26. Sheikh Mohammed discussed the preparations to deploy 9/11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid Al-Mihdhar to the U.S. Before their deployment, the two were told that they were being sent to the U.S. for flight training. Sheikh Mohammed explained to them that the flight training was in preparation for their participation in a martyr operation in which aircraft would be flown into unspecified targets. The two were not provided with the specific targets of the operation. Sheikh Mohammed clarified that the exact targets had not yet been decided upon, and that, at the time of the duo's travel to the U.S., even Sheikh Mohammed did not know what the final targets of the operation would be.
27. Before sending Hazmi to the U.S., Sheikh Mohammed provided him with training in basic survival skills. Sheikh Mohammed's primary concern in using Hazmi for the 9/11 operation was that Hazmi's English was very weak; however, he stated that there was not much he could do in the matter, as Hazmi had a U.S. visa, which was relatively rare among the mujahidin. Sheikh Mohammed spent a significant amount of time reviewing with Hazmi the timetables of the U.S. airlines that were eventually used in the operation.
