Sources: 20th 9/11 hijacker theorized
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An operating theory exists among some U.S. government investigators working on the September 11 case that a 20th hijacker was intended in the terrorist airliner attacks, government sources said Wednesday.
These sources were cautious in their description of the theory, noting that such a person has not been identified. The theory is uncorroborated, sources said, and information about the theory did not come from any senior al Qaeda detainees.
These sources confirm information, first reported in Wednesday's USA Today, that such a person is thought to have left the United States before the attacks. The officials would not comment on any information about his possible whereabouts, nor even whether they believe he is alive or dead.
Officials said that while the FBI is looking into the possibility of a potential 20th hijacker, other U.S. officials cast doubt on the concept.
The theory became public as a footnote to a document released Friday in the case of alleged terrorist Zacharias Moussaoui, who earlier had been suspected as a possible 20th hijacker on September 11.
The footnote reads: "[A]s late as August 2001, al Qaeda was still trying to insert new hijackers into the September 11 attacks."
Talk of whether there was a 20th hijacker emerged immediately following the attacks. There were only four hijackers aboard United Flight 93, which crashed in a field in rural Pennsylvania, while there were five hijackers aboard the three other planes, which hit the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Investigators think al Qaeda operative Ramzi Binalshibh, who helped plan the attacks, was originally supposed to take part in the plot, but his visa application was repeatedly denied.
Some government officials had believed Moussaoui was supposed to be a participant in the hijackings, but investigators now think he was going to take part in a future plot. Moussaoui has repeatedly said in court and in legal filings he was not to have a role in the attacks on September 11, 2001.
Moussaoui, 35, a French citizen of Moroccan descent, acknowledges belonging to al Qaeda and intending to participate in a post-September 11 plot outside the United States.
Prosecutors have alleged in closed court hearings that Moussaoui, who attended two flight schools in the United States in 2001 but failed to obtain a pilot's license, wanted to crash a jetliner into the White House.
Moussaoui was jailed on an immigration violation a month before the September 11 attacks.
CNN producer Kevin Bohn contributed to this report.
