A Saudi businessman suspected of being involved in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks is now living in London, where he works for the Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco.

Abdulaziz al-Hijji and his wife, Anoud, were living in the gated community of Prestancia near Sarasota, Florida, in 2001, when they abruptly left the country only two weeks before the attacks. The couple left behind three cars and a home filled with furniture, food and personal mail, as well as a private safe found wide open.

On tip from a local security guard and a neighbor, and based upon photos of the license plates of cars that entered the community gates, federal agents raided the home. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) determined that the residence may have been visited by some of the 9/11 hijackers, including leader Mohamed Atta, and that phone calls may have been exchanged between the terrorists and the al-Hijjis. Two of the 9/11 pilots trained at Venice Airport 14 miles from Prestancia.

But the FBI later cleared the al-Hijjis of any involvement in the plot and al-Hijji has denied any connection.

Former Florida Senator Bob Graham, who was chairman of the Senate intelligence committee at the time, has questioned the FBI’s investigation of the al-Hijjis, claiming the bureau was not as thorough in its probe as federal agents claimed and that the FBI has continued to withhold information related to the Prestancia house.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More: