Documents from 2016 connected to 9/11 investigations were released to the public that connect Fahad al-Thumairy — a Saudi national and former imam at King Fahad Mosque – to meetings between 9/11 hijackers. The documents were released as part of an executive order by Joe Biden that releases certain documents pertaining to investigations of the 9/11 attacks.
The document that mentioned Thumairy is the first released per the order, contains review and analysis of several interviews conducted as part of Operation Encore. He was one of four names of interest mentioned throughout the document alongside 9/11 hijackers Nawaf Al-Hazmi and Khalid Al-Midhar, as well as Omar Al Bayoumi, a Saudi government employee.
According to the documents, FBI sources described Thumairy as having extremist beliefs, and describe that a redacted suspect offered the greeting “Isn’t it great that our brothers are fighting?” at King Fahad Mosque following the 9/11 attacks. According to FBI sources, Thumairy was removed from King Fahad Mosque for “un-Islamic activity.”
Thumairy also served as an administrative officer at the Saudi Consulate and had an office there. At one point, he used his influence in the Saudi government to ensure an associate – whose name was redacted – kept their job at the consulate despite distributing extremist material at the consulate.
The FBI’s main issue was Thumairy was the logistical assistance he provided to hijackers Hazmi and Midhar while they stayed in Los Angeles. He tasked an associate with taking the two to the Mediterranean Gourmet Restaurant on Venice Boulevard — which was noted as a potential meeting place by the FBI — and called them “two very significant people.”
He also helped arrange a meeting between the two and Bayoumi, who provided translation, travel assistance, lodging, and financing to the hijackers.
The FBI’s trail on Thumairy goes back even further than 9/11, as records show that Thumairy assisted Bayoumi and Abdullah Aljraithen — who was connected to the Millennium Plot Bomber plot on LAX on New Years’ Eve in 1999 — stay at the Travelodge Hotel in Culver City near King Fahad Mosque on Dec. 20, 1999, just days before the attempted bombing and approximately one month before Hazmi and Midhar arrived in Los Angeles.
Thumairy’s phone records show that he was also in contact with the homes of multiple Guantanamo Bay detainees, as well as other associates connected to the Millennium Plot Bomber.
For more information, the full document can be found on the FBI’s website at the following link: https://vault.fbi.gov/9-11-attacks-investigation-and-related-materials/9-11-material-released-in-response-to-executive-order-14040/april-4-2016-electronic-communication-part-01-of-01/view