Omar al-Bayoumi
130
MENTIONS
45
EPISODES
34
PODCASTS
Search complete. 130 mentions across 45 episodes found for "Omar al-Bayoumi".
Sep 12, 2026
Aaron KaturskyCORRESPONDENT
The Saudis maintain they had no role in facilitating the attacks and downplayed the new evidence in court as a document that appears to be a high school math assignment and a tourist video.
Aaron KaturskyCORRESPONDENT
Bayoumi later told investigators he was not a spy, only helped two fellow Saudis he had no reason to suspect of wrongdoing.
Dave PackerCORRESPONDENT
Some confirmation that several U.S. warplanes were damaged in Iran's attack on an air base in Jordan this week.
Dave PackerCORRESPONDENT
ABC senior Pentagon reporter Louis Martinez.
21 MINS LATER
Aaron KaturskyCORRESPONDENT
The Saudis maintain they had no role in facilitating the attacks and downplayed the new evidence in court.
Aaron KaturskyCORRESPONDENT
as a document that appears to be a high school math assignment and a tourist video.
Aaron KaturskyCORRESPONDENT
Bayoumi later told investigators he was not a spy, only helped two fellow Saudis he had no reason to suspect of wrongdoing.
Dave PackerCORRESPONDENT
Some confirmation that several U.S. warplanes were damaged in Iran's attack on an air base in Jordan this week.
Aaron KaterskyCORRESPONDENT
man that old with stage four cancer.
Aaron KaterskyCORRESPONDENT
Evidence suggests the hijackers had an accomplice, this man, Omar Al-Bayoumi.
Tom LlamasSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
We've identified and uncovered what I consider to be smoking gut evidence.
Aaron KaterskyCORRESPONDENT
Brett Eagleson, whose father Bruce died in the South Tower, is among thousands of 9-11 relatives suing Saudi Arabia.
David ZierGUEST
I think she brings up a, a very good point, and there is evidence of some Saudi cooperation with individual hijackers here.
David ZierGUEST
You know, maybe, uh, Omar al-Bayoumi, uh, for instance, living in San Diego, perhaps meeting with several of the hijackers.
David ZierGUEST
Uh, but there's this long-standing fight between Al-Qaeda and Wahhabism a- and then the Saudi Royal Family on the other end.
David ZierGUEST
So, uh, as one article I read, you know, are they enemies or secret bedfellows? You know, and how many people in the Saudi government knew or not knew? I know the Justice Against Sponsors Act, I think that was passed in 2016, allowed victims of, uh, terrorism to go and sue, uh, foreign countries linked to, uh, terrorist attacks on US soil.
Jane McMullenCORRESPONDENT
And also that the FBI had this evidence back in 2001, but didn't share it with investigators, didn't share it with the 9-11 Commission or with the American public.
Jane McMullenCORRESPONDENT
The story centers on a man called Omar al-Bayoumi, who in February 2000 helped two men secure an apartment in San Diego, California.
Jane McMullenCORRESPONDENT
And those two men would go on to hijack the plane that crashed into the Pentagon on 9-11.
Jane McMullenCORRESPONDENT
After 9-11, Bayoumi was arrested in the UK by the Met Police, which found a sketch of a plane with flight descent calculations in his home.
Jane McMullenCORRESPONDENT
The U.S. Department of Justice said it's unable to comment on matters and decisions from 25 years ago involving staff who no longer work there.
Jane McMullenCORRESPONDENT
The Met Police has said it can't comment because of the ongoing legal case.
Jane McMullenCORRESPONDENT
And I should say, we attempted to reach Omar al-Bayoumi through the Saudi embassy and the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, and neither he nor the Saudi government responded to our request for comment.
Jane McMullenCORRESPONDENT
As I said, he previously has denied knowing that Hasm al-Midah would go on to become hijacked, and he's denied any involvement in the attacks.
Yaron BrookHOST
Of course not.
Yaron BrookHOST
Was Bayoumi coordinating with the Saudi government when he assisted the hijackers? Was he a lone wolf? We don't know.
Yaron BrookHOST
Were there elements within the Saudi regime doing this?
Yaron BrookHOST
Others opposed it? We don't know.
Dave NealHOST
Two of them received crucial assistance in California from Saudi nationals connected to Saudi government institutions.
Dave NealHOST
Later FBI records and court evidence strengthened suspicions that Omar al-Bayoumi and Fahad al-Tumari may have been acting as Saudi agents.
Dave NealHOST
Saudi money, religious institutions, and poorly regulated charities also helped create the broader environment in which al-Qaeda grew.
Dave NealHOST
What remains unproven is that the Saudi king, royal family, or senior government leadership ordered, approved, or knowingly financed the 9-11 operation.
6 MINS LATER
speaker_15SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
But for 25 years, administration after administration, including leaders in front of us here today, chose to protect the Saudis instead of standing with the 9-11 families.
Dave NealHOST
So what I've found online is that the court didn't find a final verdict finding Saudi Arabia legally culpable for 9-11, but they did find a federal judge, George Daniels, rejected Saudi Arabia's request to dismiss the victim's civil lawsuit, which is a big deal.
Dave NealHOST
The judge found enough evidence to reasonably infer that Saudi government employees Omar al-Bayoumi and Fahad al-Tumari, who we covered earlier, may have assisted two hijackers while acting within the scope of their Saudi employment.
Dave NealHOST
That decision allowed the lawsuit to move forward toward trial.
David ZierCORRESPONDENT
And there is evidence of some Saudi cooperation with individual hijackers here.
David ZierCORRESPONDENT
Maybe Omar al-Bayoumi, for instance, living in San Diego, perhaps meeting with several of the hijackers.
David ZierCORRESPONDENT
But there's this longstanding fight between al-Qaeda and Wahhabism and then the Saudi royal family on the other end.
David ZierCORRESPONDENT
So as one article I read you know, are they enemies or secret bedfellows? You know, and how many people in the Saudi government knew or not knew? I know the Justice Against Sponsors Act, I think that was passed in 2016, allowed victims of terrorism to go and sue foreign countries linked to terrorist attacks on U.S.
Jeffrey GriderHOST
Nawaf al-Hamzi, Hazmi, and Khalid al-Baghdadi, Mindar arrived in California in early 2000 and received extraordinary assistance establishing themselves in the United States.
Jeffrey GriderHOST
At the center of that story was Saudi national Omar al-Bayoumi, who helped them to obtain an apartment, assisted financially, and helped them to settle into San Diego life.
Jeffrey GriderHOST
For years, Bayoumi was portrayed as little more than a helpful Saudi expatriate who happened to encounter the future hijackers.
Jeffrey GriderHOST
But that picture, over time, deteriorated dramatically.
Lawrence WrightGUEST
And that – every single action that the CIA took in terms of hiding that information is a crime.
Lawrence WrightGUEST
And then there are others like Omar Bayoumi and so on who has never been brought to justice.
Lawrence WrightGUEST
But the biggest crime I think was an institutional one.
Nick BryantHOST
Yeah.
Rick RobinsonHOST
So 15 of the 19 hijackers, they were Saudi nationals.
Rick RobinsonHOST
Two of them, Al Hazmi and Khalid Al Mihdhar, ser- arrived in Southern California and received assistance from Omar Al Bayoumi, a Saudi national with government connections, whose role has been examined for years.
Rick RobinsonHOST
The question is not whether every Saudi citizen or Saudi people were responsible, because of course they were not.
Rick RobinsonHOST
The question is whether individuals connected to the Saudi government knowingly assisted future hijackers and whether the full extent of that assistance was concealed or misunderstood.
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