Friends, Kin Stunned in UAE

Friends, Kin Stunned in UAE

Hijacking Suspect Was a 'Good Man,' Cousin Says

by Miral Fahmy
Reuters
September 18, 2001
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A46641-2001Sep17&notFound=true

RAS AL KHAYMAH, United Arab Emirates, Sept. 17 -- When Marwan Al-Shehhi left this Persian Gulf emirate to study in Germany, none of his friends and relatives imagined they would later hear of their soft-spoken compatriot as a suspect in the terrorist attacks in Washington and New York.

Al-Shehhi, 23, won a scholarship and left several years ago from the run-down Qusaibat settlement in Ras al Khaymah, one of seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Since the Sept. 11 attacks, he has been named by U.S. authorities as the pilot of United Airlines Flight 175, a hijacked Boeing 767 that crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

UAE officials said they are investigating the allegations of his involvement. But stunned neighbors and family members said the man they knew could not have carried out such a devastating act.

"He is a good man," said a young man named Khamis, who like many in this close-knit community spoke reluctantly about his absent relative. "I went to school with him. He's my cousin. I know him well, and I know that there is no way he could have done something so bad. No one from these parts believes it."

Al-Shehhi's alleged role in the terror attacks has focused international attention on his kin and his incredulous country, one of the most cosmopolitan and pro-Western states in the Gulf region.

Wary neighbors described Al-Shehhi as a quiet, studious boy who spent many hours at the mosque with his late father, Yusef. Yusef called the faithful to prayer five times a day as the muezzin at the local mosque. Al-Shehhi's mother, an Egyptian, left the UAE and returned to Egypt when Yusef died some years ago, neighbors said.

Fatma, a veiled woman whose husband runs a grocery store in front of the Al-Shehhi home, said Al-Shehhi hardly ever visited after he won a government scholarship to study in Germany.

"He would call his family with news but we didn't see him very often. He came when his father died about three years ago but not much after," she muttered as she ate dates in a shaded courtyard near the shop. "His mother left here after her husband died but she was a good woman, and lived among us like our sister. They are good, religious people. And look at this place, is it plausible that someone from here could do something so horrible?"

Al-Shehhi hailed from the Shohor clan, Bedouins who live in the mountains that ring the emirate of Ras al Khaymah at the southern end of the gulf. Some Shohor tribesmen live on the fringes of Ras al Khaymah but they are regarded by many in the emirate as outsiders who are very traditional and unpredictable.

"They are our gypsies," a Ras al Khaymah police officer warned. "They don't like talking to strangers."

Al-Shehhi's half-brother, Mohammad, is a retired police officer, and the Al-Shehhi family's two-story family villa with ornate windows stood out in the dusty, largely isolated suburb. Several Qusaibat residents angrily rejected attempts by reporters to ask them about Al-Shehhi. Police were called and they politely asked a reporter and television team to leave.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of criminal justice, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.