OPINION: FBI needs to come clean on Sarasota-Saudi connection
Chris Anderson
It's been two decades since a family from Saudi Arabia mysteriously fled Sarasota, leaving behind a vapor trail and information about 9/11 that someone from the FBI had better start releasing or explaining why they can't.
What this comes down to is national security. If the Sarasota/Saudi connection to the 9/11 hijackers – the full details of which have never been revealed – does not undeniably threaten our shores, then we are entitled to know the breadth of the FBI's investigation.
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If the connection, however, can't be revealed because it remains a threat to national security, even after all these years, then heaven help us because what was happening in Sarasota just prior to Sept. 11, 2001, must have been much more serious than we ever suspected.
At least there is hope the truth may soon be revealed, as on Sept. 3, President Joe Biden signed an executive order on the declassification of certain documents pertaining to the terrorist attacks.
"Information shall not remain classified if there is significant doubt about the need to maintain its classified status," the order reads.
According to the order, the government has 180 days from the date it was signed to release the unredacted documents unless the information is deemed a security threat, and at this point, it would seem unlikely it is. That would mean by March 2, 2022, we should know more, and we better know everything.
Because what we know now is not enough: A man named Abdulazziz al-Hijji, his wife Anoud, and her father, Ezam Ghazzawi, who had ties to the Saudi Royal family as well as American politicians, were living in the luxury gated community of Prestancia in Sarasota.
Neighbors reported that two weeks before 9/11, the family left the home in a hurry. The FBI began investigating and noted that the family left behind clothes, jewelry and food. Who does that? Highly unusual activity, to be sure.
Gate logs indicated cars used by the 9/11 hijackers – who learned to fly in Venice – had visited the home, and records revealed phone calls were made to the house by Mohammed Atta, who flew one of the planes into the North Tower.
In a 2002 report, FBI agent Greg Sheffield said agents found "many connections between the family and the terrorists who trained in Venice." That report was not released until 2013 when the Florida Bulldog obtained a redacted version. Until then, virtually no one knew it existed. In 2020, the Bulldog reported the FBI inquired about the CIA joining the investigation. They must have had something serious. And wouldn't you like to know what it is?
Among the items were a manual on terrorism, a map of an unnamed airport, a last will and testament, and flight training information on the Flight Training Center in Venice. The FBI connected the man to the Prestancia family.
That report did not become public until the Bulldog obtained it in 2014. It contains three completely redacted paragraphs the public needs to see.
Bob Graham, former United States Senator and Chairman of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, has long advocated for the release of the unredacted report and what connection the Saudi family in the Prestancia house had to the 9/11 hijackers. This week he wrote a letter to Biden, thanking him for signing the order and urging the release of every document possible.
"It will then be up to the U.S. Government to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for its role in nearly 3,000 people being killed and more than 6,000 being injured," Graham wrote.
"As we relive the painful memories on the 20th anniversary, it is vital the federal government communicate all it has learned so we can do everything possible to protect Americans."
Contact columnist Chris Anderson at chris.anderson@heraldtribune.com. Please support local journalism by purchasing a digital subscription.