FAA Warned Of Al Qaeda Hijack In 1998

SEPTEMBER 14--The Federal Aviation Administration warned in 1998 that al Qaeda operatives could 'seek to hijack a commercial jet and slam it into a U.S. landmark,' according to a 9/11 Commission report. When the report was originally released in January, the section about the FAA's early warning to U.S. aviation officials was redacted. However, a subsequent declassification review uncloaked various portions of the document, which was re-released yesterday by the National Archives. According to the report, an excerpt of which you'll find below, the FAA's intelligence unit 'produced reports about the hijacking threat posed by Bin Ladin and al Qaeda,' though the probers believed such attacks were 'unlikely' and a 'last resort.' The commission also references a 1995 National Intelligence Estimate report noting that 'Civil aviation remains a particularly attractive target' for terrorists. Other sections that had previously been secret involve intelligence 'chatter' gathered prior to the 2001 attacks and heightened security on airplanes carrying author Salman Rushdie, against whom Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa following the publication of Rushdie's 1989 novel 'The Satanic Verses.' (4 pages)