New videos in 9/11 lawsuit show Omar al-Bayoumi with Saudi officials and Anwar al-Awlaki
Newly obtained video footage has added fresh detail to a long-running lawsuit brought by families of victims of the 11 September 2001 attacks against Saudi Arabia. The material shows Omar al-Bayoumi, the man at the centre of the case, with Saudi government officials and in the company of Anwar al-Awlaki, who later became a senior figure in al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The footage had not been shown publicly before and was reportedly already in FBI possession within days of the attacks.
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The videos are being cited in the families' $1 trillion lawsuit, which alleges that Saudi Arabia was complicit in the attacks and that Bayoumi helped two of the 19 hijackers who flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with another crashing in Pennsylvania. In one clip, Bayoumi is seen embracing al-Awlaki. In another, Bayoumi and al-Awlaki are paintballing near San Diego with an official from Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
The footage is presented as part of a wider body of evidence gathered over many years. Bayoumi has long denied being an extremist or a Saudi spy, and he was never prosecuted. According to the material, he was arrested in the UK by the Metropolitan Police days after the attacks, and the videos were found among his possessions along with other evidence.
That included a diagram of a plane with a flight descent equation written alongside it. The report says multiple FBI agents received copies of the diagram, but it was not shared with British interrogators and was also kept from some FBI investigators and from the 9/11 Commission. The disclosure matters because it adds to a case that has remained politically and legally sensitive for years.
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The 11 September attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and remain the deadliest terrorist attacks in US history. Any evidence suggesting links between a Saudi national and senior extremist figures is likely to intensify scrutiny of what US and British investigators knew in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, and how that information was handled. The lawsuit itself has been moving through the courts since a judge allowed it to proceed in 2018.
Since then, thousands of documents have been released to the court, and some material has also been declassified under an executive order issued by former President Joe Biden. The newly reported videos add to that record and may be used by the families to support their claim that Bayoumi played a role in assisting the hijackers. Bayoumi's name has been central to the case for years because of allegations about his contacts and movements in the United States before the attacks.
The latest footage appears to reinforce the argument that he had access to both Saudi officials and people who later became associated with violent extremism. At the same time, the report does not say the videos alone prove Saudi state involvement in the attacks, and the legal question of responsibility remains contested. The report also raises questions about the handling of evidence in the early investigation.
Newly obtained video footage has added fresh detail to a long-running lawsuit brought by families of victims of the 11 September 2001 attacks against Saudi Arabia. The material shows Omar al-Bayoumi, the man at the centre of the case, with Saudi government officials and in the company of Anwar al-Awlaki, who later became a senior figure in al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The footage had not been shown publicly before and was reportedly already in FBI possession within days of the attacks.
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The videos are being cited in the families' $1 trillion lawsuit, which alleges that Saudi Arabia was complicit in the attacks and that Bayoumi helped two of the 19 hijackers who flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with another crashing in Pennsylvania. In one clip, Bayoumi is seen embracing al-Awlaki. In another, Bayoumi and al-Awlaki are paintballing near San Diego with an official from Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
The footage is presented as part of a wider body of evidence gathered over many years. Bayoumi has long denied being an extremist or a Saudi spy, and he was never prosecuted. According to the material, he was arrested in the UK by the Metropolitan Police days after the attacks, and the videos were found among his possessions along with other evidence.
That included a diagram of a plane with a flight descent equation written alongside it. The report says multiple FBI agents received copies of the diagram, but it was not shared with British interrogators and was also kept from some FBI investigators and from the 9/11 Commission. The disclosure matters because it adds to a case that has remained politically and legally sensitive for years.
The 11 September attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and remain the deadliest terrorist attacks in US history. Any evidence suggesting links between a Saudi national and senior extremist figures is likely to intensify scrutiny of what US and British investigators knew in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, and how that information was handled. The lawsuit itself has been moving through the courts since a judge allowed it to proceed in 2018.
Since then, thousands of documents have been released to the court, and some material has also been declassified under an executive order issued by former President Joe Biden. The newly reported videos add to that record and may be used by the families to support their claim that Bayoumi played a role in assisting the hijackers. Bayoumi's name has been central to the case for years because of allegations about his contacts and movements in the United States before the attacks.
The latest footage appears to reinforce the argument that he had access to both Saudi officials and people who later became associated with violent extremism. At the same time, the report does not say the videos alone prove Saudi state involvement in the attacks, and the legal question of responsibility remains contested. The report also raises questions about the handling of evidence in the early investigation.
It says the FBI had the footage within days of the attacks, but the material was not fully shared with all relevant investigators or with the 9/11 Commission. That history is likely to remain important in the lawsuit, because the families are not only seeking to establish what Bayoumi did, but also what authorities knew and when they knew it. Saudi Arabia and Bayoumi did not respond to requests for comment in the report, and both have previously denied any involvement in or prior knowledge of the attacks.
The FBI declined to comment. Those denials mean the new footage is unlikely to settle the dispute on its own, but it does provide fresh documentary material in a case that has already produced extensive litigation and declassification. What happens next will depend on how the court treats the new evidence and whether it leads to further disclosure or testimony.
The key unresolved issues are the extent of Bayoumi's role, the significance of his contacts with Saudi officials, and whether the material changes the legal assessment of Saudi Arabia's alleged responsibility. For now, the videos add a new layer to an already complex case that continues to carry major legal and diplomatic implications.
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