Bin Laden named nine hijackers on tape, not one By David Ensor
CNN Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON (CNN) --The original translation of the Osama bin Laden videotape misses the fact that bin Laden identifies nine of the hijackers, a Saudi dissident says and an independent translator hired by CNN confirmed Thursday.
"The translators missed a lot of things on the tape," said Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the Saudi Institute, an organization that promotes human rights in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Ahmed said bin Laden identifies nine of the suspected hijackers -- not just Mohamed Atta as had the original translation.
Al-Ahmed and the independent translator -- who did not want to be identified -- said bin Laden named two additional hijackers on the tape: the brothers Nawaf al Hazmi and Salam al Hazmi.
Later, he said four other hijackers were from the Al Ghamdi tribe. He also mentioned two others, both named al Shehri.
Also left out of the translation, they said, were the names of three Saudi clerics who publicly backed the attacks, according to the man speaking with bin Laden on the tape. At least one of those three Saudi clerics was possibly a government official.
One more striking example of detail left out of the government translation, according to Al-Ahmed and the independent translator: Bin Laden's description of exactly what he said to others just before the radio announcement that the first of the attacks had succeeded.
They quoted him as saying he told followers, "When you hear a breaking news announcement on the radio, kneel immediately, and that means they have hit the World Trade Center."