A few doors down from the suspected hijackers, James Smith sat on the balcony of his efficiency, enjoyed the cool night breeze and watched. Nearly every day, Al-Shehhi would come by in a car to pick up the three men. Sometimes he drove a red car, sometimes a black one. Once, he brought the three back from grocery shopping and Smith stole a peek at a box of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes.
Despite having a telephone in their room, the men regularly used a pay phone in front of the motel. Al-Shehhi stayed a few blocks north, at the Panther Motel, along with yet more men. They spent their days out, evenings closeted in the room.
Al-Shehhi checked out of the Panther on Sunday, Sept. 9. By Tuesday morning, the German students and their accomplices had made their way north to Boston and Newark, N.J.
After they left, owner Richard Surma, cleaning out the rooms at the Panther, found a tote bag in the trash. It was packed with aeronautical maps, a protractor and Boeing 757 flight manuals.
The End
On Sept. 11, the man using the name Mohamed Atta boarded American Airlines Flight 11, out of Boston for Los Angeles, with men using the names Waleed M. Alshehri, Wail Alshehri, Satam Al Suqami and Abdulaziz Alomari.
The man using the name Marwan Al-Shehhi boarded United Airlines Flight 175, also bound from Boston to Los Angeles, with men using the names Fayez Ahmed, Ahmed Alghamdi, Hamza Alghamdi and Mohald Alshehri.
The man using the name Ziad Jarrah boarded United Flight 93, headed from Newark to San Francisco, along with men using the names Saeed Alghamdi, Ahmed Alnami and Ahmed Alhaznawi.
The man using the name Khalid Al-Midhar boarded American Flight 77, out of Dulles for Los Angeles, with men using the names Majed Moqed, Nawaf Alhamzi, Salem Alhamzi and Hani Hanjour.
On Sept. 11, the planes carrying the men using these names crashed, in order, into the north tower of the World Trade Center, the south tower of the World Trade Center, a field in Stony Creek Township, Pa., and the Pentagon. All aboard died, including the men using these names and a great many other men, women and children, aboard and elsewhere, all using their own names for the very last time.
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The article was written by Times staff writer Terry McDermott, based on reporting by Carol J. Williams in Germany; Michael Slackman in Lebanon; Ranwa Yehia in Egypt; Kurt Streeter in Arizona; H.G. Reza, Matt Lait and Scott Glover in San Diego; Greg Krikorian, Robert J. Lopez, Rich Connell, Henry Weinstein, Richard O'Reilly and Patrick McDonnell in Los Angeles; John-Thor Dahlberg, Evan Halper and Mark Fineman in Florida; and Lisa Getter, Judy Pasternak and Bob Drogin in Washington.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
Tracking Suspected Terrorists
Here is a look at the activities of six of the 19 hijackers suspected of crashing airliners into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11. The six, three of whom are shown below, appear to have formed the nucleus of the conspirators.
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1999
Mohamed Atta, Marwan Al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah are university students in Hamburg, Germany.
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1999
Nawaf Alhamzi rents a unit at the Parkwood Apartments in San Diego. He is later joined by Khalid Al-Midhar.
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January 2000
Al-Midhar is secretly taped by the CIA meeting with an operative of Osama bin Laden in Malaysia.
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June 2000
Al-Shehhi arrives in the U.S., followed days later by Atta. A month later, the two enroll for flight training at Huffman Aviation in Venice, Fla.
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September 2000
Alhamzi and Al-Midhar move into the San Diego house of a prominent local Muslim, Abdussattar Shaikh.
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October 2000
Al-Midhar leaves Shaikh house.
December 2000
Alhamzi moves out of Shaikh house.
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December 2000
Atta and Al-Shehhi practice on Boeing 727 simulator in Opa-Locka Airport in Florida.
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Jan. 4, 2001
Atta flies to Madrid; returns to Miami one week later.
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Jan. 11, 2001
Al-Shehhi flies to Casablanca, Morocco; returns one week later.
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April 18, 2001
Al-Shehhi flies to Amsterdam; returns two weeks later.
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Summer 2001
Jarrah and another suspected hijacker, Ahmed Alhaznawi, rent an apartment in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Fla. *
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May 6, 2001
Jarrah begins self-defense training at a gym in Dania, Fla.
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May 13
Atta and Al-Shehhi rent an apartment in Hollywood, Fla.
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July 4, 2001
Al-Midhar returns to U.S. from Saudi Arabia. He is put on a terrorist watch list because of his meeting with the Bin Laden operative, but too late to prevent his reentry.
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Aug. 6, 2001
Atta rents the first of three cars from Warrick's Rent-a-Car in Pompano Beach. He puts 2,950 miles on the cars over the next five weeks.
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August 2001
Hani Hanjour flies three times with instructors in Bowie, Md.; deemed unable to fly alone.
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September 2001
Hanjour, Al-Midhar, Alhamzi and a fourth suspected hijacker work out several times at Gold's Gym in Greenbelt, Md.
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Alhamzi, Hanjour, Al-Midhar and two other conspirators stay at the Valencia Motel in Laurel, Md., the apparent staging area for the hijacking of the airliner that crashed into the Pentagon.
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Sept. 3, 2001
Al-Shehhi and three others spotted in Deerfield Beach, Fla.
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Sept. 6, 2001
Al-Midhar and Alhamzi pick up plane tickets.
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Sept. 7, 2001
Atta, Al-Shehhi and an unidentified third man visit Shuckums sports bar in Hollywood, Fla.
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Sept. 9, 2001
Al-Shehhi checks out of the Panther Motel in Deerfield Beach, Fla., leaving behind Boeing 757 flight manuals and aeronautical maps.
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Sept. 11, 2001
The hijackers commandeer four airliners and crash three of the planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A fourth crashes in a field in Pennsylvania after an apparent takeover y the passengers. As many as 6,900 people are killed.
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Sources: Justice Department, wire reports
