The antheral astatine the bosom of a $1 trillion (£733bn) suit brought by 9/11 families had extended links to Saudi authorities officials and went paintballing with 1 of al-Qaeda's aboriginal leaders, video obtained by the BBC reveals.
The footage, which the FBI had wrong days of the 2001 attacks, stands successful stark opposition to Omar al-Bayoumi's 25 years of denials that helium was an extremist and a Saudi spy.
Bayoumi, who claimed to beryllium a pupil erstwhile helium was successful the United States, is seen successful 1 clip embracing Anwar al-Awlaki, who would spell connected to pb al-Qaeda successful the Arabian Peninsula. In another, Bayoumi and Awlaki are paintballing adjacent San Diego with an authoritative from Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
The videos signifier portion of the 9/11 families' suit against Saudi Arabia and person ne'er been shown publically before.
The suit argues Saudi Arabia was complicit successful the attacks and that Bayoumi aided 2 of the 19 hijackers who flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon - with different crashing successful Pennsylvania.
Bayoumi was arrested successful the UK by the Metropolitan Police days aft the attacks and the videos were recovered among his possessions, on with different important evidence.
This included a diagram of a level with a formation descent equation written alongside.
Multiple FBI agents received copies of the diagram, but it was ne'er shared with the British interrogators, adjacent though it had been couriered to the constabulary presumption wherever Bayoumi was being held successful custody.
The diagram was besides kept from immoderate FBI agents investigating Bayoumi, arsenic good arsenic from the 9/11 Commission - the autarkic enquiry into the largest wide execution successful US history, successful which astir 3,000 radical were killed. Bayoumi was ne'er prosecuted.
He and the Saudi authorities did not respond to the BBC's requests for comment, but some person ever denied immoderate engagement in, oregon anterior cognition of, the attacks. The FBI declined to comment.
After a justice ruled the suit could spell up successful 2018, thousands of documents, arsenic good arsenic videos and photographs, person been released to the tribunal and besides declassified done an enforcement bid made by erstwhile President Joe Biden.
BBC Panorama and Radio 4 person examined these documents, and spoken to dozens of peculiar agents and investigators, to hint the grounds the FBI gathered astir Bayoumi and Saudi Arabia's alleged engagement successful 9/11 - and to recognize wherefore it was ne'er afloat pursued implicit 25 years.
Our probe besides found:
The level diagram was sent to the FBI's New York bureau and was analysed, according to an FBI source. But a US Department of Justice (DOJ) authoritative told the BBC helium was ne'er shown a connection to prosecute Bayoumi based connected the evidence, adjacent though "we've convicted radical for less"
FBI agents successful San Diego, wherever Bayoumi had lived successful the US, repeatedly requested copies of grounds but ne'er received astir of it
The San Diego and Los Angeles FBI offices were some blocked from interviewing Bayoumi's Saudi authorities contacts
Staff connected the 9/11 Commission objected to the decision that Bayoumi was "unlikely" to person been progressive with extremists, prompting the study to property this to "our investigators who person dealt straight with him"
English (US)·