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Ahmed al-Nami (August 17th, 1977 - September 11, 2001) was one of four hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93 as part of the September 11 attacks.
Born in Saudi Arabia, al-Nami had served as a muezzin and was a college student. He left his family in 2000 to complete the Hajj, but later went to Afghanistan bound for an Al-Qaeda training camp where he befriended other future hijackers and would soon be chosen to participate in the attacks. He arrived in the United States in May 2001, on a tourist visa, where he would settle in Florida up until the attacks. On September 11, 2001, al-Nami boarded United 93 and assisted in the hijacking of the plane, which crashed into a field in rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after a passenger uprising, due to the passengers receiving information from their families of the 3 other hijacked planes that hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Attacks
On September 11, 2001, Nami arrived in Newark to board United Airlines Flight 93 along with Saeed al-Ghamdi Ahmed al-Haznawi and Ziad Jarrah. Some reports suggest Haznawi was pulled aside for screening while others claim there is no record of whether any of the four were screened; the lack of CCTV cameras at the time has compounded the problem. Nami boarded the plane between 7:39 am and 7:48 am; seated in First Class 3C, next to Saeed al-Ghamdi. Due to the flight's routine delay, the pilot and crew were notified of the previous hijackings and were told to be on the alert, though within two minutes Jarrah had stormed the cockpit leaving the pilots dead or injured. At least two of the cellphone calls made by passengers indicate that all the hijackers they saw were wearing red bandanas, which some have questioned may have signified an allegiance to the Egyptian Islamic Jihad. The calls also indicated that one of the men had tied a box around his torso, and claimed there was a bomb inside. Ahmed Al-Nami was the hijacker with the bomb. Passengers on the plane heard through phone calls the fates of the other hijacked planes, and organized a brief assault to retake the cockpit. Ahmed Al-Nami was heard screaming outside the cockpit suggesting that he was killed by the passengers. The remaining hijackers crashed the plane into the Pennsylvania farmland rather than cede control of the plane. All aboard died.
In Popular culture
He has been portrayed by British actor Jamie Harding in the 2006 film United 93 and Asim Wali in the film Flight 93. In United 93, Nami is depicting as warning his fellow hijackers in the cockpit of the passenger's revolt, and attempting to hold off the advancing passengers with a food cart, pepper spray, and a fire extinguisher; he is overwhelmed and killed by having his neck snapped by Jeremy Glick.