{
  "id": 3926995,
  "title": "The 9/11 Mastermind Was Named in Intel Report, Which Should’ve Alerted the CIA",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/the-9-11-mastermind-was-named-in-intel-report-which-shouldve-alerted",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-28T09:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Newsweek",
    "slug": "newsweek",
    "url": "https://www.newsweek.com/9-11-cia-ksm-fbi-intel-reports-12252864"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On August 28, 2001, the CIA Counterterrorist Center (CTC) received a human intelligence report suggesting that the nickname \"Mukhtar\" was linked to an individual named Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM). This report was not an isolated incident; the name \"Mukhtar\" had appeared in CIA reports in the spring of 2001, and there had been multiple reports indicating that a person by that name was involved in recruiting and training terrorists within the United States.\n\nAt the time, the CIA and FBI were more preoccupied with monitoring Khalid al-Mihdhar and investigating the activities of Zacarias Moussaoui, and they also assumed that Abu Zubaydah was the mastermind behind the 2001 plots. However, the appearance of KSM's name should have raised red flags, given his prior indictment in January 1996 for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center attack, and his subsequent release through an unsuccessful rendition attempt in Qatar that same year.\n\nKSM had been living in Afghanistan and Pakistan since his escape, where he served as the head of the media committee for al-Qaeda and facilitated media access for the group. Previously, an alias associated with KSM, Abdulrahman A.A. Al-Ghamdi, had been reported by Kenyan authorities to have flown into Nairobi shortly before the 1998 embassy attacks in Africa. This indicated a clear connection between KSM and the al-Ghamdi alias and the \"Mukhtar\" nickname prior to the 9/11 attacks.\n\nDespite these reports, no connection was made between KSM and the additional June 2001 reporting that KSM, under his alias \"Mukhtar,\" was actively recruiting terrorists to travel to the United States. Nor was the significance of KSM's role established through the information about his cousins, all of whom were known al-Qaeda members involved in various terrorist activities. Only after the events of 9/11 would German intelligence reveal that KSM, now confirmed to be the same person as Mukhtar, had communicated with a phone used by Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, and that Bin al-Shibh had used the same phone to contact Zacarias Moussaoui.",
  "summary": "Deadly KSM failure: Multiple reports cited the person recruiting terrorists to attack the U.S—but CIA and FBI looked elsewhere.",
  "key_points": [
    "CIA Counterterrorist Center received human intelligence report in August 2001.",
    "Name Mukhtar linked to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) in multiple reports.",
    "KSM's role as mastermind should have raised red flags but was overlooked."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}