In
the days following the horrifying attacks in
the United States attention focused on the terrorists
themselves.
One
of the most perplexing cases is that of Ziad
Samir Jarrah, who flew one of those planes.
Raised
in Lebanon in a secular family, taught in a Christian
school, Ziad Jarrah seemed to friends and family
a most improbable recruit to Islamic extremism.
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1975
Ziad Samir Jarrah is born on May 11, 1975,
in Mazraa, Lebanon, a suburb of Beirut.
Watch our entire
interview with Ziad Jarrah's uncle,
Jamal Jarrah  (22
minutes) |
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197? - 1995
Jarrah is sent to a Catholic school in Beruit.
His parents believed he would get a superior
education. He loved sports, particularly swimming
and basketball. The Jarrahs were Muslim but
not particularly devout. |
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April, 1996
Jarrah (right) and his cousin, Salim, move
to Greifswald, Germany. |
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1996
Jarrah meets a young Turkish woman named
Aysel Senguen who lived down the hall in his
student quarters. She's the daughter of conservative,
working-class immigrants from Turkey and soon
they begin to date. She is attractive and
is described by friends as "very
western". |
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1997
Jarrah registers at the University of Applied
Sciences in Hamburg. He studies aeronautical
engineering and aircraft construction and design.
Shortly after he moves to Hamburg, Aysel first
heard him talk about jihad. |
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late-1997
Jarrah becomes a tenant in a house owned
by Rosemarie Canel. She liked the young man and
as an artist was moved to paint a portrait of
him. Jarrah took the portrait home to Lebanon
as a Christmas gift for his mother. |
|
Summer 1998
Aysel is
in school
in Bochum,
Ziad is in
Hamburg. He is out of touch a lot of the
time. This and his new-found religion is
starting to put a strain on their relationship.
And yet they still discuss marriage and children
and a future together. Aysel writes this
email challenging his beliefs and asking
him to be open and honest with her about
all aspects of his life.
Read a translated
version of Aysel's e-mail. View the original in
German. (.pdf) |
 |
early 1999
Jarrah's landlady, Rosemarie Canel, moves houses. Jarrah follows her, using the
new address as his "official" one for some time after.
Jarrah grows a beard and expresses an interest in becoming a pilot. |
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September 1999
Jarrah registers for a semester at the University of Applied Sciences but disappears
after only one class.
Watch a
clip from our interview with Jarrah's professor (28
seconds) |
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late 1999 - early 2000
According to Jarrah's landlady, he spends
a lot of time with friends in nearby Harburg,
the location of the Technical University where
others implicated in the U.S. suicide missions
were living and studying at the time.
Late in 1999 Jarrah and others
traveled to Afghanistan and attended an al-Qaeda
training camp in Kandahar.
He and Aysel resume their tumultuous relationship. |
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spring 2000
Jarrah heads to the U.S. at about this
time, telling his parents he wants to learn
to fly. A student visa was issued to him on
May 21, 2000. He arrives in Newark in June
and flew to Venice, Florida where he enrolled
at the Florida Flight Training Centre.
Jarrah's
student visa (close up) - click
to see the document issued to Jarrah
on May 21, 2000.
|
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August 2000
Aysel, Jarrah's girlfriend, visits his family
in Lebanon. He says he's too busy with his
studies in the U.S. to join her.
Watch a
clip from a wedding video showing Ziad
Jarrah celebrating at his father's house
earlier that year. (30
seconds)
|
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October 2000
Jarrah flies to Germany to visit his
girlfriend and they travel to Paris. During
his time in the U.S. their relationship is
close and Jarrah makes hundreds of phone
calls to her. He also sends e-mails.
|
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November/December 2000
Jarrah receives is private pilot certificate
from the FAA in November 2000 and began flight
simulator training for large jets.
He visits Aysel in Germany and returns with
her to Florida. She stays in the U.S. for
10 days and takes a photo of him sitting
in a flight simulator.
|
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February 2001
Jarrah returns to Lebanon for the last time,
to be with his father during an open heart surgery.
He re-enters the U.S. on April 13, 2001.
|
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April 2001
Jarrah rents an apartment at 1816 Harding
in Hollywood, Florida.
He joins a health club but is less interested
in strength and cardiovascular workouts than
self-defence.
|
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June 2001
Jarrah moves to an apartment at 4641 Bougainvilla in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. His
roommate is Ahmed Al-Haznawi, another of the suspected hijackers.
He, Atta and another Hamburg pilot Shehhi take cross country surveillance flights
and carry box-cutters on board.
Jarrah also takes additional training at Hortman Aviation in Philadelphia and
asks to fly the Hudson corridor, a low-altitude hallway along the Hudson river
that passes New York landmarks like the World Trade Center. |
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July 2001
Jarrah travels to Germany to see Aysel one last
time. Atta drives him to the airport. She remembers
that he seemed distant. He returns to the U.S.
on August 5th.
|
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August 27, 2001
Jarrah registers at the Pin-Del Motel in Laurel, Maryland. The motel is a mile
from the Valencia, where at least four other hijackers stayed in the same week.
close-up
of the receipt |
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September 4, 2001
Jarrah's family sends him at least $700
in addition to his regular monthly stipend
of $2,000. He tells his family he needs the
money for "fun". |
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September 5, 2001
Jarrah and Al-Haznawi (his roommate from
earlier in the summer) book one-way tickets on
a September 7, 2001, flight to Newark. |
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September 9, 2001
Jarrah makes his final phone call to his family. He confirms receipt of the
money sent September 4th and says he'll see them on September 22 for a
family wedding.
Watch a
clip from Dr. Martha Crenshaw in
which she explains how Jarrah's anger
and hatred may have grown stronger with
his knack for deceiving others (30
seconds) |
|
September 10, 2001
Jarrah mails a final letter and a package with
his personal belongings to Aysel in Germany.
She doesn't receive the letter until 9/11
investigators find it several weeks later.
Read a translated
version of Jarrah's letter to Aysel.
View the original in
German. (.pdf) |
 |
September 11, 2001
Jarrah calls Aysel on the morning of September 11th and tells her three times
that he loves her and hangs up.
Jarrah boards United Airlines flight 93 from
Newark to San Francisco. He and three others are seated in first class. Shortly
after take-off, the hijackers changed the plane's flight path. Jarrah took
controls of the airplane.
A group of passengers attempted to overpower the hijackers and shortly afterwards
the plane crashed into the Pennsylvania countryside.
Read the 9/11 Commission Report which
describes the last minutes of the flight.  (Chapter
1, pages 11-14) |
