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(8) The 11 September Hijacker Cell Model bl (S//NF) Al-Qa’ida leaders and key 11 September plotters such as Usama Bin Ladin, Khalid Shaykh Muhammad (KSM), and Ayman al-Zawahiri probably have derived lessons from the activities and experiences of the 11 September hijackers and may be relying on them to plan future attacks against the US. - { G } « The 11 September plot was at least two years in the makin; An al- Qa’ ida operative calling himself “Ubaydah” claimed in a videotaped interview in June 2002 that al-Qa'ida sent a reconnaissance team to the US two years before the 11 September operation. We have no information to confirm that this reconnaissance operation occurred or that it can be tied to the 11 September attacks, but it is consistent with al-Qa’ida tradecraft that calls for lang and detailed planning for major operations. s Al-Qa’ida has lost its camps in Afghanistan where the plot was largely honed and the hijackers were trained, but between 40,000-20,000 potential terrorists trained in the camps and al-Qaida’s networks in countries such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia leave it with an ample pool of potential recruits for future attacks. (U) Snapshot of the Hijackers (LES) Al-Qa’ida’s criteria in choosing the 11 September hijackers is unknown, but one of the most important factors probably was their ability to not arouse suspicion from US or foreign intelligence and law enforcement services. * The hijackers used Western-style clothing and grooming once in the US. * The hijackers were all Middle Eastern men between 20 and 33 years of age. Many of them spent time in Afghanistan in either late 1999 or 2000, according to a variety of reporting. * Personal connections and family ties among the hijackers also may have been important; among the 19 were two sets of brothers—Waled and Wa’il al-Shehri and Nawaf and Salim al- Hazmi—and other sub-groupings in which individuals appear to have known each other for years before the plot. (U) How They Entered the US (LES). The hijackers entered the US legally on valid visas—15 on BI tourist visas, three on B2 business visas, and one on a Fl. student visa—using their true names. * Thirteen of the 19 hijackers traveled to the US in groups of two or three—the four pilots, Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, Hani Hanjour, and Ziad Jarrah are notable exceptions. (SEQRETIORCONNOFORN.X 1) REQ. #36-1 000000026