in Murfreesboro, North Carolina.After a semester at Chowan, KSM transferred
to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro,
which he attended with Yousef 's brother, another future al Qaeda member.
KSM earned a degree in mechanical engineering in December 1986.
Afghan jihad soon after graduating from college.Visiting Pakistan for the first
time in early 1987, he traveled to Peshawar, where his brother Zahid introduced
him to the famous Afghan mujahid Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, head of the Hizbul-
Ittihad El-Islami (Islamic Union Party). Sayyaf became KSM's mentor and pro-
vided KSM with military training at Sayyaf 's Sada camp. KSM claims he then
fought the Soviets and remained at the front for three months before being
summoned to perform administrative duties for Abdullah Azzam. KSM next
took a job working for an electronics firm that catered to the communications
needs of Afghan groups, where he learned about drills used to excavate caves
in Afghanistan.
Chapters 5 and 7 rely heavily on information obtained from captured al
Qaeda members. A number of these "detainees" have firsthand knowl-
edge of the 9/11 plot.
limited to the review of intelligence reports based on communications
received from the locations where the actual interrogations take place.
We submitted questions for use in the interrogations, but had no con-
trol over whether, when, or how questions of particular interest would
be asked. Nor were we allowed to talk to the interrogators so that we
could better judge the credibility of the detainees and clarify ambigui-
ties in the reporting.We were told that our requests might disrupt the
sensitive interrogation process.
ated their statements carefully and have attempted to corroborate them
with documents and statements of others. In this report, we indicate
where such statements provide the foundation for our narrative.We have
been authorized to identify by name only ten detainees whose custody
has been confirmed officially by the U.S. government.