FBI say Ali knew four 9/11 suspects

Rayed Ali knew not one but four of the key figures named in the investigation into the September 11 hijackings, the Herald on Sunday has learned.

Mr Ali, who was deported from New Zealand for links to one of the 9/11 hijackers, knew another three men prosecuted after the terrorist attack. He was removed from New Zealand to Saudi Arabia on May 30 after four months here - although the Government refuses to explain why it felt the need to do so.

It has offered only the 9/11 Commission report, which stated that Mr Ali knew and had flatted with Hani Hanjour, the man believed to have been in the cockpit of the plane flown into the Pentagon.

The Herald on Sunday has found that Federal Bureau of Investigation files show Mr Ali, who has a Yemeni passport, willingly approached authorities after the 2001 attacks. It was through those interviews that agents began to draw connections between Mr Ali and three men who faced prosecution after the terror attacks - Faisal Al Salmi, Malek Mohammed Seif and Lotfi Raissi.

Efforts to link those men to 9/11 failed just as Mr Ali was never tied to involvement with the attacks. All the men were would-be pilots in the insular Saudi community in Tempe, Arizona, prior to the attacks and the FBI recovered details showing Hanjour, Mr Al Salmi, Mr Ali and Mr Raissi all used a flight simulator at Sawyer Aviation on June 23, 2001.

An FBI report states Mr Seif met Mr Ali at the mosque in August 1998. Mr Ali said he wanted to become a pilot and fly for Saudi airlines.

There is no doubt the men knew one another, although Mr Al Salmi tried to disguise his connection to Hanjour and was prosecuted for it. In an interview with agents, one week after the terror attacks, he claimed he did not know Hanjour. He was also prosecuted for claiming he had not talked to Mr Ali about an interview Mr Ali had had with the FBI. The charge sheet, written by the FBI, referred to Mr Ali's "limited association" with Hanjour.

Mr Seif, from east Africa, was also prosecuted. He admitted he knew Hanjour, and the resulting probe into his life turned up a false Social Security number and immigration violations. Mr Seif was in France on September 11 and voluntarily returned to the country to speak with the FBI, leading to his prosecution.

A Phoenix FBI intelligence report contains details about Mr Ali's background, relayed by Mr Seif. The details match those Mr Ali told pilots in Palmerston North, suggesting that in New Zealand he was open about his life. "Abdullah came from Mecca and studied the Koran and knows it by heart. Abdullah teaches small children," FBI investigators recorded. Mr Seif said Mr Ali would pass comment on his failure to attend the mosque where the two met in 1998.

Mr Seif told FBI agents he had met Hanjour in 1999 in Phoenix, at a dinner party being held to celebrate Mr Ali completing flight training and getting his pilot's licence.

Also at the party was Mr Raissi, who was jailed in England and accused of being the lead instructor for four of the 9/11 hijackers.

After getting out of jail, Mr Raissi filed a $10 million lawsuit against the FBI and the Department of Justice for falsely labelling him a terrorist. Mr Raissi told The Times of London that his reputation had been destroyed by being dragged into the terror probe.

"I have been branded a terrorist and can no longer get a job in the aviation industry. I want a full, unreserved apology and compensation for the destruction of my career and all the harm that has been done to my family."