Sheikh Mohammed said that bayat is normally a private matter between an individual, his emir, and God, and Sheikh Mohammed knew of no list or registry of individuals who had sworn bayat to Bin Laden.
Sheikh Mohammed's Written Statement to his Interrogators
Sheikh Mohammed wrote the following:
111. I know that the materialistic Western mind cannot grasp the idea, and it is difficult for them to believe that the high officials in al Qaeda do not know about operations carried out by its operatives, but this is how it works. We do not submit written reports to our higher ups. I conducted the September 11 operation by submitting only oral reports. I would travel for a day-and-a-half until I reach Bin Ladin, and I inform him what was happening. Sometimes I scratched down my notes on a small piece of paper about 10cm long. This is unacceptable in operations administered by the West. We sent meaningless letters of few lines. We spoke nonsense on the telephone with the operatives and the go-between people like Ramzi Bin al-Shibh. But in the end the operation was a success. I know that running an operation in the West demands specific administrative work. Yet, you must believe that the same operation could be ran successfully with simple primitive means.
