Printer-friendly Version

July 25, 2003
The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Bush,

I write to respectfully request that you convince the Saudi Arabian government to hand Omar al-Bayoumi over to United States law enforcement officials for questioning as a material witness to the September 11th attacks.

Although a previous FBI investigation of al-Bayoumi conducted before 9-11 did not bear fruit, new information that has come to light in the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001 that clearly suggests that he was closely connected to the perpetrators of the attack. Evidence now indicates that al-Bayoumi also had connections to the Saudi government and even al Qaeda.

According to the recently released report, al-Bayoumi was an intimate associate of 9-11 hijackers Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi and provided them with financial assistance. The FBI has indicated that al-Bayoumi was first introduced to the two hijackers in early 2000 at a restaurant in a “somewhat suspicious meeting” immediately after a closed-door consultation with Saudi officials at the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles. Since September 11th, the FBI has learned that al-Bayoumi also had connections to individuals associated with al-Qaeda.

Further evidence also suggests that al-Bayoumi had other intimate connections to the Saudi government. One of the FBI’s best sources in San Diego – the city where al-Bayoumi lived – named al-Bayoumi as an intelligence officer for Saudi Arabia or another foreign power while news reports indicate that al-Bayoumi was at one time employed by the Saudi Ministry of Defense and Aviation.

Despite this evidence identifying him as a central figure in the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the hijackers, however, no American law enforcement official has questioned al-Bayoumi directly because he left the Untied States before September 11th to return to Saudi Arabia. Given the revelations of the Joint Inquiry’s report, it is obvious that there are many important questions about Saudi Arabia’s connections to 9-11 that only al-Bayoumi can answer.

I respectfully urge you to do all that is in your power to convince the Saudis to hand over al-Bayoumi to the FBI so that the unanswered questions surrounding 9–11 can be resolved.

Sincerely,
Charles Schumer
U.S. Senator