9/11 suspect's al-Qaida, Saudi links: FBI ‘failed to pursue’ evidence, claims report

Newly released videos show Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi national investigated by the FBI after the September 11, 2001 attacks, embracing future al Qaida leader Anwar al-Awlaki and taking part in paintball exercises with him, according to a BBC investigation. The footage, obtained by BBC Panorama and Radio 4, was among evidence gathered by investigators after the attacks but has never previously been made public. It forms part of a $1 trillion lawsuit filed by 9/11 families alleging Saudi Arabia was complicit in the attacks. One video, filmed near San Diego in 1997 or early 1998, shows Bayoumi and Awlaki participating in paintball exercises alongside an official from Saudi Arabia's ministry of Islamic affairs. Participants, some wearing military-style clothing, engage in mock urban combat and target practice, with some heard shouting "Allahu Akbar". According to the BBC, FBI investigators were later told that some participants used paintball sessions to train for jihad. Awlaki, who was killed in a US drone strike in 2011, already had links to al Qaida operatives at the time. Another previously unseen clip shows Bayoumi embracing Awlaki in January 1998. Bayoumi had denied meeting Awlaki during a 2021 deposition in the 9/11 families’ lawsuit. The video appears to contradict that claim. Bayoumi arrived in San Diego in 1994, claiming to be an English-language student. Investigators later found evidence suggesting he had largely abandoned his studies and was involved in organising religious activities. Bayoumi emerged as 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 helped crash a plane into the Pentagon. British police arrested Bayoumi in Birmingham on September 21, 2001, and seized thousands of documents, photographs and around 80 videotapes. Among the evidence was a handwritten diagram showing a plane alongside mathematical calculations relating to altitude and distance. The FBI obtained copies of the diagram within days of the attacks, but British detectives questioning Bayoumi were not briefed about it, despite the evidence being just metres away at the police station where he was held. A federal judge later said the document, on its face, “connects Bayoumi with knowledge of the 9/11 Attacks”, the BBC reported. The BBC also found that FBI agents in San Diego repeatedly sought evidence about Bayoumi but did not receive much of it, while attempts by FBI offices to interview some of his Saudi government contacts were blocked. Bayoumi was released on September 28, 2001, after US officials concluded there was insufficient evidence to seek his extradition. Bayoumi and the Saudi government have denied involvement in or prior knowledge of the attacks. Neither responded to the BBC’s requests for comment. The FBI declined to comment.