Early Life
Ramzi bin al-Shibh was born in the Yemeni province of Hadhramaut. When he was young, his family moved to a working-class neighborhood in the capital, Sana'a. In 1987, his father died and he was then cared for by his older brother, Ahmed, and his mother. In 1987, while still in high school, bin al-Shibh worked part-time as a clerk for the International Bank of Yemen. He continued working there until 1995.
Bin al-Shibh applied for a U.S. visa in 1995, but his request was denied. He then went to Germany, where he requested political asylum, claiming that he was a political refugee from Sudan. He lived in Hamburg until 1997 when the judge refused his asylum request. Bin al-Shibh returned to the Hadramaut region of Yemen, but a short while later bin al-Shibh received a German visa under his real name. While he was in Germany, bin al-Shibh used the name Ramzi Omar. In 1997, bin al-Shibh met Mohamed Atta, the leader of the Hamburg cell, at a mosque. For two years, Atta and bin al-Shibh were roommates in Germany.
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