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student visa, both of them had to persuade INS inspectors that they should be
admitted so that they could continue their flight training. Neither operative
had any problem clearing Customs.
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After returning to Florida from their trips,Atta and Shehhi visited Georgia,
staying briefly in Norcross and Decatur, and renting a single-engine plane to
fly with an instructor in Lawrenceville. By February 19,Atta and Shehhi were
in Virginia.They rented a mailbox in Virginia Beach, cashed a check, and then
promptly returned to Georgia, staying in Stone Mountain.We have found no
explanation for these travels. In mid-March, Jarrah was in Georgia as well, stay-
ing in Decatur.There is no evidence that the three pilots met, although Jarrah
and Atta apparently spoke on the phone. At the end of the month, Jarrah left
the United States again and visited Senguen in Germany for two weeks. In
early April, Atta and Shehhi returned to Virginia Beach and closed the mail-
box they had opened in February.
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By the time Atta and Shehhi returned to Virginia Beach from their travels
in Georgia, Hazmi and Hanjour had also arrived in Virginia, in Falls Church.
They made their way to a large mosque there, the Dar al Hijra mosque, some-
time in early April.
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As we mentioned earlier, one of the imams at this mosque was the same
Anwar Aulaqi with whom Hazmi had spent time at the Rabat mosque in San
Diego. Aulaqi had moved to Virginia in January 2001. He remembers Hazmi
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229
meeting or having any contact with Atta.Ani says that shortly after 9/11,
he became concerned that press stories about the alleged meeting might
hurt his career. Hoping to clear his name, Ani asked his superiors to
approach the Czech government about refuting the allegation. He also
denies knowing of any other Iraqi official having contact with Atta.
These findings cannot absolutely rule out the possibility that Atta was
in Prague on April 9, 2001. He could have used an alias to travel and a
passport under that alias, but this would be an exception to his practice
of using his true name while traveling (as he did in January and would
in July when he took his next overseas trip). The FBI and CIA have
uncovered no evidence that Atta held any fraudulent passports.
KSM and Binalshibh both deny that an Atta-Ani meeting occurred.
There was no reason for such a meeting, especially considering the risk
it would pose to the operation. By April 2001, all four pilots had com-
pleted most of their training, and the muscle hijackers were about to begin
entering the United States.
The available evidence does not support the original Czech report of
an Atta-Ani meeting.
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