January 5, 2000: CIA Warns Other Intelligence Agencies that Almihdhar Has Visa to US, but Lies about FBI Knowledge of This

The CIA had just learned that hijacker Khalid Almihdhar not only is travelling to an al-Qaeda meeting in Malaysia, but also has a visa to travel to the US (see January 2-5, 2000). Alec Station, the CIA’s bin Laden unit, sends a cable to a number of friendly intelligence agencies around the world, saying, “We need to continue the effort to identify these travelers and their activities to determine if there is any true threat posed.” The cable also says that Almihdhar’s travel documents have been given to the FBI. But in fact the FBI does not know about the visa, and Alec Station is clearly aware that the FBI does not know (see January 4-6, 2000). [9/11 Commission, 1/26/2004, pp. 6 ; Wright, 2006, pp. 311] The 9/11 Commission will later conclude that “the weight of available evidence does not support” that the FBI was told about the visa. [9/11 Commission, 1/26/2004, pp. 6 ]