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 his decision on the fact that they were both from the Makkah, Saudi Arabia area, and could, therefore, be relied upon to work well together.

35. According to Sheikh Mohammed, Khalid Al-Mihdhar, without discussion with Sheikh Mohammed, decided to travel to Yemen to visit his family upon expiration of his U.S. visa in June 2000. Mihdhar was bored in the U.S., having been relatively unsuccessful in fulfilling his mission and, since he had not overstayed his visa, was confident that he would be able to obtain another visa.

36. Mihdhar stayed in Yemen with his family for approximately one month and then traveled to Afghanistan to meet with Sheikh Mohammed. Sheikh Mohammed immediately expressed his displeasure with Mihdhar having left the U.S. without permission and that he had left Hazmi alone in the U.S. Sheikh Mohammed said he told Mihdhar that he would not likely return to the U.S. but Bin Laden interceded into the disagreement and instructed Sheikh Mohammed to allow Mihdhar to return to the U.S. to continue his work.

37. Mihdhar also gave a general report to Sheikh Mohammed, telling him of their problems with enrolling in language schools and that they believed they were surveilled from Thailand to the U.S. Sheikh Mohammed began Page 20 of 58