Who were the fifteen Saudis?

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Author
Piechot, Martin F.
Date
2003-06Advisor
Rasmussen, Maria J.
Russell, James A.
Metadata
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On September 11, 2001, the al-Qaida terrorist network succeeded in an act of terror which the world will not soon forget. The 19 terrorists who hijacked the four airliners were all Muslims from Arab states, 15 of them were citizens of Saudi Arabia. This thesis addresses the question of who these hijackers were, and presents evidence to support the hypothesis that they were selected by al-Qaida because of their Saudi citizenship and/or connection to Saudi Arabia. It will further be shown how the selection of these young men served certain specific political purposes for the al-Qaida terror network; purposes which some of the hijackers may not even have been aware of.