Page:Substitution for the Testimony of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.pdf/15

 targets had been considered by al Qaeda to include an unidentified bridge in San Francisco or San Mateo, California.

24. September 11 hijackers Nawaf Al-[Hazmi] and Khalid al-Mihdar were selected by Bin Laden, to participate in the operation. They had acquired U.S. visa[s] on their own accord in 1999 following the martyr death of their friend Hazam in the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. They decided to obtain U.S. visas prior to traveling to Afghanistan to make themselves more attractive for any possible operation in the United States. Neither al-[Hazmi] or al-Mihdar were aware of the September 11 operation prior to getting the visas, nor were they directed by Bin Laden, Sheikh Mohammed, or any other al Qaeda operative to do so.

25. Sheikh Mohammed said that he gave al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar approximately U.S. $8,000 each for their travel to California. Sheikh Mohammed added that al-Hazmi and al-Mihdar got additional funds when they met with Atta. Sheikh Mohammed explained that he gave them the funds while they were in Afghanistan, and no money was transferred to them in Malaysia. Page 15 of 58