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Commission Sensitive
MEMORANDUM FOR
 THE
 RECORD
Event:
 Interview of Xxxxxxxxxx Xxxxxx
Date:
 04/23/2004
Special
 Access
 Issues:
 none
Prepared by:
 Quinn
 John
 Tamm
Jr. and Dietrich
 Snell
Team Number:
 1A
Non Commission participants:
 Counsel for Xxxxxxxxxx
 Xxxxxx, Charles G.
 La
 Bella
and George
 C
loannides,
 FBI
 representative
Special
 Agent|
 
The
 interview
 was
 conducted
 in the law
 offices
 of La
 Bella
 and
 McNamara,
 401
West A
 Street,
 Suite
 1150
San Diego, CA. The interview began at
 2:30
 pm
 Pacific
 time.
|
 [
arrived
 at
 the law
 offices
 at
 3:30
 pm.
Xxxxxxocxxx
 Xxxxxx,
 PhD.,
 was
 introduced
 to
 Commission
 Staffers
 Dietrich
Snell and Quinri
 John Tamm,
 Jr. It was
 explained
 to
 Dr<
 Xxxxxx that this interviewconcerned his
 contact
 with
 Nawaf
 al-Hazmi
 (al-Hazmi) and Khalid al-Mihdhar (al-Mihdhar),
 and
 other related issues.
 Dr.
 Xxxxxx provided
 the
 following
 information:
Dr. Xxxxxx
 stated that
 his is a
 native
 of
 India
having been born
 in
 RajasthanProvince.
 He
 became
 a
 United States
 citizen
 in
 1976/
 Dr.
 Xxxxxx
 isf
 | He
became active in the Muslim community of San Diego in the early IwOs and was a
|
 jlslamic Center
 of
 San
 Diego
 (ICSD).
 Dr
Xxxxxx explained that
/
 the
 core group
 of
 members
 for the
 ICSD began meeting
 fpr
 prayer
 at a
 warehouse
 in San
Diego owned by one
 of.
 the members of the ICSD.
 .The
 initial gathering occurred duringRamadan. Later
 the
 ICSD bought
 a
 house
 on
 Curry Street
 in San
 Diego,
 to use as a
mosque.
 After
 a
 fund
 raising campaign the
 present
 mosque was built on Balboa Avenue
in
 San
 Diego.|
Dr.
 Xxxxxx
 has two
 sonsj
 |who
 Is
I
 and
I
who is
 1
1
thefLoran.
Eft
Both
 sons,
 traveled to
1
|are
 fiafiz
wnicjj.mearis
 that thev have memorizedIndia to
 Study arid
 memorize theKoran.
1
 ;
 I
 because
 of
 his
 accomplishment.
9 11
 Personal
 Privacy
 9 11
 Law
 Enforcement Privacy
 
Commission Sensitive
Dr.
 Xxxxxx
 was
 asked about
 his
 relationship with
 the
 ICSD
 in
 January 2000.
 Dr.
Xxxxxx
 stated that
 in
 January 2000
 his
 only relationship with
 the
 ICSD
 was as an
attendee
 of
 Friday prayers.
 He was not on the
 board
 of
 trustees
 of the
 mosque,
 and
 held
no
 other position with
 the
 ICSD.
 Dr.
 Xxxxxx stated that between
 600 and 700 people
routinely
 attend
 the
 Friday prayer service
 at the
 ICSD.
 After
 the
 service there
 is
generally
 some socialization
 in the
 common
 areas
 and
 parking
 lot of the
 mosque.Dr. Xxxxxx was asked how he met Nawaf al-Hazmi and
 Khalid
 al-Mihdhar. In
April
 2000,
 Dr. Xxxxxx explained that he had placed an announcement on the bulletinboard
 of the
 ICSD adjacent
 to the
 administrative
 offices
 of the
 mosque.
 The
 notice
 was in
English, and stated that Dr. Xxxxxx was interested in renting
 rooms
 in his house in
|
 Ito
 practicing
or
 observant Muslims.
 The
 notice only provided
 Dr
/Xxxxxx s
 telephone number for contact. Dr. Xxxxxx stated that he was standing in the
•hallway
 adjacent
 to the
 administrative
 offices
 at the
 ICSD
 when
 the
 mosque's secretary,
 
I
 ~|pointed
 him
 (Xxxxxx)
 out to
 al-Hazmi
 and
 al-Mihdhar, Al-Hazmi spoke
 to
/Dr. Xxxxxx with al-Mihdhar present. Al-Hazmi told Dr. Xxxxxx that he and al-Mihdhar
 
needed at place to stay,
 very
 badly. Dr. Xxxxxx said that the conversation was
 
conducted
 in
 English.
 Dr.
 Xxxxxx explained that al-Hazmi
 had limited
 English
 skills, but
 go his
 message
 across.
Al-Mihdhar spoke
 no
 English,
 and
 conversed with
 al-
Hazmi
 in
 Arabic. Al-Hazmi stated that
 he and
 al-Mihdhar were living
 in an
 apartmentcomplex near
 the
 ICSD,
 but
 would have
 to
 vacate
 the
 apartment because
 the
 person
they were living with
 was
 leaving
 for
 Saudi Arabia.
Dr.
 Xxxxxx recalled that
 the
apartment building was on Mt. Aida Avenue in San Diego. Dr. Xxxxxx stated that it washis recollection
 that
 al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar came to his house inl Ion05/10/2000.
 Dr.
 Xxxxxx bases this
 on the
 fact
 that al-Hazmi
 left
 his
 house
 on
12/10/2000
 and did not owe him any
 additional rent.
 Dr.
 Xxxxxx said that al-Hazmigave
 him
 notice
 of his
 departure several days earlier
 and
 then selected 12/10/2000, statingthat would complete
 a
 full
 month's rent.
 Consequently,
 Dr.
 Xxxxxx presently
 believes
that
 he first met al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar on the .Friday before 05/10/2000, or05/05/2000.
It
 was
 noted
 to Dr.
 Xxxxxx
 by
 Commission staffers that al-Mihdhar changed
 the
mailing address
 on his
 bank account
 at the
 Bank
 of
 America
 from
 the Mt.
 Aida Avenueaddress
 to Dr.
 Xxxxxx's address
 on
 04/19/2000.
 Dr.
 Xxxxxx
 did not
 have
 an
 explanation
for
 this contradiction, other than he recalled
 that
 al-Mihdhar lived with him forapproximately
 six
 weeks
 and he
 believed that al-Hazmi
 and
 al-Mihdhar moved into
 his
house on 05/10/200Q. Dr. Xxxxxx stated that he did assist
 al-Hazmi
 in opening achecking
 account, at the
 Bank
 of
 America branch.inl
 |CA,
 sometime after
al-Hazmi
 moved into his house. It is Dr. Xxxxxx's recollection that al-Hazmi opened the
account
 with
 a
 $3,000.00
 cash
 deppsit, in
 $100
 bills, which
 Dr.
 Xxxxxx handed
 to the
bank
 teller
 or
 employee.
 Dr..Xxxxxx
 did not
 know that al-Mihdhar
 had a
 bank account,
and
 denied suggesting
 in a Federal
 Bureau
 of
 Investigation
 (FBI)
 report
 that al-Mihdhar handled
 the
 .money.
9/11 Personal Privacy
 
i
 .•••€ ;-•<•
_...---
:
' /9/ll
 Personal Privacy
 ommission
 Sensitive
 
When
 al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar moved into.Dr.
 Xxxxxx's house m|
 
,-•-'
 
 -^*.-ri
1
S«
•-><;-,••
 "V*i* ^MMHHMMMH
J-Hazmi
 owned an automobile'. As
 previously
 noted, al-Hazmi could speak
limited
 English and al-Mihdhar spoke no English at all. Al-Hazmi told Dr. Xxxxxx thathe and al-Mihdhar came to the United States to
 lea^n
 English. Dr. Xxxxxx said that theytold him the name of a language school in San Diego, which Dr. Xxxxxx no longerrecalls.
 Dr.
 Xxxxxx noted that
 the
 school
 was
 legitimate,
When
 Dr.
 Xxxxxx would
find
 al-Hazrni and al-Mihdhar at his house during the middle of the day, and not at thelanguage
 school,
 he
 would
 ask
 them about their
 studies.
Al-Hazmi
 told
 him
 that
 the
language school was no
 good,
and they had
 stopped
 attending. Dr. Xxxxxx mentionedthat al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar seemed
 secretive/'
 on occasion. Dr. Xxxxxx thought thatthis behavior came
 from a
 personal disagreement between
 the
 two.Both al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar stated
 thirt
 they were from Saudi Arabia,
specifically
 the Jeddah region. Dr. Xxxxxx
 suspected
 that al-Mihdhar was
 from
 Yemen,because he had the ethnic characteristics of a Yemeni. Al-Mihdhar told Dr. Xxxxxx thathe was a fisherman and al-Hazmi stated that he had worked in his father's grocery store.Neither al-Hazmi nor al-Mihdhar provided
 an
 explanation why they came to San Diegoto study English, as opposed to some other American
 city.
 They
 also
 did not tell Dr.Xxxxxx the history of
 their
 friendship (al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar) which was customaryamong Arabs. Dr.
 Xxxxxx
 stated that a previous FBI report where he (Xxxxxx)described al-Hazmi
 and
 al-Mihdhar
 as
 cousins,
was
 incorrect. Also incorrect
 was
another FBI report that stated that al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar were introduced to him byModhar Abdula. Dr. Xxxxxx reiterated that he met al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar at the ICSD
on
 the
 casual introduction
 of|
 |
When ai-Hazmi
 and al-Mihdhar moved in with Dr. Xxxxxx they had limitedpersonal possessions. Al-Hazmi had his clothes and a personal stereo system or boombox and al-Mihdhar only had his clothes. Dr. Xxxxxx allowed them to use his computer
to
 access
 the
 internet. Al-Hazmi
 was a frequent
 user
 of the
 computer
 and the
 internet.
Dr. Xxxxxx did notice that neither al-Hazmi nor al-Mihdhar ever made telephone calls
from his
 (Xxxxxx's)
 telephone. When
 he
 asked both
 of
 them
 if
 they ever called home,they said that they
 did but
 that they
 used
 pay
 telephones. Al-Hazmi
 stated,
 We go
outside
 to use the
 telephone.
Dr.
 Xxxxxx noted that they would have
 to
 drive
 from the
neighborhood
 to use a pay
 telephone.
 Dr.
 Xxxxxx described al-Hazmi
 and
 al-Mihdhar
 as
 Bedouins.
He
 further
 stated that they were very patient and ate their meals in theBedouin style by sitting on the floor of the kitchen.Dr. Xxxxxx described al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar as very pious. Dr. Xxxxxxremarked that on one occasion that al-Mihdhar asked Dr. Xxxxxx to turn
 off
 thetelevision
 set
 because
 scantly
 clad
 cheerleaders
 were performing during
 a
 basketball
game. Al-Hazmi was especially interested in the news when it related to Chechnya. Dr.Xxxxxx stated that al-Hazmi would be come visibly upset when there was news ofRussian victories in Chechnya. The three of them prayed the
 pre-dawn
 s l h
 or prayertogether most days. Dr. Xxxxxx could only recall al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar missing thepre-dawn
 s l h
 on one
 occasion,
 and
 that
 is
 when al-Mihdhar went
 to Los
 Angeles,
 CA
to fly back to Yemen. Al-Mihdhar told Dr. Xxxxxx that he was going to visit his
 wife

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