Mohamed Atta ( محمد عطا السيد , Muḥammad ‘Aṭṭa as-Sayyid ) (September 1, 1968 – September 11, 2001) was an Egyptian student who studied in Germany in the late 1990s and soon became friends with Ziad Jarrah, Marwan al-Shehhi and Ramzi Binalshibh who together formed what is now known as The Hamburg Cell. In the late 1990s, the four friends became known associates of al-Qaeda, and the ringleaders of the 19 hijackers in the September 11 attacks. Atta was the hijacker in control of American Airlines Flight 11 which was the first plane to strike the World Trade Center.
Born in a small town in the Nile Delta, Egypt in 1968, Atta moved with his family to the Abdeen section of Cairo at the age of 10. Atta studied architecture at Cairo University, and went to Hamburg, Germany in 1992 to continue his studies at the Technical University of Hamburg, where he remained a student until fall 1999. In Hamburg, Atta became involved with the Al-Quds Mosque. At some point, he met Marwan al-Shehhi, Ramzi Binalshibh, and Ziad Jarrah who all became part of the Hamburg cell. Atta disappeared from Germany for periods of time, spending some time in Afghanistan, including several months in late 1999 and early 2000 when he met Osama bin Laden and other top Al-Qaeda leaders. Atta and the other Hamburg Cell members were recruited by Bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed for the "planes operation" in the United States. Atta returned to Hamburg in February 2000, reported his passport stolen and obtained a clean passport.
In late March 2000, Atta began contacting flight schools in the United States, inquiring about training. Atta arrived together with Marwan al-Shehhi in June 2000. Both ended up in south Florida at Huffman Aviation where they entered the Accelerated Pilot Program. Atta and al-Shehhi obtained instrument ratings in November 2000, and continued training on simulators and flight training. Beginning in May 2001, Atta assisted with the arrival of the muscle hijackers. In July 2001, Atta traveled to Spain where he met with Binalshibh to exchange information and finalize the plot. In August, Atta traveled on surveillance flights to determine details on how the attacks could be carried out.
In early September 2001, Atta traveled to Maryland, where Hani Hanjour was at the time. Atta then traveled to Boston, and on September 10, he traveled with Abdulaziz al-Omari to Portland, Maine. On the morning of September 11, Atta and al-Omari flew on Colgan Air back to Boston, where they boarded American Airlines Flight 11. Fifteen minutes into the flight, the team of hijackers attacked and Atta took over control of the aircraft. At 8:46 a.m., Atta crashed the Boeing 767 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
Aliases
Mohamed Atta varied his name on documents, also using "Mehan Atta", "Mohammad El Amir", "Muhammad Atta", "Mohamed El Sayed", "Mohamed Elsayed", "Muhammad al-Amir", "Awag Al Sayyid Atta", "Muhammad al-Amir", and "Awad Al Sayad". In Germany, he registered his name as "Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta", and went by the name, "Mohamed el-Amir" at the Technical University of Hamburg. In his will written in 1996, Atta gives his name as "Mohamed the son of Mohamed Elamir awad Elsayed." When he came to the United States, he used the name "Mohamed Atta." Atta also claimed different nationalities, sometimes Egyptian and other times told people that he was from the United Arab Emirates.
Early life
Atta was born on September 1, 1968 in Kafr el-Sheikh, located in Egypt's Nile delta region. His father, Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta, was a lawyer, educated in both sharia and civil law. His mother, Bouthayna Mohamed Mustapha Sheraqi, came from a wealthy farming and trading family and was also educated. Bouthayna and Mohamed married when she was 14, via an arranged marriage. The family had few relatives on the father's side and kept a distance from Bouthayna's family. In-laws characterized Atta's father "austere, strict, and private", and neighbors considered the family reclusive. Atta was the only son, but he had two older sisters who were both well-educated and successful in their careers—one as a medical doctor and the other as a professor.
When Atta was ten, his family moved to the Cairo neighborhood of Abdeen, located near the center of the city. Atta's father continued to keep the family private, restricting Atta from socializing with other kids in the neighborhood. Instead, he spent most of his time at home studying, and performed well in his studies. In 1985, Atta entered Cairo University, where he studied engineering. As one of the highest-scoring students, Atta was admitted into the very selective architecture program during his senior year. In addition to his regular courses, Atta studied English at the American University in Cairo. In 1990, Atta graduated with a degree in architecture. For several months after graduating, Atta worked at the Urban Development Center in Cairo, where he worked on architectural, planning, and building design. After he graduated, Atta also studied German at the Goethe-Institut in Cairo. In 1990, Atta's family moved into an 11th floor apartment in Giza.
Germany
In 1992, Atta's father invited a German couple over for dinner while they were visiting Cairo. The German couple ran an exchange program between Germany and Egypt, and suggested that Atta should continue his studies in Germany. They offered him a temporary place to live at their house in the city. Mohamed Atta travelled to Germany two weeks later, in July 1992. There, he enrolled in the urban planning graduate program at the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg. Atta initially stayed with the two high school teachers. When he arrived in Germany, Atta began adhering to a strict Islamic diet, frequented the mosque, and seldom socialized. His hosts found Atta frustrating due to his closed-mindedness and intensely introverted personality. After six months, they asked him to move out.
By spring 1993, Atta moved into Centrumshaus, a university apartment building, where he shared an apartment with two roommates. Atta continued living in the apartment at Centrumshaus until 1998. During that time, he had two roommates who in the end were "so aggravated" with Atta, who almost never cleaned, seldom washed dishes, and such behavior. Atta would walk in and out of a room "without acknowledging anyone else in it". His roommates described Atta's personality as "complete, almost aggressive insularity".
At the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, Atta studied under guidance of the department chair, Dittmar Machule, who himself specialized in the Middle East. Atta was concerned about modern development and construction of high-rise buildings in Cairo and other ancient cities in the Middle East. He believed that the large, impersonal, and often ugly apartment blocks built in the 1960s and 1970s had ruined old neighborhoods, and took away privacy and dignity from people. Atta's own family moved into such an apartment block in 1990, which to him was "a shabby symbol of Egypt's haphazard attempts to modernize and its shameless embrace of the West." For his thesis, Atta focused his studies on the ancient city of Aleppo in Syria. He explored the history of Aleppo's urban landscapes and the general themes of the conflict between Arab civilization and modernity. Atta criticized how the modern skyscrapers and development projects in Aleppo were disrupting the fabric of that city by blocking community streets and altering the skyline.
In 1994, Atta was invited to Aleppo by his professor Dittmar Machule for a three-day archaeological visit. Atta ended up spending several weeks in Aleppo during August 1994, and visited again that December. While in Syria, he met Amal, a young Palestinian woman, who worked there in the planning bureau. Volker Hauth, who was traveling with Atta, described Amal as "attractive and self-confident. She observed the Muslim niceties, taking taxis to and from the office so as not to come into close physical contact with men on the buses. But, she was 'emancipated' and 'challenging'." They both appeared to be attracted to one another, but Atta regretfully explained to Hauth that, "she had a quite different orientation and that the emancipation of the young lady did not fit." This was the closest thing to romance for Atta. During the summer of 1995, Atta spent three months with co-students Volker Hauth and Ralph Bodenstein in Cairo, on a grant from the Carl Duisberg Society. They looked at the effects of redevelopment in the Islamic Cairo old quarter which the government wanted to develop for tourism. Atta remained in Cairo to stay with his family, after Hauth and Bodenstein returned to Germany.
While in Hamburg, Atta also held a number of jobs. Beginning in 1992, he worked part-time at Plankontor, an urban planning firm. Atta remained with the firm through the summer of 1997, when he was laid off. The firm's business had declined, and having bought a CAD system, "his draughtsmanship was not needed." Atta also worked at a cleaning firm, and buying and selling cars to earn extra money. After studying in Hamburg, Atta wanted to return to Cairo to work, but there were few job prospects, as his family did not have the "right connections." Atta was also concerned about actions of the Egyptian government in arresting political activists, and feared that he too would be a target due to his social and political beliefs.
After leaving Plankontor in the summer of 1997, he disappeared again and did not return until 1998. Atta phoned his graduate advisor in 1998, after a year of doing nothing for his thesis. Atta told Machule that he had fam
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