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| The Investigation |
| Al-Qaeda money man left UAE for Pak on 9-11 |
| 2001-10-03 |
Cash to fund the hijackings flowed between banks in at least three countries in the run-up to the atrocities. Sheikh Saeed, also known as Mustafa Mohamed Ahmad, was identified as a key financial manager for bin Laden, bankrolling terrorists preparing for the September 11 suicide attacks on New York and Washington. The base for a number of bank accounts controlled by Ahmad is thought to be Dubai. The United Arab Emirates central bank has now frozen all of Ahmad's accounts and accounts linked to 25 other people and organisations identified by US Treasury officials as al-Qaeda suspects. Another 13 bank accounts, holding 900,000, have been frozen in the German cities of Munich and Hamburg. Investigators traced money transfers to Florida on September 8 and 9, from an account under Ahmad's name in Dubai. The funds were paid to Mohamed Atta, the ringleader of the 19 hijackers. Investigators have also identified a further transfer of cash from a bank account in Florida, where Atta stayed, to Dubai before September 11. Ahmad did the financial fixing for several hijackers to live in Florida and pay for flying lessons. A UAE government minister disclosed that a man with a Saudi Arabian passport - suspected to be Ahmad - left the UAE for Pakistan on the day of the US attacks. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |