New video evidence obtained by the BBC suggests Omar al-Bayoumi, the central figure in a $1 trillion lawsuit brought by 9/11 families against Saudi Arabia, had extensive links to Saudi government officials and key extremist figures. The footage, which was in the possession of the FBI days after the 2001 attacks, contradicts Bayoumi's 25-year assertion that he was neither an extremist nor a Saudi spy.
One clip shows Bayoumi embracing Anwar al-Awlaki, who later led al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. In another, Bayoumi and Awlaki are seen playing paintball near San Diego with an official from Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Islamic Affairs. These videos are part of the 9/11 families' ongoing lawsuit, which alleges Saudi complicity in the attacks and claims Bayoumi assisted two of the 19 hijackers.
Bayoumi was arrested in the United Kingdom by the Metropolitan Police shortly after the September 11 attacks. Among his possessions, the FBI found the videos and other significant evidence, including a diagram of an airplane with a flight descent equation. While multiple FBI agents received copies of this diagram, it was reportedly never shared with British interrogators or even some FBI agents investigating Bayoumi, nor was it provided to the 9/11 Commission.
Bayoumi himself has never been prosecuted. He and the Saudi government have consistently denied any involvement or prior knowledge of the attacks. The FBI declined to comment on the matter. A judge permitted the lawsuit to proceed in 2018, leading to the release and declassification of thousands of documents, videos, and photographs.
An investigation by BBC Panorama and Radio 4, which included interviews with numerous special agents and investigators, examined the evidence gathered by the FBI concerning Bayoumi and Saudi Arabia's alleged role in the attacks. The investigation sought to understand why this evidence was not fully pursued for over two decades.
According to an FBI source, the plane diagram was analyzed by the FBI's New York office. However, a U.S. Department of Justice official informed the BBC that they never received a proposal to prosecute Bayoumi based on the evidence. Agents in San Diego, where Bayoumi had resided in the U.S., repeatedly requested evidence but did not receive most of it. Furthermore, FBI offices in San Diego and Los Angeles were reportedly blocked from interviewing Bayoumi's contacts within the Saudi government.
Staff members on the 9/11 Commission expressed objections to the conclusion that Bayoumi was unlikely to have been involved with extremists, leading the final report to attribute this assessment to "our investigators who have dealt directly with him."