Ziyad Jarrah: Terrorist or Victim?

by Zohair Majid
Al-Watan [Saudi Arabia newspaper]
October 1, 2001

BEIRUT — Relatives of Ziyad Jarrah, the Lebanese on the list of suspects the FBI has finally released, still believe there has been some mix-up or error in identities.

This was made clear by Ziyad’s father, — in Maraj, the small Lebanese town where the family lives — in an interview published yesterday by the Saudi newspaper, Al-Watan.

Ziyad’s relatives believe that his passport was forged as his original passport has been missing since last year. His present passport was issued by the Lebanese embassy in Germany in 2000. Though his relatives cannot explain why he has failed to communicate with them, they suspect that it might not be possible.

According to Ziyad’s father, the young man had gone to the United States for pilot training which would help him get a good job in Lebanon. “Ziyad was about to return to Lebanon as he completed his studies in the US,” his father said.

Ziyad told his family that he would arrive in Lebanon on Sept. 22 the day of his cousin’s wedding. He said that he would stop over in Germany to try and persuade his German girlfriend to accompany him home to Lebanon. In addition, he informed his father that he had bought a wedding dress in the US. His girlfriend stated that Ziyad talked to her on the day of the attacks in New York and Washington but the conversation was cut off suddenly, Ziyad’s father said. His relatives also learned from the girl that she had never heard of Muhammad Atta or Marwan Al-Shaihi or any of the other names of the suspects, which have appeared in the press.

Ziyad’s father quoted the girl as saying, “I have lived with him since 1996 but he never mentioned those names nor did anyone with those names ever call him.” She denied that Ziyad had an Afghan wife. Seven months ago, she visited Ziyad’s village and met his relatives.

They were told that Ziyad would marry her in the summer and were asked if they could accept her as his wife. Some of the foreign media met Ziyad’s dentist in his village.

The dentist said Ziyad was moderate in his religion and had never seemed to be a zealot or fundamentalist.

All of his friends and acquaintances said that he did not hold extreme religious views. Along the same lines, his classmates and friends saw him as a broadminded Muslim. Neither did he ever appear to be an enemy of the United States; those who knew him found him jovial and possessed of a pleasant easily likeable personality.

Ziyad’s uncle, Sameer Jarrah, a bank manager, said Ziyad was born in 1975 and educated in Beirut. He did not visit his village except during vacations.

Another uncle, Jamal, said the family was not politically active. They are all proud of their country but are, at the same time, deeply disturbed and concerned about the repression and Israeli occupation in Palestine. He continued, “We cared but we were also concerned about our children’s education and their future.” He asked God to watch over Ziyad’s parents.

© Copyright 2001

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