Atta, Mohamed (1968–2001)

Mohamed Atta was one of the men who hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 and crashed it into the north tower of New York City's World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, in the first in a series of attacks that left approximately 3,000 people dead, including the 19 hijackers. Information about Atta is somewhat sketchy, but he is believed to have been one the ringleaders, if not the primary leader, of the September 11 attacks.

Atta was born in 1968 to a relatively well-to-do family in Egypt. He grew up in Cairo, where his father was a lawyer. His family was Muslim but not especially conservative; his sisters attended college and worked. Atta studied architecture and engineering at Cairo University, receiving his degree in 1990.

After graduating, Atta obtained a job, but his father felt that Atta's career would be helped if he studied abroad. In 1992, Atta, who spoke German and English as well as Arabic, moved to Hamburg, Germany, where he enrolled at Technical University to study urban planning. Atta became increasingly radical in his embrace of Islam while living in Hamburg. In 1998, he disappeared from Hamburg for several months; he is thought to have traveled to Afghanistan during this time and formed links with Al Qaeda. He returned to Hamburg and [Page 58]finished his degree at Technical University, graduating with high honors in 1999. Atta is also believed to have established an Al Qaeda terrorist cell in Hamburg that had two other hijackers as members.

Since its launch in the mid-1980s, the Rewards for Justice Program has combated terrorism by using reward dollars to identify and apprehend terrorists who are planning, or have committed, terrorist acts. This Rewards for Justice poster features Mohamed Atta.

Rewards for Justice, U.S. Department of State.

In June 2000, Atta, who had a travel visa for the United States, flew to Newark, New Jersey. He quickly relocated to Florida, where he began taking flight classes in July. Throughout 2000 and 2001, he practiced his flight skills; he also received large sums of money from abroad and traveled extensively in those years—including several trips overseas and much movement within the United States. It has been widely reported that Czech counterintelligence determined that an Iraqi official under its surveillance met Atta in Prague in April 2001. Atta met with other hijackers in Las Vegas, Nevada, twice—possibly finalizing the hijacking plans. In addition, he is believed to have made practice flights to familiarize himself with the aircraft he intended to hijack. On August 28, 2001, Atta purchased two seats on Flight 11 on American Airline's Web site for himself and a second hijacker, Abdul Alomari.

On September 10, 2001, Atta and Alomari drove from Boston to Portland, Maine. The next day, they flew from Portland to Boston, then boarded Flight 11 along with three other hijackers. Atta and his four confederates hijacked Flight 11 shortly after the plane reached cruising altitude. His luggage was later discovered at Boston's Logan Airport; it contained a letter outlining how the hijackers should act during their attack.