Suicide Note Promised Hijackers Eternal Paradise

Mohamed Atta, who is believed to be one of the masterminds of the Sept. 11 attacks, left a lengthy handwritten document in Arabic that included practical advice to the hijackers, Islamic prayers and a mission checklist, according to FBI investigators.

The investigators, quoted in a story in today’s Washington Post, said the writings were found in Atta’s luggage, which did not make it onto his flight. The investigators have not determined whether the document was written by Atta or someone else.

The nature of the document could not be independently confirmed, but one law enforcement official told The Times that investigators are looking at what appears to be “some kind of suicide note” that contains religious instructions and was found at an undisclosed location. But it is unclear, the official said, who wrote the note or what its significance may be.

The five-page document left by Atta, according to FBI investigators, listed instructions for a last night of life and reminders to bring “knives, your will, IDs, your passport.” The document warned, “make sure that nobody is following you,” and urged the hijackers to crave death and “be optimistic.”

The writings acknowledge that the hijackers will be frightened and exhorted them to find courage for their mission.

“Everybody hates death, fears death,” according to a translation of highlights of the document. “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.”

Beneath the heading, “The last night,” the section begins: “Remind yourself that in this night you will face many challenges. But you have to face them and understand it 100%. . . . Obey God, his messenger, and don’t fight among yourself where you become weak, and stand fast, God will stand with those who stood fast.”

The document advises the hijackers to summon strength for the mission by praying and fasting.

“You should ask God for guidance, you should ask God for help. . . . Continue to pray throughout this night. Continue to recite the Koran. . . .

“The time of judgment has arrived. Hence we need to utilize those few hours to ask God for forgiveness. . . . You have to be convinced that those few hours that are left in your life are very few. From there you will begin to live the happy life, the infinite paradise.”

The document segues from spiritual advice to nuts-and-bolts guidance for the mission.

“Check all of your items--your bag, your clothes, knives, your will, your IDs, your passport, all your papers. Check your safety before you leave. . . . Make sure that nobody is following you.”

Threaded throughout the document are promises of eternal life for the hijackers.

“Keep a very open mind, keep a very open heart of what you are to face,” the document says. “You will be entering paradise. You will be entering the happiest life, everlasting life.”

Atta, 33, is the only suspect known to have contacts with members of all four hijacking teams before Sept. 11. Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari spent the night of Sept. 10 at a Comfort Inn in Portland, Maine. Early the next day, they boarded a flight from Portland to Boston’s Logan Airport. They connected to American Airlines Flight 11, the plane that was taken over and crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.

Atta’s luggage did not make it onto Flight 11. The FBI found another copy of essentially the same document in the wreckage of United Flight 93, a government source told the Post.

Flight 93 was also hijacked and crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. The multiple copies suggest the document was shared among at least some of the hijackers.

After the attacks, several published reports stated that Atta had left a suicide note, which is what the FBI initially called it in a document sent to police investigators in Europe. Other reports called the document a will written by Atta, an Egyptian who joined radical Islamic circles while studying urban planning in Germany.

The first four pages of the document are handwritten and recite elementary Islamic history about the prophet battling infidels with 100 men against 1,000. Prayers are also included, such as: “I pray to you God to forgive me from all my sins, to allow me to glorify you in every possible way.”

The fifth and last page is written on a piece of paper from a steno pad. Under the heading, “When you enter the plane,” it includes a series of prayers or exhortations: “Oh God, open all doors for me. Oh God, who answers prayers and answers those who ask you, I am asking you for your help. I am asking you for forgiveness. I am asking you to lighten my way. I am asking you to lift the burden I feel.

“Oh God, you who open all doors, please open all doors for me, open all venues for me, open all avenues for me.”

The author doodled on the paper, drawing a small arrowhead-like sword. Two circles entwine the shaft, which also has serpentine swirls drawn on it. The doodle also resembles a key.

The end of the document states: “There is no God but God. . . . We are of God, and to God we return.”