Report: Terrorist from each 9-11 plane traveled through LV

Suzanne Struglinski

Friday, July 25, 2003 | 11:27 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The congressional review of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks confirmed that one terrorist from each of the hijacked planes traveled through Las Vegas between May and August of that year, although the exact purposes of the trips are unknown.

A 858-page report, released Thursday, details actions by Mohamad Atta, believed to be the pilot of the first plane to hit the World Trade Center in New York; Marwan al-Shehhi, possible pilot of the second plane; Hani Hanjour, said to be in control of the plane that hit the Pentagon, in Arlington, Va.; and Ziad Jarra, who was one of the hijackers on the plane that crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.

"To date the purposes of these one- to two-day layovers is not known," FBI Director Robert Mueller said.

Metro Police and the FBI have been investigating why the four listed in the report and a fifth, Nawaf Alhazmi, were spotted in Las Vegas in the summer of 2001.

Theories that the men may have been in Las Vegas to launder money, plan, or pick targets abound, and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman told the Associated Press he believed they were here to cheat on their religion by "visiting girlie joints," drinking booze and having a good time.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., who was a member of the committee that conducted the review, said "it's not likely we will ever have a good understanding on why" the hijackers were in Las Vegas" beyond the speculation that they wanted to entertain themselves before committing the acts or that they were looking at potential targets, he said.

Reports say Atta was at an Econo Lodge motel, 1150 Las Vegas Blvd. South, in June 2001. The low-budget motel is just blocks away from the Stratosphere, downtown Las Vegas and the local FBI office.

Beginning in May 2001 each of the four pilot hijackers flew across the United States. Mueller said it appears the pilots began conducting possible surveillance flights as passengers aboard cross-country flights between the Northeast and California.

Gibbons called the report "constructive criticism" of U.S. intelligence agencies, saying that it does not point a finger at anyone, but instead says how things need to improve.

He said the report found "no smoking gun" to blame for the attacks.