Omar al-Bayoumi (Arabic: عمر البيومي, romanized: ʿUmar al-Bayyūmī; is a Saudi national with alleged links to two of the 9/11 hijackers in the United States. Files of the U.S. FBI, dating to before the attacks, demonstrate that he was a Saudi Arabian intelligence agent. An FBI report, declassified in September 2021, lays out evidence that al-Bayoumi had links to known terrorists, provided significant support to 9/11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar upon their arrival in the U.S., and communicated with a key logistics facilitator for Osama bin Laden, each time immediately following significant logistics support to al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar.[1][2][3]
An FBI report, declassified in March 2022, states that "there is a 50/50 chance [al-Bayoumi] had advanced knowledge the 9/11 attacks were to occur." Al-Bayoumi had befriended and assisted hijackers al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar find housing in San Diego.[4]
Saudi Arabia claims that al-Bayoumi is not its agent.[2] According to previously-classified memoranda released by the National Archives in May 2016, as of 6 June 2003, the FBI "believes it is possible that he was an agent of the Saudi Government and that he may have been reporting on the local [Saudi] community to the Saudi Government officials. In addition, during its investigation, the FBI discovered that al-Bayoumi has ties to terrorist elements as well."[5]
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