This photograph of Hamza al-Ghamdi was released by the FBI in the days following the attack.

Hamza al-Ghamdi (Arabic: حمزة الغامدي, also transliterated Alghamdi) was named by the FBI as one of the hijackers of United Airlines Flight 175 as part of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack.

History

Al-Ghamdi was from the al Bahah province of Saudi Arabia, an isolated and underdeveloped area, and shared the same tribal affiliation with fellow hijackers Ahmed al-Ghamdi, Saeed al-Ghamdi, and Ahmed al-Haznawi. This group is noted as being some of the more religiously observant of the hijackers. Some reports say that al-Ghamdi left his home to fight in Chechnya against the Russians in early 2000. (Other reports say he left in January of 2001.) He called home several times until mid-2001, saying he was in Chechnya. It is not known if he ever actually went to Chechnya or not.

In January of 2001, al-Ghamdi apparently rented a post office box in Delray Beach, Florida with another hijacker, Mohand al-Shehri.[1] (http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2002/national-reporting/works/093001.html) This is difficult to reconsile with the FBI's assertion, confirmed by the 9/11 Commission Report, that these two arrived together in the United States for the first time five months later.

In March of 2001, al-Ghamdi was filmed in a farewell video that was aired on al-Jazeera. In the video, many future 9/11 hijackers swear to become martyrs, although no details of the plot are revealed. Al-Ghamdi does not speak in the film, but is seen studying maps and flight manuals.[2] (http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2002/financialtimes091102.html)

Al-Ghamdi applied for and received a Florida drivers license on June 27, 2001. In the next two month, he obtained two duplicate licenses simply by filling out change-of-address forms. Five other suspected hijackers also receive duplicate Florida licenses in 2001, and others had licenses in different states. Some have speculated that this was to allow multiple persons to use the same identity.[3] (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-worldtrade-suspectprofiles.story)

On September 11, 2001, al-Ghamdi boarded flight 175, helped to hijack it, and assisted as the plane crashed into the World Trade Center in a coordinated attack that killed thousands of people.

External links

• The Final 9/11 Commission Report (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/index.html)