Among the files of the 9/11 Commission in the National Archives is a slim folder marked “Fouda stills.” The folder is empty, except for a compact disc containing 11 photos, taken from film footage, depicting a man in traditional Pakistani dress, a collection of flight manuals and maps of the Eastern United States.
The photos, never published until now, are the only visual evidence of 9/11 suspects Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh – confessing to their roles in the plots even before they were captured. The confessions, obtained by Al Jazeera journalist Yosri Fouda, have been missing since soon after they were filmed. How the screenshots came to be in 9/11 Commission files is a mystery.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) and Ramzi Binalshibh have been imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay for 15 years – since being moved there from CIA black sites where they had been held since being captured. They still await trial, along with three other men, for their alleged involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The questions of when, and what, and who may have possession of Fouda’s full, filmed interviews are ones that may have ramifications for any eventual trial of the two men.
Robbyn Swan and Anthony Summers are co-authors of “The Eleventh Day,” an authoritative account of 9/11 that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Additional research by Jordan Nann.
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