The Abbottabad documents revealed that late al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden insisted to use jets in attacks against the U.S. even after the September 11, 2001, twin attacks, Al Arabiya reports. Bin Laden urged his commanders to focus their efforts on aerial attacks against the U.S. and its allies.
Documents also revealed that Iran was involved in preparing for such attacks as it allowed al-Qaeda commission led by Younis al-Mauritani to train al-Qaeda recruits there and dispatch them to hijack planes.
“It’s important that the organization carries out operations that directly harm the American people’s security and economy. Executing operations inside the U.S. and targeting oil-exporting countries are what affects people the most. There are ideas for plans that are bigger than the September 11 attacks but they need distinctive members,” Bin Laden wrote in one of his letters.
Al-Qaeda also worked on sending young recruits to foreign universities to learn how to operate airplanes. An example is Naif Abdulaziz who was recently arrested in the U.S. after the FBI found his fingerprints on an enrollment application at Al-Farouk training camp in Afghanistan.
“We’ve sent some brothers to study at universities so they can buy material without raising any suspicions,” Bin Laden said in one of his letters.
Bin Laden also proposed using private jets or helicopters to carry out suicide attacks noting that such operations will have a huge impact following the September 11, 2001, attacks. Letters exchanged between Bin Laden, Atiyatullah al-Libi, and Younis al-Mauritani also discussed which members to send to hijack planes and carry out suicide operations. Younis al-Mauritani proposed recruiting Latins and Muslim African Americans as it’s difficult to expose their cover.
“We must also have a plan to incite strife between America’s components, the Anglo-Saxon, Latins and African Americans,” Younis al-Mauritani said.
Younis al-Mauritani also voiced the importance of carrying out suicide operations using planes and noted that although the U.S. has taken several precautions, there were gaps that the organization can make use of. Bin Laden also issued an edict saying it was okay if Muslim civilians and children died during these operations.
“We must target the American people who can stop injustice against people that include Muslims. The Americans must know that we will not obstruct the path of jihad by shielding Muslims during our operations while fighting the enemy,” Bin Laden wrote.
Following the events of September 11, 2001, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard helped relocate al-Qaeda members and leadership by providing them with new clothes, shoes, Iranian passports, and money, Al Arabiya reports.
Thе details were discovered in a series of letters from the al-Qaeda communication officer Atiyyatullah al-Libi, whose real name is Jamal Ibrahim al-Shtaiwi al-Musrati. He was appointed by Osama bin Laden himself as an al-Qaeda envoy in Iran.
The letters also reveal the nature of the cooperation between Iran and one of the al-Qaeda fighting factions in Libya. Letters from a member of the Libyan al-Qaeda fighting groups called Nader, addressed to Atiyyatullah al-Libi who in turn informed bin Laden about its content, showed that the Iranian regime’s approach to its international relationships is based on interests, not friendship.
This is what the Iranian Revolutionary Guard confirmed in a meeting with Nader while arranging for his departure from Iranian territory in 2007.
“We have no friends in the world, even the place you are going to, there are only common interests between us,” they said.
According to the letter, this took place at the headquarters of al-Qaeda leaders and the al-Zarqawi group in one of the compounds dedicated to them.