Scotland Yard was compelled to release a Saudi national accused of providing financial and logistical support to the 9/11 hijackers after the FBI failed to share critical evidence with British authorities, The Times UK has revealed. Omar al-Bayoumi, a man alleged to have close ties to Saudi intelligence, was arrested in Birmingham just ten days after the attacks on the World Trade Center. Yet, despite damning materials found in his possession, British counterterrorism officers were never given access to crucial FBI files that could have significantly altered the course of his investigation.
During a raid on Bayoumi’s home in Birmingham, police discovered paperwork, notebooks, and over 80 videos, including footage showing Bayoumi meeting two of the hijackers and filming key US landmarks such as Capitol Hill. Among the evidence was a crude hand-drawn aircraft sketch accompanied by detailed flight calculations — material that, according to experts, could have been used to determine an aircraft’s descent trajectory. Despite the gravity of these discoveries, British officers were never provided this evidence by the FBI, nor were they informed that Bayoumi had been investigated in the United States in the 1990s.
Detective Constable David Campbell, who interviewed Bayoumi in 2001, told The Times UK that he believed Bayoumi “was equally as guilty as the hijackers who crashed the aircraft and killed all those people.” Campbell, now retired, described the case as “stinking to high heaven” and said he would have pursued the suspect much more aggressively had he been given access to all available evidence. “I still think about it, and I am shocked to this day,” he said.
Bayoumi’s alleged involvement has resurfaced in a US court case seeking compensation for families of 9/11 victims. Lawyers argue that he and the Saudi government provided the hijackers with a support network, including financial backing and accommodation. If successful, the lawsuit could mark the first time the Saudi state is held responsible for the attacks, potentially affecting more than 10,000 victims. Gavin Simpson, counsel for the families, told the court that Bayoumi “acted in coordination with the Saudi government network… to ensure that the hijackers received the support they needed.” Saudi Arabia has consistently denied the allegations, and Bayoumi himself maintains that he met the hijackers by coincidence while pursuing studies in the United States.
Bayoumi’s journey to the UK and his connections to the hijackers paint a complex picture. Born in 1957 near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, he moved to San Diego in 1994 to study English, sponsored by the Saudi Presidency of Civil Aviation and receiving generous stipends. There, he lived near two of the future hijackers, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, providing them assistance with accommodation and bank accounts. His movements between the UK and the US in 2000 and 2001, including time spent at Aston University in Birmingham, positioned him near both academic and religious communities, while he continued to receive substantial financial support from Saudi authorities.
Following the 9/11 attacks, the FBI quickly linked Bayoumi to Hazmi and Mihdhar, discovering that he had signed leases and even written checks covering the hijackers’ living expenses. However, the FBI’s communications with the Metropolitan Police Service failed to include the most critical evidence, such as the aircraft sketch and a video recording from a 1999 trip to Washington. Without these materials, British authorities were unable to build a complete case, and the US Department of Justice declined to pursue extradition, citing “insufficient evidence.” Bayoumi returned to Birmingham, completed his master’s degree, and ultimately left the UK in 2002, taking the original evidence with him.
Newly declassified documents, released under an executive order in 2021, revealed that Bayoumi was considered a “co-optee” of the Saudi General Intelligence Presidency and that his assistance to the hijackers appeared to be part of a coordinated operation rather than a series of chance encounters. Videos confiscated from his Birmingham home, including the so-called “Washington trip” footage, show Bayoumi observing the US Capitol, entrances, exits, and surrounding security, and narrating to the camera in a manner consistent with terrorist reconnaissance. These materials were never presented to the 9/11 Commission or shared with US families pursuing justice, leaving significant gaps in the official historical record.
The case has sparked outrage and calls for accountability in both the UK and the US. Lord Beamish, chairman of parliament’s intelligence and security committee, called the revelations “deeply concerning,” while shadow home secretary Chris Philp questioned why Bayoumi was released despite the apparent evidence linking him to terrorist activity. Former FBI agent Mark Rossini described the release as “one of the biggest intelligence failures in counterterrorism history.”
The story of Omar al-Bayoumi highlights the complexity and international dimension of post-9/11 investigations. Despite initial denials and a lack of extradition, ongoing litigation and declassified evidence suggest that Bayoumi’s role may have been far more significant than previously acknowledged. As families of the victims continue their quest for justice, questions remain about intelligence sharing, government accountability, and the handling of evidence that could have changed the course of history.
The Times UK’s reporting draws on thousands of pages of previously sealed documents, police interviews, FBI reports, and testimony from former law enforcement and intelligence officers, providing the most detailed public account to date of how a suspected 9/11 facilitator evaded justice for nearly a quarter of a century.
