Spiritual instruction book guided hijackers to death

By Karen Gullo

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Attorney General John Ashcroft said Friday documents left behind by terrorists on Sept. 11 reveal “a shocking and disturbing view into the mindsets” of those who hijacked and crashed four airliners.

Ashcroft said a handwritten, five-page document was found in the bags of Mohamed Atta, a suspected organizer of the attacks and a hijacker on the first of two flights that slammed into the World Trade Center.

Another copy was found at the site of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. A third copy was found in a car rented by Hawaf Alhazmi, one of the hijackers of the plane that smashed into the Pentagon.

The document released by Ashcroft was in the original Arabic. The attorney general said it contained instructions for before and during the flights as well as numerous religious references.

He said those references were “a stark reminder of how these hijackers grossly perverted the Islamic faith to justify their terroristic acts.”

Published accounts characterized the document as a haunting mission guide that urged the hijackers to smile at their taxicab driver, “crave death” and “make sure no one is following you.”

The documents provide the most jarring insight yet into the mindset of the 19 men who boarded the four planes. Two of the jets crashed into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon and one in Pennsylvania.

The texts starkly address fear on the eve of their suicide mission.

“Everybody hates death, fears death,” according to a translation of highlights of the document obtained by The Washington Post, which reported that the book was found in Atta’s luggage.

“But only those, the believers who know the life after death and the reward after death, would be the ones who will be seeking death.”

The manual found in Pennsylvania contained directives on what actions, thoughts and prayers should be undertaken in the final hours, according to The Dallas Morning News.

The document instructs a follower, on the day of the attack, to “check your weapon,” say morning prayers together, and, “If you take a taxi to the airport, when you arrive … smile and rest assured, for Allah is with the believers and the angels are protecting you.”

The follower is told to pray as he sets foot on the plane and again as he takes his seat, remembering “It is a raid for Allah.”

The book also contained this passage for comfort: “When the time of truth comes and zero hour arrives, then straighten out your clothes, open your chest and welcome death for the sake of Allah. Seconds before the target, your last words should be ‘There is no God but Allah. Mohammed is his messenger.’ “

The first four pages of both documents are handwritten on large paper and recite some basic Islamic history about the prophet fighting infidels with 100 men against 1,000, the Post said. They also include prayers such as, “I pray to you God to forgive me from all my sins, to allow me to glorify you in every possible way.”