Omar al-Bayoumi (Arabic: عمر البيومي, romanized: ʿUmar al-Bayyūmī); is a Saudi national with alleged links to two of the 9/11 hijackers in the United States.
An FBI report, declassified in September 2021, lays out evidence that al-Bayoumi had links to known terrorists, provided significant support to 9/11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar upon their arrival in the U.S., and communicated with a key logistics facilitator for Osama bin Laden, each time immediately following significant logistics support to al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar.
In August 1994, al-Bayoumi moved to the United States and settled in San Diego, California, where he became involved in the local Muslim community.
The man the FBI considered their "best source" in San Diego said that al-Bayoumi "must be an intelligence officer for Saudi Arabia or another foreign power," according to Newsweek magazine.
The report further states that, although the money was ostensibly meant for Bassnan, al-Bayoumi's wife had attempted to deposit three of the cheques into her own account.
[15] On 15 January 2000, after attending the 2000 Al Qaeda Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, future 9/11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar flew from Bangkok, Thailand to Los Angeles, California.
[18] While they lived across the street from al-Bayoumi, they had no furniture, they constantly played flight simulator games, and limousines picked them up for short rides in the middle of the night.
[20] An October 2012 FBI report (declassified several years after it was written) named Fahad al-Thumairy, a Saudi Islamic Affairs official and King Fahd Mosque imam, as having worked with al-Bayoumi.
Within two months, Sudairy is recorded at an address in Falls Church, Virginia, the same area where Hazmi, Midhar, Aulaqi, and Hani Hanjour established residence later in the evolution of the 9/11 plot.
Under pressure from Congress, the FBI re-examined the case of "somewhat suspicious meeting with the hijackers," but concluded that the allegations were "without merit," and they "abandoned further investigation.
"[27] However, contemporary news accounts reported that "countless intelligence leads that might help solve [the case] appear to have been under investigated or completely overlooked by the FBI.
"[28] The final 9/11 Commission reports stated "we have seen no credible evidence that he believed in violent extremism, or knowingly aided extremist groups.
In a report, declassified on September 12, 2021, FBI agents stated that Fahad al-Thumairy "tasked" al-Bayoumi with assisting the two hijackers upon their arrival in Los Angeles, and said they were, "two very significant people," more than a year before the attacks.
[4] In response, 9/11 Commission chairman and former New Jersey governor Tom Kean said that "If that's true I'd be upset by it", adding "The FBI said it wasn't withholding anything and we believed them.
"[4] Evidence collected in 2001 by British authorities, which came from al-Bayoumi's home in Birmingham, England, was made public in August of 2024, in connection with a lawsuit that has been brought against the Saudi kingdom's government by some of the surviving families of the 9/11 attacks.
According to The New York Times, "None of the new evidence from Mr. al-Bayoumi's home conclusively proves that the Saudi government enabled the attacks, but it adds to a growing circumstantial case.