Two men conducted a 9/11/01 'dry run' in 1999 with tickets from Saudi government
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/07/declassified-report-saudi-ties-september-11 After being kept out of the public eye for 13 years, Congress on Friday declassified 28 pages of a controversial report outlining a series of potential connections between the terrorist hijackers who attacked the United States on 9/11 and the government of Saudi Arabia. The document details a number of alleged instances wherein individuals linked to the Al Saud family may have assisted or provided financial support to the al Qaeda operatives who committed the terrorist attacks.
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Two men conducted a “dry run” on a flight to D.C., with tickets paid for by the Saudi government
In 1999, Mohammed al-Qudhaeein and Hamdan al-Shalawi reportedly asked flight attendants a handful of suspicious questions and tried to enter the cockpit of the airplane twice. Al-Qudhaeein and al-Shalawi were flying to Washington, D.C., where they planned to attend a party at the Saudi Embassy. The two claimed the embassy also paid for their tickets aboard the flight.
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http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/287947-congress-publishes-redacted-28-pages-from-9-11-report (snip)
And in one instance that appeared notable in retrospect, two men flying on tickets paid for by the Saudi embassy in 1999 acted suspicious during the flight and twice tried to enter the cockpit. Charges were not filed in that instance even though the plane was forced to make an emergency landing, but the FBI’s field office in Phoenix believed the incident may have been a “dry run” to test airline security.
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http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/07/read-28-declassified-pages-about-potential-saudi-involvement-911 Another frightening passage described what seemed to be a dry run or information-gathering mission for the eventual hijackings. 1999, Saudi citizens Mohammed al-Qudhaeein and Hamdan al-Shalawi flew from Phoenix to Washington, DC to attend a party at the Saudi embassy. After the plane departed, they asked flight attendants suspicious technical questions about the flight. Qudhaeein twice attempted to enter the cockpit, and the plane made an emergency landing. The two men claimed the flight was paid for by the Saudi Embassy. The FBI investigated the incident and ultimately decided not to pursue a prosecution, but did uncover that both men had "connections to terrorism."
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Who could have imagined?