Mid-Late 1990s: Radical Imam Preaches at Hamburg Mosque Attended by 9/11 Pilots

Mohammed Fazazi. [Source: Heise.de]Radical Moroccan imam Mohammed Fazazi gives weekly sermons at the al-Quds mosque in Hamburg, Germany, which is attended by the core members of the 9/11 plot, Mohamed Atta, Marwan Alshehhi, Ziad Jarrah, and Ramzi bin al-Shibh (see Early 1996 and April 1, 1999). Fazazi, who also makes videotapes that are watched by Islamist radicals throughout Europe, strongly believes that democracy and Western values must be rejected by Muslims living in the West, who should respect only their own Quranic laws. He often preaches that European countries are conducting a war against Islam and that “smiting the head of the infidels” is the duty of all Muslims, mandated by God. He stops preaching at the mosque and leaves Hamburg before 9/11. He is believed to be the spiritual leader of the Moroccan terrorist group Salafia Jihadia, and will later be convicted in Morocco for his part in bombings in Casablanca (see May 16, 2003). [Vidino, 2006, pp. 225-6]