Just add this to the list of 9/11 anomalies I guess. These are not the men described in the press as radical Islamic fundamentalists. This would have been a somber occasion; it would have been disrespectful for them to laugh and joke as the video shows -- unless of course they knew that everything they were doing was staged, not real. That's certainly the picture they paint in the video, isn't it?
The faces of "Islamic fundamentalists, soon to be martyrs": http://makeashorterlink.com/?R212162ED >From the article: "At one point, they lean over a document the newspaper identifies as a will, studying it intently and sometimes pointing to specific sections and commenting to one another." (shown here: http://makeashorterlink.com/?A122612ED) ------------------------------------------------------------------ 9/11 hijackers smile, joke in 2000 video By BETH GARDINER, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 47 minutes ago Mohamed Atta, the ringleader of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, smiles and jokes with another hijacker before the two turn serious and speak intently to a camera in a new video. For more than 30 minutes, the video obtained Sunday by AP Television News, shows Atta, who flew one of the planes that brought down New York's World Trade Center, and Ziad Jarrah, who piloted United Airlines flight 93, which crashed into a Pennsylvania field, sitting in front of a bare white wall, alternately alone and together. The Sunday Times, which originally reported the video and posted it on its Web site, said it was made in Afghanistan and dated Jan. 18, 2000 about a year and a half before the attacks against the United States for release after the men's deaths. The newspaper said the hourlong video was made at an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan. It includes images of Osama bin Laden speaking to supporters in Kandahar, Afghanistan. A time stamp indicated that the footage was shot on Jan. 8, 2000. It has no sound, and the newspaper quoted a "U.S. source" who was not identified as saying that lip readers had been unable to decipher what the men were saying. At times in the video, the two men look relaxed, laughing and chatting together before they grow serious and speak directly into the camera. At one point, they lean over a document the newspaper identifies as a will, studying it intently and sometimes pointing to specific sections and commenting to one another. The Sunday Times said it had obtained the video "through a previously tested channel" but gave no further details. It said sources from al-Qaida and the United States had confirmed the video's authenticity on condition of anonymity. A U.S. "intelligence official," who declined to be identified, citing government protocol, told The Associated Press that "we're aware of the tape and we're reviewing it." The official refused to answer further questions. The tape shows Atta and Jarrah sitting on the floor, and alternates between tight shots including only their faces and wider images showing what appears to be a gun propped up on the wall next to them. Both men have full, dark beards. Atta wears a dark sweater or sweat shirt with a zipped-up collar and light stripes on the arms. He tries on a traditional Afghan cap at one point, then tosses it aside. Jarrah is in a long white robe and wire-frame glasses, which he later removes. Ben Venzke, head of the Virginia-based IntelCenter which monitors terrorism communications, said the video was probably raw footage which al-Qaida had intended to edit into a package similar to one released last month showing the last testament of two of the Sept. 11 hijackers, Wail al-Shehri and Hamza al-Ghamdi. Bin Laden said a few years ago that he was saving Atta's last testament to release for a special occasion, Venzke said. "It is highly unlikely that al-Qaida wanted the material to be released in this manner and it is not consistent with any previous release," he said. The video did not appear on any of the Web sites commonly used by al- Qaida. The Sunday Times said the hourlong video was made at an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan and is the only known footage of Atta and Jarrah together. The video also includes images of a man who appears to be bin Laden speaking to an audience from an outdoor podium. A time stamp indicated that footage was shot on January 8, 2000, and The Sunday Times said it appeared to have been made at Tarnak Farm, once the base for bin Laden's family in the Afghan desert near Kandahar's airport. It shows about 75 men, many in turbans or caps, sitting on the ground as bin Laden arrives to address them. A few children are also in the crowd. The man who appears to be bin Laden stands in front of an expanse of bare dirt dotted with a few trees and windowless, one- story mud-colored buildings, some of them partly in ruins. He appears calm, with a long beard and a tan cloak over a white robe that covers his head. He speaks for more than 10 minutes, although the camera frequently cuts away from him and onto the audience. He often keeps his hands on the lectern and gesticulates occasionally. The Sunday Times said those shown listening to bin Laden included Ramzi Binalshibh, who allegedly helped plan the Sept. 11 attacks and is now being held in the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Also reportedly present was Nasir Ahmad Nasir al Bahri, a security guard who the Sunday Times said has claimed he was authorized to shoot bin Laden in the head if the leader was in danger of being captured. ___ Associated Press writer Foster Klug in Washington contributed to this report. ___ On The Net The Sunday Times http://www.timesonline.co.uk/ Yahoo! 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