Osama bin Laden is seen in this video footage recorded "very recently" at an undisclosed location in Afghanistan aired by the Qatar-based satelite TV station al-Jazeera October 7, 2001.
(5 of 9)
They were a quiet lot. "I saw them watching and playing flight-simulator games when I was walking my dog at 10 or 11 at night. They would leave the front door open," recalls Ed Murray, who lived across from them. It was the closest contact anyone at the complex had with the three. "Anytime you saw them, they were on their cell phones. What I found strange was that they always kept to themselves. Even if someone got in the pool, they got out." Another neighbor, Nancy Coker, 36, saw them getting into limos late at night, even though the car that neighbors said they drove was a gray Toyota Camry, early '90s vintage. "A week ago, I was coming home between 12 and 1 a.m. from a club. I saw a limo pick them up. It wasn't the first time. In this neighborhood you notice stuff like that. In the past couple of months, I have seen this happen at least two or three times." Last week Hanjour was the probable pilot when American Airlines Flight 77 flew into the Pentagon with Alhamzi and Al-Midhar aboard.
Hollywood, Fla., is an overlooked burg outshone by Miami on one side and Fort Lauderdale on the other, trying to grab some limelight with a string of sushi and blues restaurants. One such establishment is Shuckums Oyster Pub and Seafood Grill, a music showcase with the requisite life-size shark mounted on an ocean-colored wall. It was at Shuckums, on Sept. 8, that Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi did some pre-mass murder tippling. Atta drank vodka and orange juice, while Al-Shehhi preferred rum and cokes, five drinks apiece. "They were wasted," the bartender recalled, and Atta objected to the $48 bill. Tony Amos, the manager, asked if they were short the cash. "No," said Atta. "I have plenty of money. I'm a pilot." And he hauled a wad of $50 and $100 bills from his pocket, eventually leaving a $3 tip.
Atta and Al-Shehhi, his close companion, are the two hijackers the investigation has been most successful in profiling. Before journeying to Florida, Atta studied for several years at Germany's Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg and shared an apartment with Al-Shehhi. According to German chief prosecutor Kay Nehm, they were linked with a group formed with the "aim of carrying out serious crimes, together with other Islamic extremist groups abroad, to attack the U.S. in a spectacular way through the destruction of symbolic buildings."
There, in a 780-sq.-ft. apartment in a working-class district, they appear to have lived a life involving deepening Islamic practice and community. They had frequent visitors, sometimes as many as 20 at a time, witnesses told the New York Times. The group left their shoes at the door and could frequently be heard reciting from the Koran. They wore traditional Islamic garb, at least some of the time. The men often sat in circles on the floor praying, a neighbor reported. When they caught her watching, they installed blinds. They spoke good German. One neighbor complained about loud Arabic music. Despite Nehm's claims, the German sojourn has the feel of a somewhat more relaxed period, of working toward a goal that was not yet imminent.