, al-Haznawi boarded flight 93, and although he was selected for additional security and screened, he was able to board the flight without incident. Due to the flight's delay, the pilot and crew were notified of the previous hijackings that day and were told to be on the alert. Within minutes, Flight 93 was hijacked as well.
Passengers on the plane heard through phone calls the fates of the other hijacked planes. They realized they had to take the cockpit back from the terrorists or their plane too would be used as a missile. A passenger uprising foiled the terrorist's plans, but failed to save the plane. The hijackers crashed the plane into the Pennsylvania farmland rather than cede control of the plane. All aboard died.
Trivia
Al-Haznawi once sought treatment at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for a "skin lesion". Some allege that this was caused by cutaneous anthrax, which would show, according to them, that those responsible for the September 11 attacks also committed the 2001 anthrax attacks. But an FBI spokesman said "Exhaustive testing did not support that anthrax was present anywhere the hijackers had been," and "nothing new has in fact developed."[2] (http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/03/23/anthrax/?related)[3] (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,673048,00.html)
External links
- The Final 9/11 Commission Report (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/index.html)
- Bin Laden tape with Haznawi (http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/04/15/terror.tape/)