Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
A man once investigated by the FBI over suspected links to the 9/11 hijackers had extensive connections to Saudi government officials and was filmed paintballing with future al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki in previously unseen footage unearthed by a BBC investigation.
Omar al-Bayoumi, who spent years denying that he was an extremist or a Saudi spy, appears in previously unseen footage obtained by the BBC embracing Awlaki. In another clip, the two are seen taking part in paintballing near San Diego alongside an official from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
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The footage, which the FBI had obtained within days of the 2001 attacks, is part of evidence released in a $1 trillion lawsuit brought by 9/11 families against Saudi Arabia. The families allege that Bayoumi helped two of the 19 hijackers who carried out the attacks. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly denied any involvement.
PAINTBALLING WITH A FUTURE AL-QAEDA LEADER
Bayoumi arrived in San Diego from Saudi Arabia in 1994, claiming he was there to study English. Court records later showed he had largely abandoned his studies and was instead involved in organising religious events.
The BBC reported that footage filmed in 1997 or early 1998 shows Bayoumi, Awlaki and others engaged in military-style paintball combat. Some participants wore fatigues, while others shouted “Allahu Akbar” as they charged into battle.
FBI agents investigating Bayoumi after September 11 attacks were told that some participants used the sessions to train for jihad, according to the BBC. Awlaki, meanwhile, already had connections to al-Qaeda operatives before his extremist activities became more widely known. Another clip shows Bayoumi embracing Awlaki in January 1998. Other footage documents his meetings with Saudi officials and religious figures linked to the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
PLANE DIAGRAM FOUND AFTER 9/11 ATTACK
Bayoumi became an early FBI suspect after his name was found on an apartment rental agreement signed by Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, two of the hijackers who later took part in the Pentagon attack.
After moving to Birmingham, England, Bayoumi was arrested by Metropolitan Police officers on 21 September 2001. Investigators searching his properties recovered thousands of documents, photographs and at least 80 videotapes. Among the material was a notebook page containing a drawing of a plane and mathematical calculations relating to its height and distance from a target.
Jodi Westbrook Flowers, a member of the 9/11 families’ legal team, told the BBC: “It’s the mathematical calculation of the crash. When we figured out what it was, we knew that it was the smoking gun that we’d been looking for.”
The BBC reported that copies of the diagram reached FBI agents in London, but British detectives questioning Bayoumi were not briefed about it. The evidence was also not shared with some FBI investigators in San Diego or the 9/11 Commission. A federal judge later found that the document, on its face, “connects Bayoumi with knowledge of the 9/11 Attacks”.
WHY DID THE FBI HIT A WALL?
The BBC investigation found that FBI agents in San Diego repeatedly asked for evidence seized in Britain, but received little of it. Much of the material was sitting just metres away at the London police station where Bayoumi was being held.
Rick Lambert, who led the San Diego investigation, said: “I believe there is the potential that had we received that evidence and analysed it, that we would have been able to put the pieces of the puzzle together much more quickly.”
Agents also sought to interview Saudi officials who had connections to Bayoumi. According to Lambert, permission was denied.
“We hit a roadblock so hard, I think we all had airbag burns,” former FBI investigator Steve Moore told the BBC.
Jeffrey Breinholt, who oversaw 9/11 prosecutors at the Department of Justice, said Bayoumi had been considered one of the “hot possibilities for charges”. He said the plane diagram would have been significant evidence.
“We’ve convicted people for less,” Breinholt told the BBC.
He described the paintballing footage as “very telling”, adding that Awlaki’s presence was “pretty damn significant”. Bayoumi was ultimately never charged. He has denied involvement in the attacks, which killed 2,976 people, according to the FBI. Saudi Arabia has previously described allegations that it or its officials were complicit in 9/11 as categorically false, while the FBI declined to comment to the BBC.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
