Late 1997-Early 1998: Hijacker Atta Disappears from Germany for Months

Mohamed Atta. [Source: Der Spiegel]Hijacker pilot Mohamed Atta leaves Hamburg for some time. When he returns in the spring of 1998 he tells his roommate that he has been on another pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca, although author Terry McDermott wil later note, “He had been on hajj just 18 months earlier, and it would be unlikely for a student—even one so devout—to go twice so quickly or stay so long.” This is his longest absence since arriving in Hamburg, and there is no record of him spending any substantial portion of it at home in Cairo. According to McDermott, he leaves Hamburg “as he usually did over the winter holiday,” but according to the 9/11 Commission, the gap is in February-March 1998, “a period for which there is no evidence of his presence in Germany.” His friends hold a party for him on his return, which is unusual for a student that has just returned from home. After returning to Germany, he applies for a new passport, something he also does after returning from Afghanistan in early 2000 (see Late 1999). [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 167; McDermott, 2005, pp. 57] There are other unexplained absences from Hamburg by members of the same cell around this time (see Summer-Winter 1998). Although the 9/11 Commission, based on information obtained from detainees during interrogation, will say that Atta and his associates did not travel to Afghanistan and join al-Qaeda until late 1999, some commentators will disagree and say that this happened earlier; for example, McDermott will say of the cell members’ various disappearances in 1997-8, “Practically, there is only one place they likely would have gone—Afghanistan.” [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 166; McDermott, 2005, pp. 57] Jane Corbin will say that “[t]he time that Mohamed Atta spent in Afghanistan in 1998 was a period of ambitious reach for Osama bin Laden.” Jason Burke will say that “[i]n early 1998, [Atta] is thought to have traveled to Afghanistan, probably to Khaldan camp.” [Corbin, 2003, pp. 142; Burke, 2004, pp. 243]