Detainees reveal bin Laden's reaction to attacks

CNN ^ | 9/10/2002 | Mike Boettcher

[ArcLight]

On September 11, 2001, as his followers carried out a series of attacks on the United States, Osama bin Laden knew the attacks were coming, how many there were supposed to be, and when they were supposed to happen.

And, in between each attack -- according to accounts gleaned from men who were with him -- bin Laden indicated to his followers in chilling fashion that another one was about to take place.

[Thane_Banquo]

It's strange how much OBL knew before the attacks. Might he have a mole inside the Mossad? < /sarcasm >

[sharktrager]

(CNN) -- On September 11, 2001, as his followers carried out a series of attacks on the United States, Osama bin Laden knew the attacks were coming, how many there were supposed to be, and when they were supposed to happen.

And, in between each attack -- according to accounts gleaned from men who were with him -- bin Laden indicated to his followers in chilling fashion that another one was about to take place.

The new information, intelligence sources said, came from two men who were with bin Laden that day who were later interrogated by a coalition intelligence agency. The agency provided the information to CNN.

According to the accounts provided by these men, the al Qaeda leader spent much of September 11 in prayer and meditation, pausing only to praise Allah after news of each new horror carried out by his followers came over the radio.

When combined with remarks about September 11 that bin Laden made in a previously released videotape made in November 2001, the new information provides a new glimpse into the mood and attitude of the terrorist leader on that day.

On the tape, which was found and later released by U.S. intelligence, bin Laden meets with a Saudi religious leader and talks about the attacks. The new information fills in some gaps on what he was up to that day.

It is September 11th, 2001, in Afghanistan. According to the accounts of men -- later interrogated by coalition intelligence officials - who were present through the night before and much of that day, bin Laden is observed in deep prayer and meditation.

As the hijackers board their planes in the United States, those sources said, only three people in Afghanistan have exact knowledge of the attack: bin Laden, his trusted military commander, Mohammed Atef, and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was wanted by the U.S. since 1995 for his alleged role in a plan to blow up U.S. airliners flying from Southeast Asia.

They are the only ones of a group gathered in a safe house in Afghanistan who know precisely what is about to happen, according to coalition intelligence sources.

By the time American Airlines flight 11 slams into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, those intelligence officials said, bin Laden is sitting beside a short-wave radio and waiting for news. He says nothing. As people gather around, there is a bulletin about the first plane.

This seems to agree with bin Laden's version of events in the tape of the November meeting that was obtained by the U.S. government in Afghanistan and released last December.

On that tape, bin Laden is heard to say, "We had notification since the previous Thursday that the event would take place that day. We had finished our work that day and had the radio on. It was 5:30 p.m. our time. I was sitting with Dr. Ahmad Abu-al-Khair. Immediately we heard the news that the plane had hit the World Trade Center, we turned the radio station to the news from Washington. The news continued and no mention of the attack until the end. At the end of the newscast, they reported that a plane just hit the World Trade Center."

Citing accounts of the men who were with him, intelligence sources said bin Laden begins weeping and praying, then shouts "Allah Akbar" (God is great). Then, in a chilling sign he knows what is still to come, the sources said, bin Laden raises his arm and lifts 2 fingers.

This is perhaps what bin Laden's spokesman, Sulamein Abu Gheith, is talking about on the tape in his account of what happened.

"So I went back to the Shaykh (Bin Laden) who was sitting in a room with 50 to 60 people. I tried to tell him about what I saw, but he made gestures with his hands, meaning 'I know, I know.'"

After first plane hit, 'be patient'
On the tape, bin Laden himself also offered a clue to his behavior.

"They were overjoyed when the first plane hit the building so I said to them: 'Be patient.'"

Bin Laden then moves to an adjacent room equipped with satellite TV. More people gather to watch with him -- and they begin to record coverage of the events. One of the videotapes among those in the archive of al Qaeda tapes recently obtained by CNN in Afghanistan also included recorded television news coverage of the attacks.

At this point, the sources said, bin Laden is silent. Then cameras catch United Airlines Flight 175 as it crashes into the South Tower.

"After a little while, they announced that another plane had hit the World Trade Center. The brothers who heard the news were overjoyed by it," bin Laden would later say at the November meeting.

When the second tower was (is) hit, according to the intelligence sources, Bin Laden again prays and weeps, shouting "Allah Akhbar." Then he lifts three fingers and it becomes clear to the people in the room that he is signaling that a third attack is still to come, the sources said.

It does: American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon.

Bin Laden recounted what happened next on the November tape. "The difference between the first and second plane hitting the towers was 20 minutes. And the difference between the first plane and the plane that hit the Pentagon was one hour."

Again bin Laden prays, weeps and shouts "Allah Akhbar." This time he lifts four fingers.

Those beside him wait for the fourth attack. Only the select few know this hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 is aimed, as US investigators now believe, at the White House.

"They were overjoyed when the first plane hit the building so I said to them: 'Be patient.'"
— Osama bin Laden


But passengers on United Flight 93 rush the cockpit to prevent the hijackers from achieving their aim and the plane crashes in a Pennsylvania field.

Even as the fourth attack fails, the World Trade Center towers collapse -- something that bin Laden, who once worked in his family's construction business, anticipated in part, according to the meeting tape.

"Due to my experience in this field, I was thinking that the fire from the gas in the plane would melt the iron structure of the building and collapse the area where the plane hit and all the floors above it only. This is all we had hoped for," bin Laden said on the tape.

As night fell on Afghanistan on September 11, bin Laden's followers again watched as he prayed and wept. They waited for him to raise his hand to indicate a fifth attack. He never did.

[tomahawk]

These Jihadists need to be blasted into Hell where they belong.

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

As night fell on Afghanistan on September 11, bin Laden's followers again watched as he prayed and wept. They waited for him to raise his hand to indicate a fifth attack. He never did.

Something about this ending bugs me. It's almost like they want you to feel sorry for bin Laden. Maybe I'm just biased against CNN.

[El Sordo]

Has it ever been reliably determined just how many hijackings were planned for 9/11?

I've heard 3, I've heard 7....

Anyone know?

[RoughDobermann]

Yes, I'd rather that the ending went something like this. "And upon hearing the news, Osama's testicles exploded into thousands of little pieces. The pain that he endured before expiring was beyond human comprehension...."

[cantfindagoodscreenname]

Am I the only one hoping that the media play the videos of those towers being hit over and over and over tomorrow? Reading this article brings up all the anger and rage I felt when this happened. I fear that many Americans are no longer angry...merely sad.

[SauronOfMordor]

Has it ever been reliably determined just how many hijackings were planned for 9/11?

After they grounded all planes on 9/11, boxcutters were discovered under the seats of one or two more planes, indicating they had more planned, and that the box-cutters were pre-planted by aircraft cleaning/servicing personnel

[sharktrager]

I didn't read it that way. I think it was just meant to show how extensive his knowledge was, and how little the others knew.

I do wonder, however, if the story is an untrue dramatization. I still find it hard to believe there weren't more attacks planned.

[Illbay]

Others can spend all their time "remembering" that our people got killed.

For the present, I'm more in favor of remembering who killed them. Because they're still out there.

[Illbay]

"The pain that he endured before expiring was beyond human comprehension...."

Assuming ObL got his deep inside a bunker, when one of those daisy-cutter things went off, sucking all the air out of the place, I think it very likely that this is indeed what happened.

[Bars4Bill]

They waited for him to raise his hand to indicate a fifth attack. He never did.

I hope his hand twitched in a last violent paroxysm when we killed him.

[EggsAckley]

I'm sure I remember that there were other planes that had the boxcutters in them. And also, what about those two guys they caught on a train in Texas (?) with a LOT of cash, boxcutters, and other evidence? That happened just twenty-four hours or so after 9/11. I think they let them go.

[SerpentDove]

I like what Sean Hannity said today. "Why should we be the ones on high alert? I want THEM to be on high alert."

[SerpentDove]

>>I'm sure I remember that there were other planes that had the boxcutters in them. And also, what about those two guys they caught on a train in Texas (?) with a LOT of cash, boxcutters, and other evidence? That happened just twenty-four hours or so after 9/11. I think they let them go.<<

And I distinctly remember hearing of about 3 or 4 Middle Eastern men that day, in a plane at JFK, who got in an argument with one another.

By the time the police arrived, they were gone. I'm not making that up.

[SerpentDove]

Middle Eastern Pilot Areested: False Credentials (Sept. 14 2001)

[EggsAckley]

yup