Responsibility For The September 11 Attacks - Financing The Attacks

Financing The Attacks

According to the 9/11 Commission Report, the 9/11 plotters spent between $400,000 and $500,000 to plan and conduct the attack:

al-Qaeda funded the plotters. KSM provided his operatives with nearly all the money they needed to travel to the United States, train, and live... The US government has not been able to determine the origin of the money used for the 9/11 attacks. Ultimately the question is of little practical significance.

CNN and other news outlets reported in September and October 2001 that $100,000 was wired from the United Arab Emirates to lead hijacker Mohamed Atta prior to the attacks, by Ahmed Omar Saeed (Syed) Sheikh, a long time Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence asset.

The report, which was later confirmed by CNN, stated that "Atta then distributed the funds to conspirators in Florida... In addition, sources have said Atta sent thousands of dollars – believed to be excess funds from the operation – back to Syed in the United Arab Emirates in the days before September 11. Syed also is described as a key figure in the funding operation of al-Qaeda"

The day after this report was published, the head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, Gen. Mahmood Ahmed, was fired from his position. Indian news outlets reported the FBI was investigating the possibility that Gen. Mahmood Ahmed ordered Saeed Sheikh to send the $100,000 to Atta, while most Western media outlets only reported his connections to the Taliban as the reason for his departure.

The Wall Street Journal was one of the few Western news organizations to follow up on the story, citing the Times of India: "US authorities sought removal after confirming the fact that $100,000 wired to WTC hijacker Mohammed Atta from Pakistan by Ahmad Umar Sheikh at the instance of General Mahmood."

The 9/11 Commission Report concludes: "we have seen no evidence that any foreign government – or foreign government official – supplied any funding." The difficulty in tracking the funding is due to the traditional means of zakat, a Muslim form of charitable giving essential to proper following of the faith and hawala, another ancient system of transferring funds based on trust and connections, including family, clan, and regional affiliations.