The man at the heart of a $1 trillion (£733bn) lawsuit brought by 9/11 families had extensive links to Saudi government officials and went paintballing with one of al-Qaeda’s future leaders, video obtained by the BBC reveals.
The footage, which the FBI had within days of the 2001 attacks, stands in stark contrast to Omar al-Bayoumi’s 25 years of denials that he was an extremist and a Saudi spy.
Bayoumi, who claimed to be a student when he was in the United States, is seen in one clip embracing Anwar al-Awlaki, who would go on to lead al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. In another, Bayoumi and Awlaki are paintballing near San Diego with an official from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
