Abdulaziz al-Omari

Abdulaziz al-Omari (May 28, 1979 – September 11, 2001) was a Saudi imam and terrorist who was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11 as part of the September 11 attacks in 2001. He accompanied Mohamed Atta before the attack and boarded the airplane with him.

Prior to the attacks, al-Omari was an imam at his mosque in Saudi Arabia's al-Qassim province. He arrived in the United States in June 2001 on a tourist visa, obtained through the Visa Express program. On 11 September 2001, al-Omari boarded American Airlines Flight 11 and assisted in the hijacking of the plane, which was crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, as part of the coordinated attacks.

Early life and career Abdulaziz al-Omari was born on 28 May 1979 in a poor conservative Arab family. He was born in Asir, Saudi Arabia and was a fellow countryman of brothers Wail al-Shehri and Waleed al-Shehri, fellow hijackers in the September 11 attacks. It is alleged he graduated with honors from high school. He taught as an imam at his mosque in al-Qassim province, which was the "heartland" of Wahhabism, a strict form of Islam. At the mosque, he was possibly taught by the radical cleric Sulayman al Alwan. At the time of the hijacking, al-Omari was 22. In the autumn of 2001, after the attacks, Al Jazeera television broadcast a tape they claim was made by him. The speaker made a farewell suicide video. In it he read, "I am writing this with my full conscience and I am writing this in expectation of the end, which is near... God praise everybody who trained and helped me, namely the leader Sheikh Osama bin Laden."

A person with al-Omari's name visited the Philippines twice in February 2001. Al-Omari and hijacker Salem al-Hazmi entered the United States through a Dubai flight on June 29, 2001, landing in New York City. Al-Omari had used the controversial Visa Express program to gain entry. Al-Omari likely stayed with several other hijackers in Paterson, New Jersey (where he rented a mailbox ), before moving to his own place in Vero Beach, Florida with his wife and three children. the attacks' mastermind. The employee who gave them the IDs claimed he had no idea they were "anything more [than ordinary] customers".

September 10 Al-Omari (foreground) and Mohamed Atta (background) at an ATM in South Portland, Maine at 8:41 p.m. on September 10, 2001

On September 10, 2001, Atta picked up al-Omari from the Park Inn Hotel, and the two drove to South Portland, Maine, in a rented Nissan Altima. Some sources state there is no evidence as to why they went to Portland, The two then returned to the Comfort Inn, where they stayed at for the rest of the night. It is unknown why this connecting flight through Portland happened, especially because the two almost missed their flight at Logan. Atta then commanded the plane's controls, It was quickly shown that this person was still alive, and the FBI issued an apology. It was also quickly determined that Mohamed Atta was the pilot among the hijackers. The FBI then named Abdulaziz al-Omari as a hijacker.

A man with the same name as those given by the FBI turned up alive in Saudi Arabia, saying that he had studied at the University of Denver and his passport was stolen there in 1995. The name, origin, birth date, and occupation were released by the FBI, but the picture was not of him. "I couldn't believe it when the FBI put me on their list", he said. "They gave my name and my date of birth, but I am not a suicide bomber. I am here. I am alive. I have no idea how to fly a plane. I had nothing to do with this."

The FBI gave a press conference on October 5, 2001, where they gave details regarding Atta and the real al-Omari's movements on September 10 and 11.