[1] On September 1, 2001, al-Rimi told his father he was leaving southern Saudi Arabia to perform hajj, but secretly traveled to Afghanistan where he met with militant leaders.

[2] In December, al-Rimi participated in the Battle of Tora Bora which saw Osama bin Laden escape from a snare set by American forces.

[4] In November 2002, al-Rimi was introduced to the American Ahmed Omar Abu Ali by their mutual friend Moeith al- Qahtani who had studied at the Islamic University of Medina.

[3] At 5 pm on May 6, the Saudi authorities raided a weapons cache in the Eshbiliah Quarter of Riyadh, and seized 55 grenades, five large bags filled with 377 kilograms of explosives, four machine guns with three boxes containing approximately 2,250 rounds, five computers, telecommunication devices, travel documents, identity cards, notebooks, bulletins, 253,717 Riyals and 5,300 American dollars.

The militants drove up while the police were searching the house, and quickly fled the scene until their car stalled, at which point they carjacked a nearby driver and escaped.

[2][6][9] The authorities subsequently issued a list of 19 names tied to the bombing, including al-Rimi, Abdul Rahman Jabarah, al-Faqasi and four of the dead bombers.

[13] In September 2003, the FBI issued an alert for four people they alleged "pose a threat to U.S. citizens", including Abderraouf Jdey, Adnan G. El Shukrijumah and the previously unknown al-Rimi and Karim el-Mejjati.

Authorities used loudspeakers to warn the 3000 residents of the building to remain in their apartments and avoid windows, and began firing tear gas and assaulting the housing compound.