made repeated but unsuccessful efforts to sway him from this lifestyle.
Shortly before the 9/11 attacks, he would travel to Afghanistan to
communicate the date for the attacks to the al Qaeda leadership.
the Technical University.A witness has recalled Motassadeq saying that
he would kill his entire family if his religious beliefs demanded it. One
of Motassadeq's roommates recalls him referring to Hitler as a "good
man" and organizing film sessions that included speeches by Bin
Ladin. Motassadeq would help conceal the Hamburg group's trip to
Afghanistan in late 1999.
chemistry. Mzoudi studied in Dortmund, Bochum, and Muenster
before moving to Hamburg in 1995. Mzoudi described himself as a
weak Muslim when he was home in Morocco, but much more devout
when he was back in Hamburg. In April 1996, Mzoudi and Motas-
sadeq witnessed the execution of Atta's will.
sations.
about the planes operation; no evidence connects them to al Qaeda before that
time. Witnesses have attested, however, that their pronouncements reflected
ample predisposition toward taking some action against the United States.
The available evidence indicates that in 1999,Atta, Binalshibh, Shehhi, and Jar-
rah decided to fight in Chechnya against the Russians. According to Binal-
shibh, a chance meeting on a train in Germany caused the group to travel to
Afghanistan instead. An individual named Khalid al Masri approached Binal-
shibh and Shehhi (because they were Arabs with beards, Binalshibh thinks) and
struck up a conversation about jihad in Chechnya.When they later called Masri
and expressed interest in going to Chechnya, he told them to contact Abu
Musab in Duisburg, Germany. Abu Musab turned out to be Mohamedou
Ould Slahi, a significant al Qaeda operative who, even then, was well known
to U.S. and German intelligence, though neither government apparently knew
he was operating in Germany in late 1999. When telephoned by Binalshibh
and Shehhi, Slahi reportedly invited these promising recruits to come see him
in Duisburg.