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By BETH GARDINER, Associated Press Writer
57 minutes ago
LONDON - Mohamed Atta, the ringleader of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, smiles and jokes with another hijacker before the two turn serious and speak intently to a camera in a video posted Sunday on a British newspaper's Web site.
The Sunday Times said the video, which was dated Jan. 18, 2000 — about a year and a half before the attacks against the United States — was made in
Afghanistan for release after the men's deaths.
For more than 30 minutes, the video shows Atta, who flew one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center, and Ziad Jarrah, who piloted United Airlines flight 93 that crashed into a Pennsylvania field, both alone and together.
The newspaper said the hourlong video was made at an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan. It includes images of
Osama bin Laden speaking to supporters in Kandahar, Afghanistan. A time stamp indicated that footage was shot on Jan. 8, 2000.
It has no sound, and the newspaper quoted a "U.S. source" who was not identified as saying that lip readers had been unable to decipher what the men were saying.
At times in the video, the two men look relaxed, laughing and chatting together before they grow serious and speak directly into the camera. At one point, they lean over a document the newspaper identifies as a will, studying it intently and sometimes pointing to specific sections and commenting to one another.
The Sunday Times said it had obtained the video "through a previously tested channel" but gave no further details.
It shows Atta and Jarrah sitting on the floor, and alternates between tight shots including only their faces and wider images showing what appears to be a gun propped up on the wall next to them. Both men have full, dark beards. Atta wears a dark sweater or sweatshirt with a zipped-up collar, while Jarrah is in a long white robe.
The Virginia-based IntelCenter, which monitors terrorism communications, said the video was likely raw footage that was to be used in a future video produced by al-Qaida's media arm, as-Sahab.
It pointed to a similar video released on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks this year, which was titled "Knowledge is For Acting Upon: The Manhattan Raid" and was stamped with the as-Sahab emblem.
That video showed bin Laden meeting with colleagues in a mountain camp believed to be in Afghanistan, and it included the last testament of two other Sept. 11 hijackers, Wail al-Shehri and Hamza al-Ghamdi.
All previously released 9-11 hijacker last wills have been released in this format, according to IntelCenter.
"A few years ago Osama bin Laden was asked about when he would release the last will of Mohammed Atta and he said that he was saving it for a special occasion. It is highly unlikely that al-Qaida wanted the material to be released in this manner and it is not consistent with any previous release," IntelCenter chief Ben Venzke said in an e-mailed statement.
57 minutes ago
LONDON - Mohamed Atta, the ringleader of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, smiles and jokes with another hijacker before the two turn serious and speak intently to a camera in a video posted Sunday on a British newspaper's Web site.
The Sunday Times said the video, which was dated Jan. 18, 2000 — about a year and a half before the attacks against the United States — was made in
Afghanistan for release after the men's deaths.
For more than 30 minutes, the video shows Atta, who flew one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center, and Ziad Jarrah, who piloted United Airlines flight 93 that crashed into a Pennsylvania field, both alone and together.
The newspaper said the hourlong video was made at an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan. It includes images of
Osama bin Laden speaking to supporters in Kandahar, Afghanistan. A time stamp indicated that footage was shot on Jan. 8, 2000.
It has no sound, and the newspaper quoted a "U.S. source" who was not identified as saying that lip readers had been unable to decipher what the men were saying.
At times in the video, the two men look relaxed, laughing and chatting together before they grow serious and speak directly into the camera. At one point, they lean over a document the newspaper identifies as a will, studying it intently and sometimes pointing to specific sections and commenting to one another.
The Sunday Times said it had obtained the video "through a previously tested channel" but gave no further details.
It shows Atta and Jarrah sitting on the floor, and alternates between tight shots including only their faces and wider images showing what appears to be a gun propped up on the wall next to them. Both men have full, dark beards. Atta wears a dark sweater or sweatshirt with a zipped-up collar, while Jarrah is in a long white robe.
The Virginia-based IntelCenter, which monitors terrorism communications, said the video was likely raw footage that was to be used in a future video produced by al-Qaida's media arm, as-Sahab.
It pointed to a similar video released on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks this year, which was titled "Knowledge is For Acting Upon: The Manhattan Raid" and was stamped with the as-Sahab emblem.
That video showed bin Laden meeting with colleagues in a mountain camp believed to be in Afghanistan, and it included the last testament of two other Sept. 11 hijackers, Wail al-Shehri and Hamza al-Ghamdi.
All previously released 9-11 hijacker last wills have been released in this format, according to IntelCenter.
"A few years ago Osama bin Laden was asked about when he would release the last will of Mohammed Atta and he said that he was saving it for a special occasion. It is highly unlikely that al-Qaida wanted the material to be released in this manner and it is not consistent with any previous release," IntelCenter chief Ben Venzke said in an e-mailed statement.
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