| Importance | High |
 | Means of Death | Suicide hijacker |
| Date of Death | Sept. 11, 2001 |
| Location of Death | New York, New York, United States |
| Affiliation | 9-11 plotters |
| Role | Leader |
 | Supervisor | Khalid Shaikh Mohammed |
| Affiliation | American Airlines Flight 11 Hijackers |
| Affiliation | Hamburg Cell |
| Affiliation | Al-Qaeda |
| Full Given Name | Muhammed Muhammed el-Amir Awad al-Sayid Atta |
| Nationality | Egyptian |
| Alternate Spelling(s) | Mohammed Atta, Muhammed Atta |
| Age at Death | 33 |
| Date of Birth | Sept. 1, 19681 |
| Place of Birth | Kafr el Sheikh, Egypt1 |
| Gender | Male |
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| Narrative and Notes |
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| Reliable | Mohamed Atta was born to a middle-class family in Egypt; his father is an attorney. He was educated as an urban planner in Egypt and, later, Germany.
He was radicalized in Germany in the mid-1990s.
Toward his friends there, he was charismatic, intelligent, and intolerant of dissent. Towards others, he was described as abrasive.
In 1995, he tried to organize a Muslim student association in Hamburg; in the fall of 1997 he joined a working group at Quds mosque there, aimed at bridging the gap between Muslims and Christians.
He became anti-Semitic and anti-American, claiming a global Jewish movement in New York City controlled world finance and media. He would also claim Saddam Hussein was a U.S. stooge set up to give the United States the pretext of invading the Middle East.
He joined the 9-11 plot when he traveled to Afghanistan in 1999.1 |
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| Possible | He was reportedly trained in document forgery.1 |
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 | Questionable | His whereabouts in February and March 1998 are uncertain. It has been speculated he went to Afghanistan during this time, but captured al-Qaeda figures say he did not.1 |
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| Sources |
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| 1 The 9-11 Commission Final Report. July 22, 2004. Chapter 5.3. |
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| Key to bullets |
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| High confidence |
| Some confidence |
| Low confidence |
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| Page maintained by John Lumpkin
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| Click here for a disclaimer and detailed explanation of the confidence ratings. |
