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ing in Los Angeles with plans to carry out an attack. Abdullah allegedly told
the same inmate that he had driven the two al Qaeda operatives from Los Ange-
les to San Diego, but did not say when this occurred.We have been unable to
corroborate this account.
22
Another inmate has recalled Abdullah claiming he first heard about the
hijackers' terrorist plans after they arrived in San Diego, when they told him
they planned to fly an airplane into a building and invited him to join them
on the plane. According to this inmate, Abdullah also claimed to have found
out about the 9/11 attacks three weeks in advance, a claim that appears to dove-
tail with evidence that Abdullah may have received a phone call from Hazmi
around that time, that he stopped making calls from his telephone after August
25, 2001, and that, according to his friends, he started acting strangely.
23
Although boasts among prison inmates often tend to be unreliable, this evi-
dence is obviously important.To date, neither we nor the FBI have been able
to verify Abdullah's alleged jailhouse statements, despite investigative efforts.
We thus do not know when or how Hazmi and Mihdhar first came to San
Diego. We do know that on February 4, they went to the Islamic Center of
San Diego to find Omar al Bayoumi and take him up on his offer of help. Bay-
oumi obliged by not only locating an apartment but also helping them fill out
the lease application, co-signing the lease and, when the real estate agent refused
to take cash for a deposit, helping them open a bank account (which they did
with a $9,900 deposit); he then provided a certified check from his own
account for which the al Qaeda operatives reimbursed him on the spot for the
deposit. Neither then nor later did Bayoumi give money to either Hazmi or
Mihdhar, who had received money from KSM.
24
Hazmi and Mihdhar moved in with no furniture and practically no posses-
sions. Soon after the move, Bayoumi used their apartment for a party attended
by some 20 male members of the Muslim community. At Bayoumi's request,
Bin Don videotaped the gathering with Bayoumi's video camera. Hazmi and
Mihdhar did not mingle with the other guests and reportedly spent most of
the party by themselves off camera, in a back room.
25
Hazmi and Mihdhar immediately started looking for a different place to stay.
Based on their comment to Bayoumi about the first apartment being expen-
sive, one might infer that they wanted to save money.They may also have been
reconsidering the wisdom of living so close to the video camera­wielding Bay-
oumi, who Hazmi seemed to think was some sort of Saudi spy. Just over a week
after moving in, Hazmi and Mihdhar filed a 30-day notice of intention to
vacate. Bayoumi apparently loaned them his cell phone to help them check out
possibilities for new accommodations.
26
Their initial effort to move turned out poorly. An acquaintance arranged
with his landlord to have Mihdhar take over his apartment. Mihdhar put down
a $650 deposit and signed a lease for the apartment effective March 1. Several
weeks later, Mihdhar sought a refund of his deposit, claiming he no longer
THE ATTACK LOOMS
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