Hamburg, Germany
The 9/11 hijackers in the Hamburg cell were originally planning to strike in Chechnya, but were persuaded to hit America by a stranger they met on a German train in 1999, The Washington Post reported this week. The episode, revealed in newly released 9/11 commission interrogation reports, is complicating the trial of two surviving cell members. German prosecutors were pushing the theory that the Hamburg cell, led by Mohamed Atta, was the driving force behind the entire 9/11 plot. But according to the new information, an Islamic radical Atta met on the train persuaded him to talk to Osama bin Laden, who recruited him into al Qaida and gave him a much bigger mission. The train story came from the classified interrogation of Ramzi Binalshibh, a top Hamburg cell member who was arrested in Pakistan in 2002.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What does the Le Pen verdict mean for the future of French politics?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION Convicted of embezzlement and slapped with a five year ban on running for public office, where does arch-conservative Marine Le Pen go from here — and will the movement she leads follow?
-
Discount stores were thriving. How did they stumble?The Explainer Blame Walmart — and inflation
-
Kaja Kallas: the EU's new chief diplomat shaping the future of European defenseIn the Spotlight Former Estonian Prime Minister's status as an uncompromising Russia hawk has gone from liability to strength
