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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, CharlesG.
La
Bella
andGeorge
C.
loannides,
FBI
representative,
Special
Agent|
|
The
interview
was
conducted
in the law
offices
of La
Bella
and
McNamara,
401
WestA
Street,
Suite
1150,
SanDiego,CA. Theinterview beganat
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 Khalidal-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
|
jlslamicCenter
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.Xxxxxxwasaskedhow he metNawaf al-Hazmiand
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 toldDr.Xxxxxx thathe andal-Mihdhar
;
neededatplacetostay,
"very
badly."Dr.Xxxxxx said thattheconversationwas
I
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 buildingwas on Mt.Aida Avenuein SanDiego.Dr.Xxxxxx stated thatit washisrecollection
that
al-Hazmiandal-Mihdhar cameto hishouseinl 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
Americabranch.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
Commission
Sensitive
.
When
al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar moved into.Dr.
Xxxxxx'shousem|
«
,-•-'
•
-^*.-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-Hazmiandal-Mihdhar stated
thirt
they werefromSaudi 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 Diegotostudy English,asopposedtosome other American
city.
They
also
did nottellDr.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. Xxxxxxreiterated thathe metal-Hazmiandal-Mihdharat theICSD
on
the
casual introduction
of|
|
When ai-Hazmi
and al-Mihdhar moved in with Dr. Xxxxxx they had limitedpersonal possessions. Al-Hazmihad hisclothesand apersonal stereo systemor"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 stylebysittingon the floor of thekitchen.Dr.Xxxxxx described al-Hazmiandal-Mihdharasvery 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 ofRussianvictoriesinChechnya.Thethreeofthem prayedthe
pre-dawn
salah
orprayertogether most days. Dr. Xxxxxx could only recall al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar missing thepre-dawn
salah
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
of 00

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