20th hijacker

The 20th hijacker is a possible additional terrorist in the September 11 attacks of 2001 who, for unknown reasons, was unable to participate. The 20th hijacker, though not present during the actual attacks, is said to have been deeply involved in the preparations. ^[1] There were many variations of the 9/11 plot, with the number of terrorists fluctuating with available resources and changing circumstances. In the end, there were 19 hijackers: three of the planes were taken over by five members each and the fourth was hijacked by four people. The latter plane, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, due to the resistance from passengers before it could reach its target in Washington, D.C.

Suspects

• Ramzi bin al-Shibh allegedly meant to take part in the attacks and may have been the intended hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, but he was repeatedly denied a visa for entry into the US. ^[2] His role as one of the four hijacker-pilots preceded Hani Hanjour.

• Zacarias Moussaoui, a French citizen of Moroccan origin, has widely been referred to as the 20th hijacker. Moussaoui may have been considered as a replacement for Ziad Jarrah, who at one point threatened to withdraw from the scheme because of tensions amongst the plotters. Plans to include Moussaoui as a "muscle hijacker" were never finalized, as the al-Qaeda hierarchy had doubts about his reliability. Ultimately, Moussaoui did not play a role in the hijacking scheme. He was arrested about four weeks before the attacks. ^[1] Moussaoui is now serving a life sentence for his involvement in the 9/11 attacks. He pleaded guilty in 2005 to collaborating with the other hijackers. ^[3]

• Mohammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi Arabian citizen, is often referred to as the 20th hijacker. It's believed that he was sent to the U.S. to replace Moussaoui's role in the attacks as a "muscle hijacker" after Moussaoui's arrest. José Meléndez-Pérez, a U.S. Immigration inspector at Orlando International Airport, refused his entry into the U.S. in August 2001. He was later captured in Afghanistan and imprisoned at the U.S. military prison known as Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. ^[4] In January 2009, Susan J. Crawford asserted that Qahtani's interrogation at Camp X-Ray amounted to torture.

• Fawaz al-Nashimi. According to the BBC, al-Nashimi claimed to have been the "20th hijacker". An al-Qaeda video has been released from a U.S. intelligence organization, showing al-Nashimi justifying attacks on the west. The U.S dismissed al-Nashimi's claims as propaganda. ^[5] He was also known as Turki bin Fuheid al-Muteiry and took part in a May 29, 2004, attack on oil facilities in Khobar, Saudi Arabia. He was killed in a June 2004 shootout with Saudi Arabian security forces. ^[6]

• Saeed al-Ghamdi (same name, but a different person than the hijacker who participated in the hijacking of Flight 93) ^[7]

• Tawfiq bin Attash ^[7]

• Ali Abdul Aziz Ali ^[7]

• Mushabib al-Hamlan ^[7]

• Abderraouf Jdey ^[7]

• Zakariya Essabar ^[7]

• Khalid Saeed Ahmad al-Zahrani ^[7]

• Ali Abd al-Rahman al-Faqasi al-Ghamdi ^[7]

• Saeed al-Baluchi ^[7]

• Qutaybah al-Najdi ^[7]

• Zuhair al-Thubaiti ^[7]

• Saud al-Rashi ^[7]

In addition, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the attack's mastermind, had wanted to remove Khalid al-Mihdhar from the operation, but he was overruled by Osama bin Laden. ^[7]

In popular culture

In 2006, Saudi Arabian novelist Abdullah Thabit published the novel Terrorist Number 20, which became a bestseller. The book was inspired in part by Ahmed al-Nami, one of the 9/11 hijackers and a fellow resident of Abha who was vaguely familiar to Thabit. Three months after the book's release, Thabit was forced to move from Abha to Jeddah with his family after receiving death threats. ^[8]

References

1. Sciutto, Jim (February 4, 2015). "New allegations of Saudi involvement in 9/11". CNN . Archived from the original on March 1, 2019. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
2. Smith, Elliot Blair (September 17, 2002). "U.S. blood 'all over his hands'". USA Today. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2007.
3. Moussaoui formally sentenced, still defiant. NBC News (May 4, 2006).
4. Shenon, Philip (January 27, 2004). "Panel Says a Deported Saudi Was Likely '20th' Hijacker". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 22, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
5. "'Al-Qaeda video' of 20th hijacker". BBC. June 21, 2006. Archived from the original on August 20, 2006. Retrieved June 21, 2006.
6. Shrader, Katherine (June 21, 2006). "al-Qaida Video Shows Alleged 20th Hijacker". Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2006.
7. Kean, Thomas; et al. (July 22, 2004). Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (PDF). US Government Printing Office. p. 237. ISBN   0-16-072304-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 31, 2006. Retrieved October 5, 2006.
8. "Interview with Abdullah Thabit in Washington Post - R A Y A - agency for Arabic literature". rayaagency.org. September 30, 2010. Archived from the original on July 14, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2012.