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| Terror Networks |
| Following the 9-11 money trail |
| 2001-10-20 |
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- A probe of the financial backing of the Sept. 11 suicide attacks on the United States has led to bank accounts held by two suspected terrorists and a gleaming silver-and-granite exchange house in a grimy neighborhood of this freewheeling Persian Gulf commercial center. The investigation of the money trail leading to the United Arab Emirates focuses on Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi, two of the suspected plot leaders. Both held bank accounts here before they came to the United States, and they were among three suspected hijackers who wired about $15,000 in cash to the currency exchange on the eve of the attacks. Less than seven hours before the first doomed jetliner was commandeered, the cash transfers were claimed by a man widely suspected of being the conspiracy's paymaster, who then left for Pakistan. The most intriguing financial records uncovered here belong to Atta, the man suspected of coordinating the Sept. 11 attacks. Atta, an Egyptian, maintained an account at a local Citibank branch, according to senior Emirates officials. Al-Shehhi, a native of the Emirates, had an account at a local branch of London-based HSBC Holdings. Though declining to release details, Sultan bin Nasser al Suweidi, head of the central bank here, said Atta's account was "busier" than normal, with frequent transfers of $10,000 to $15,000. He also said the traffic in the account would provide investigators with a money trail. "It is easy in our system to know exactly where the transfers are coming from," Al Suweidi said. "The investigators and the FBI, they have everything." Al-Shehhi's account, in contrast, never held much money, according to the banking officials. Of course, the Saudis say there's no evidence linking Atta, al-Shehhi, et al., to the WTC attacks and all of this is coincidence. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |