Newly Released Evidence Shows Saudi Officials Helped 9/11 Hijackers Months Before Attacks
New York City — On July 31, 2026, Terry Strada, widow of Tom Strada who died on the 104th floor of the North Tower during the September 11, 2001 attacks, confronted two terrorists in a Manhattan courtroom — more than two decades after critical evidence was withheld from public view.
As national chair of 9/11 Families United, Strada has fought relentless classification battles and government stonewalling to force the release of suppressed intelligence. Only now, after over 20 years, is the full story emerging: months before the hijackers arrived in the United States, officials from the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs conducted reconnaissance on the exact routes the terrorists would later use during the attacks.
Among the most chilling disclosures, the FBI and London’s Metropolitan Police seized 80 videotapes and thousands of documents from Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi-linked figure who helped the hijackers settle in California. Bayoumi co-signed leases, opened bank accounts, and provided operational support — critical infrastructure for the deadly plot that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Yet the evidence was deliberately buried. The San Diego FBI field office, located closest to the investigation, never received crucial seized materials. Meanwhile, Philip Zelikow, executive director of the 9/11 Commission, is documented as having met with Saudi intelligence to expunge damaging information linking Saudi Arabia to the attackers, effectively clearing Bayoumi before key reports were published.
Families Demand Accountability as Government Concealed Saudi Ties for Decades
“To think they had all this evidence and that I am only seeing it in full 23 years later was overwhelming,” Strada told The Delaware Herald. “We lived through the unimaginable, only to be forced to relive it every day since, fighting for justice and demanding the truth that should have been ours from the beginning.”
The suppression of these findings undermined national security, experts say, creating a precedent where accountability is selective and truth negotiable. Analysts warn that avoiding naming enablers of terror not only weakens American resolve but endangers future safety by allowing history to repeat itself.
A video captured by Al-Jazeera shows Abdul Aziz al-Omari, a 9/11 hijacker, confirming his training under terror mastermind Osama bin Laden — proof that the attacks were not merely operational failures but orchestrated by powerful networks deliberately aided inside the U.S.
“Accountability is deterrence,” Strada said. “The truth is our best weapon. If we don’t confront it, history will repeat itself.”
This revelation comes at a time when defining enemies and upholding moral clarity on terrorism remain critical for American security policy. The story of 9/11 has often been told as a failure to connect dots; now it’s clear that many dots were never allowed to be connected.
What’s Next: Families Push for Full Transparency and Justice
Terry Strada and fellow families of victims have become the de facto keepers of truth, a role they never should have had to assume. After decades of litigation forced the release of hidden intelligence, the struggle is shifting towards full accountability for foreign actors who enabled the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
As government officials face increased pressure to disclose all classified materials, national security advocates highlight that transparency is not just a moral imperative but a strategic necessity to prevent future attacks.
For Delaware residents and across the nation, this developing story renews questions about how foreign influence has been allowed to operate beneath the surface and challenges patriotic Americans to demand the full truth — no matter how uncomfortable.
