Mohand al-Shehri

Mohand al-Shehri
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Native name	مهند الشهري
Born	Mohand al-Shehri (1979-08-17)August 17, 1979 'Asir, Saudi Arabia
Died	Manhattan, New York, United States

Mohand Muhammed Fayiz al-Shehri (Arabic: مهند الشهري‎‎, Muhand ash-Shehrī; also transliterated as Alshehri) (August 17, 1979 – September 11, 2001) was one of five hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 175 as part of the September 11 attacks.

A Saudi, Shehri was a former college student who dropped out after failing his courses. He later left his home to fight in Chechnya in 2000, but was probably diverted to Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. It was during that time that he would be chosen to take part in the attacks in America. He received a U.S. student visa in October 2000.

Shehri arrived in the United States in May 2001. On September 11, 2001, Shehri boarded United Airlines Flight 175 and assisted in its hijacking so that it could be flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

Aliases

Shehri was also known under the aliases "Mohammed al-Shehhi" and "Mohald al-Shehri".

History

Born 1979, Shehri was one of five hijackers to come from the 'Asir province of Saudi Arabia, the others being Ahmed al-Nami, Abdulaziz al-Omari and Waleed and Wail al-Shehri, two brothers unrelated to Mohand.

Mohand was a student at Imam Muhammed Ibn Saud Islamic University in Abha, but his growing devotion to Wahhabiism took him on frequent trips to Al Qasim, and as a result he failed his final exams.

Visa Application

According to Arab News, Shehri went to fight in Chechnya in early 2000, where he may have met Hamza al-Ghamdi. On October 23, Mohand applied for a US B-1/B-2 visa in Jeddah. Other than an error on his school's address the application was not suspicious and he was not interviewed before being granted the visa.

Hamza and Mohand flew together from Iran into Kuwait that October. Three months later the pair rented a post office box in Delray Beach, Florida, where someone with the same name signed up to use the public library's computers. According to FBI director Robert Mueller and the 9/11 Commission, however, Shehri did not first enter the United States until a London or Dubai flight on May 28 with Hamza and Abdulaziz al-Omari.

He was one of nine hijackers to open a SunTrust bank account with a cash deposit around June 2001, and on July 2 gained a Florida State ID Card.

Mohand occasionally trained on simulators at the FlightSafety Aviation School in Vero Beach, Florida together with Abdulaziz al-Omari and Saeed al-Ghamdi

Attacks

Main article: United Airlines Flight 175

Fayez Banihammad purchased both his and Mohand's one-way first class tickets for United Airlines Flight 175 online on August 27 or 29, charging the $4,464.50 to a Visa card from Mustafa al Hawsawi, listing their addresses both as a Mail Boxes Etc. in Delray Beach. This was not the same postal box used by Hamza and Ahmed al-Ghamdi, who purchased their tickets for the same flight a day later, with another Mailboxes Etc. postal box in Delray Beach, although both groups listed the same phone number.

On September 7 he flew from Fort Lauderdale to Newark, New Jersey with Hamza al-Ghamdi on $139.75 tickets purchased from the Mile High Travel agency in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

On September 10, 2001, he shared a room with four hijackers; Fayez Banihammad, Marwan al-Shehhi and Satam al-Suqami at the Milner Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts.

On September 11, Shehri boarded Flight 175, he sat adjacent to Banihammad. About a half an hour into the flight, the plane was hijacked and it was flown into the south tower of the World Trade Center.

External links

• The Final 9/11 Commission Report